PERFECT 10 FOR KENYAN WOMEN AT WORLD ATHLETICS CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS

PERFECT 10 FOR KENYAN WOMEN AT WORLD ATHLETICS CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS
By David Monti, @d9monti
(c) 2024 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved, used with permission.

NOTE: This story was written remotely –Ed.

(30-Mar) — Blazing sun, two bridges, a mud pit, hay bales, and a sand-covered hairpin turn did little to slow the Kenyan women’s senior team at today’s 45th World Athletics Cross Country Championships in Friendship Park in Belgrade.  Led by defending champion Beatrice Chebet, Kenya swept the top five places, scoring a perfect ten points.  Chebet easily won her second consecutive title and became the first woman since Ethiopia’s Tirunesh Dibaba in 2005 and 2006 to win back-to-back senior women’s titles.

“It’s not easy to come and defend your title,” Chebet told reporters after the race.  “You know, there is a lot of pressure.”

The Kenyan women made their intentions known right from the gun of the 10-kilometer race, shooting to the front and imposing a fast pace.  The entire team –Chebet, Emmaculate Anyango Achol, Agnes Jebet Ngetich, Lilian Kasait Rengeruk, and Margaret Chelimo Kipkemboi– were on the front.  By the time the third of five laps had been completed (about 6 km), only Uganda’s Sarah Chelangat and the USA’s Weini Kelati were within six seconds of the Kenyans.

“The course was so good,” said Chebet, who won the World Athletics 5-K road running title last October and didn’t mind the nearly 80-degree temperatures.  “The weather was good; it was like Kenya.”

At the end of the fourth lap (24:23), the Kenyan team was still together, and their nearest challenger, Uganda’s Chelangat, was a yawning 13 seconds behind.  With the team title well in hand, the battle for the medals began to unfold.  Achol was the first to fall back, then Ngetich, the bronze medalist from last year’s championships in Bathurst, Australia.

Rengeruk made the first bid for victory, surging with 29 minutes and 20 seconds showing on the clock. Both Chebet and Kipkemboi responded, and a minute later, Chebet surged away to win in 31:05. Rengeruk held on for second (31:08), and Kipkemboi got third (31:09).

“Today was very good and I thank God that we managed to…