The 2007

IAAF World Cross Country Championships World Athletics Cross Country Championships is the most important competition in international cross country running. Formerly held annually and organised by World Athletics (formerly the IAAF), it was inaugurated in 1973, when it replaced the Int ...

took place on March 24, 2007. The races were held at the Mombasa Golf Course in

Mombasa Mombasa ( ; ) is a coastal city in southeastern Kenya along the Indian Ocean. It was the first capital of the British East Africa, before Nairobi was elevated to capital city status. It now serves as the capital of Mombasa County. The town is ...

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

. Four races took place, one for men, women, junior men and junior women respectively. All races encompassed both individual and team competition. The short race for men and women that was run between 1998 and 2006 was scrapped and the World Cross Country Championships went back to one-day format. Reports of the event were given in the

Herald A herald, or a herald of arms, is an officer of arms, ranking between pursuivant and king of arms. The title is commonly applied more broadly to all officers of arms. Heralds were originally messengers sent by monarchs or noblemen to ...

, and for the

IAAF World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body for ...

Preparations

When

Athletics Kenya Athletics Kenya (AK) is the governing body for the sport of athletics (track and field) in Kenya. It is a member of World Athletics and Confederation of African Athletics. AK organises athletics competitions held in Kenya. It also sends Kenyan tea ...

(AK, the national governing body of Athletics) applied for the event, it used the slogan "Cross Country Comes Home", referring to Kenyan and

East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territories make up Eastern Africa: Due to the historical ...

n traditional dominance at the event. Nevertheless, no formidable Kenyan runners are known to come from Kenyan

Coast Province The Coast Province ( sw, Mkoa wa Pwani) of Kenya, along the Indian Ocean, was one of Kenya's eight provinces. It comprises the Indian Ocean coastal strip with the capital city at Mombasa and was inhabited by the Mijikenda and Swahili, among oth ...

. Instead, successful Kenyan runners typically represent

Kalenjin Kalenjin may refer to: * Kalenjin people The Kalenjin are a group of tribes designated as Highland Nilotes and are descended from Maliri people ''(thus related to Daasanach of Ethiopia.)'' The Kalenjin are cousins with Datooga people of Tan ...

tribes who reside in The Rift Valley Kenya, approximately 700-800 kilometres from Mombasa. AK chose Mombasa as a venue due to better infrastructure (such as hotels) compared to other cities. The 2007 World Cross Country Championships is one of the biggest international athletics event held in Kenya since the 1987 All-Africa Games, held 20 years ago in

Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper ha ...

. Another event held in Kenya was the

2003 Cricket World Cup The 2003 ICC Cricket World Cup was the eighth Cricket World Cup, organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It was co-hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya from 9 February to 23 March 2003. This edition of the World Cup was the f ...

. Other applicants for the event were

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, both withdrew their candidature before final vote. The World Cross Country Championships have been held in Africa three times before. In 1975 and 1998 it was held in Morocco, the 1996 event took place in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. There was also an IAAF Council meeting held in Mombasa, at which the host cities for 2011 and 2013

IAAF World Championships in Athletics The World Athletics Championships (until 2019 known as the World Championships in Athletics) are a biennial athletics competition organized by World Athletics (formerly IAAF, International Association of Athletics Federations). Alongside the Ol ...

were selected.

Track and conditions

Mombasa, the host, is the second largest city in Kenya, a major port town and tourist center. The event was held at Mombasa Golf Club, located in

Mombasa Island Mombasa Island is a coral outcrop located on Kenya's coast on the Indian Ocean, which is connected to the mainland by a causeway. Part of the city of Mombasa is located on the island, including the Old Town. History The old town of Mombasa is ...

, just east of the

Kilindini Harbour Kilindini Harbour is a large, natural deep-water inlet extending inland from Mombasa, Kenya. It is at its deepest center, although the controlling depth is the outer channel in the port approaches with a dredged depth of . It serves as the harbo ...

