World Athletics Cross Country Championships is the most important competition in international

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 soil, earth, pass through woodlands and ope ...

. Formerly held annually and organised by

World Athletics World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation and International Association of Athletics Federations and formerly abbreviated as the IAAF, is the international sports governing body, governing body for the sport ...

(formerly the IAAF), it was inaugurated in 1973, when it replaced the International Cross Country Championships. It was an annual competition until 2011, when World Athletics changed it to a biennial event.

History

Traditionally, the World Cross Country Championships consisted of four races: one each for men (12 km) and for women (8 km); and one each for junior men (8 km) and for junior women (6 km). Scoring was done for individuals and for national teams. In the team competition, the finishing positions of the top six scorers from a team of up to nine are summed for the men and women, respectively, and the lowest score wins. For the junior races, the top three from a team of up to four are scored. The year 1998 saw the introduction of two new events at the World Cross Country Championships, a short race for men and a short race for women. The last time these 4 km races were held was 2006, and there are no public plans to bring them back. In an incredible show of dominance, the senior men's team race was won by

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

every year from 1981 to 2017 in both the short and long races. In the senior men's 12 km race, Kenya won the world championships for an astounding 18 years in a row, from 1986 through 2003, a record of unequaled international success. Kenya and Ethiopia have enjoyed a similar stranglehold on the other categories. On the women's side, only one other nation has won the long team race since 1991, namely, Portugal in 1994. These African nations were not quite so dominant in the short races, but they have won every women's junior race since its introduction in 1989. Several athletes have won two or more individual titles: Craig Virgin, who is the only American to ever win at World Cross Country Championships, which he did twice;

Carlos Lopes Carlos Alberto de Sousa Lopes (, born 18 February 1947) is a Portuguese former long-distance runner and world-record holder in the marathon. He won the Athletics at the 1984 Summer Olympics – Men's marathon, marathon at the 1984 Summer Olym ...

, the first man to win three times (although Jack Holden won the International Cross Country Championships four times between 1933 and 1939, Gaston Roelants between 1962 and 1972); John Ngugi, the first man to win five times;

Paul Tergat Paul Kibii Tergat (born 17 June 1969) is a Kenyan former professional long-distance runner. He became the first Kenyan man to set the world record in the marathon in 2003, with a time of 2:04:55, and is regarded as one of the most accomplished l ...

, the first man to win five times in a row;

Kenenisa Bekele Kenenisa Bekele Beyecha (; ; born 13 June 1982) is an Ethiopian Long-distance running, long-distance runner. He was the world record holder in both the 5000 metres, 5,000-metre and 10000 metres, 10,000-metre from 2004 until 2020. He won the go ...

, the only man to win both the short and long courses in the same year, which he did five years in a row, and whose win in 2008 gave him six long course championships, the most of anyone in history; Sonia O'Sullivan, first athlete ever to win both the long and short course double in the same year;

Grete Waitz Grete Waitz (, 1 October 195319 April 2011) was a Norwegian marathon runner and former world record holder. In 1979, at the New York City Marathon, she became the first woman in history to run the marathon in under two and a half hours. Waitz ...

, the first woman to win five times (although Doris Brown Heritage won the International Cross Country Championships five times between 1967 and 1971); Lynn Jennings, who won three times; Derartu Tulu, who won three times; Tirunesh Dibaba, who won three times in the long course and once in the short course;

Zola Budd Zola Budd (also known as Zola Pieterse; born 26 May 1966) is a South African Middle-distance running, middle-distance and Long-distance running, long-distance runner. She competed at the 1984 Summer Olympics, 1984 Olympic Games for Great Britain ...

, who became the youngest ever winner when she won in 1985 and then won again in 1986; Gete Wami, who won twice at the long course and once at the short; and Edith Masai, who won the short race three times. Tirunesh Dibaba was also once the junior women's champion. Many consider the World Cross Country Championships to be the most difficult races to win, even more difficult than the Olympic Games. At most major championships, the world's best distance runners are separated into a few races, i.e. 3000 m Steeplechase, 5000 m, and 10,000 m. However, in the absence of the short course races, the World Cross Country Championships pit all runners against one another in only one race. Thus, the competition is quite fierce. It's no wonder, then, that several Olympic Champions have gotten their start as World Cross Country Champions:

, marathon, 1984; John Ngugi, 5000 m, 1988; Khalid Skah, 10,000 m, 1992; and

, 10,000 m, 2004 and 2008. Numerous other champions have medalled at the Olympic Games or the World Championships, or have set World Records. In the 206th IAAF Council Meeting, held after the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

, the council decided to add a mixed-gender

relay race A relay race is a racing competition where members of a team take turns completing parts of racecourse or performing a certain action. Relay races take the form of professional races and amateur games. Relay races are common in running, oriente ...

to the World Cross Country Championships schedule – a first for the event.Competitions Update
IAAF. Retrieved on 2016-08-21.

Editions

Doping

As in other areas of the sport, athletes at the competition are prohibited from doping and tests are undertaken before and at the championships to ensure athletes obey the regulations. A total of fourteen doping violations have occurred at the World Cross Country Championships, with the first violation coming from Cosmas Ndeti who was the original runner-up at the 1988 junior men's race; he remains the only athlete stripped of a medal for doping. Seven doping violations have come from Moroccan athletes, with Portuguese athletes accounting for a further three. The 2010 and 2011 editions had the highest number of doping violations, with totals of four and five, respectively. The senior men's long race has produced the highest number of violations, with eight in total.2017 IAAF World Cross Country Championships Facts and Figures
. World Athletics. Retrieved 2020-03-21.

Medals

Senior Men's Individual Medals

Senior Men's Team Medals

Senior Men's Team Medal table

Senior Women's Individual Medals

Senior Women's Team Medals

Men's Short Race Individual Medals

Men's Short Race Team Medals

Women's Short Race Individual Medals

Women's Short Race Team Medals

Junior Men's Individual Medals

Junior Men's Team Medals

Junior Women's Individual Medals

Junior Women's Team Medals

Mixed Relay

References

External links

International Association of Athletics Federations

{{Main world championships Cross country running competitions

Cross A cross is a religious symbol consisting of two Intersection (set theory), intersecting Line (geometry), lines, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of t ...

Recurring sporting events established in 1973 Athletics team events World Cross Country Championships Biennial athletics competitions