. The track was curvy but relatively flat. The underlying ground was mostly grass. The weather was sunny, hot and humid, typical of Mombasa, resulting in exhausting conditions. This kind of weather may affect competitors who hail from distant latitudes, but also Kenyan and Ethiopian runners, who often come from cooler highland areas. One victim was

Pauline Korikwiang Pauline Chemning Korikwiang (born 1 March 1988) is a Kenyan professional long-distance runner who competes in track and field, track and cross country running competitions. She rose in the youth ranks in 2005, taking a 3000 metres silver medal a ...

, Kenyan runner who was attempting to defend her junior women's title but fainted one kilometer before the finishing line.

Medallists

Race results

Senior men's race (12 km)

Kenenisa Bekele Kenenisa Bekele ( om, Qananiisaa baqqalaa; am, ቀነኒሳ በቀለ; born 13 June 1982) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner. He was the world record holder in both the 5000-metre and 10000-metre from 2004 (5,000m) and 2005 (10,000m) unti ...

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

, who has won five consecutive long and short course races, promised to quit

cross country running Cross country running is a sport in which teams and individuals run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain such as dirt or grass. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open coun ...

after the 2006 World Championships. However, he changed his mind and competed in Mombasa after all.IAAF, March 7, 200
''Bekele and Burka included in Ethiopia’s team for Mombasa''
/ref> A pre-race favourite, Bekele did not finish the race and thus failed to win historical sixth consecutive title.

Zersenay Tadese Zersenay Tadese (Tigrinya: ዘርእሰናይ ታደሰ; born 8 February 1982) is an Eritrean long-distance track and road running athlete. He held the men's half marathon world record from 2010 to 2018. His bronze medal in the 10,000 metres ...

won the event and became the first cross-country world champion for

Eritrea Eritrea ( ; ti, ኤርትራ, Ertra, ; ar, إرتريا, ʾIritriyā), officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of Eastern Africa, with its capital and largest city at Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia ...

. Tadese is also the 2006 IAAF World Road Running Championships men's gold medalist. Complete results for senior men and for senior men's teams were published. *Note: Athletes in parentheses did not score for the team result.

Junior men's race (8 km)

Complete results for junior men and for junior men's teams were published. *Note: Athletes in parentheses did not score for the team result.

Senior women's race (8 km)

Complete results for senior women and for senior women's teams were published. *Note: Athletes in parentheses did not score for the team result.

Junior women's race (6 km)

Complete results for junior women and for junior women's teams were published. *Note: Athletes in parentheses did not score for the team result.

Medal table (unofficial)

*Note: Totals include both individual and team medals, with medals in the team competition counting as one medal.

Participation

According to an unofficial count, 470 athletes from 63 countries participated. This is in agreement with the official numbers as published. The announced athletes from the and did not show. * (7) * (3) * (18) * (1) * (1) * (5) * (9) * (12) * (1) * (11) * (4) * (4) * (1) * (1) * (1) * (2) * (1) * (23) * (27) * (11) * (1) * (5) * (2) * (1) * (1) * (9) * (26) * (27) * (2) * (1) * (1) * (2) * (2) * (27) * (1) * (5) * (1) * (4) * (2) * (13) * (10) * (1) * (7) * (12) * (1) * (2) * (16) * (19) * (9) * (2) * (1) * (1) * (2) * (24) * (2) * (26) * (1) * (25) * (16) * (1) * (4) * (6) * (6)

References

External links

Official website

Special Coverage by Daily Nation
(archived) ` {{coord, 4, 04, 20, S, 39, 40, 42, E, region:KE-300_type:landmark_source:kolossus-dewiki, display=title World Athletics Cross Country Championships Iaaf World Cross Country Championships, 2007 Sport in Mombasa Iaaf World Cross Country Championships, 2007 International athletics competitions hosted by Kenya Cross country running in Kenya