History of
the Event
25 Years of the IAAF
World Cross Country Championships
 PHIL MINSHULL considers the
evolution of the IAAF World Cross Country
Championships, some of the legends who have won
it and recalls the highlights of every edition
since 1973
An unabridged version of
this article appears in the latest edition of the
IAAF Magazine
Just how tough is it to win
at the World Cross Country Championships? A man
who knows is Kenya’s Paul Tergat, winner of
the senior race for the last two years.
"It’s probably
the toughest distance race in the world to win.
World class runners from 1500m to the marathon
contest it and instead of just three runners from
each country, like in the Olympics or World
Championships, in the senior men's race there are
nine."
"It's getting harder
every year to win," claims Tergat, who this
year will be aiming for his hat trick.
The list of those who have
failed to achieve the top prize is quite
staggering. Although the distances are
comparable, only Norway’s Ingrid Kristiansen
has been a World Champion at 10,000m on the track
and won gold at the World Cross Country
Championships.
The list of those who have
failed so far includes distance running giants
like Italy’s Alberto Cova, Kenya’s
Moses Tanui, Britain’s Liz McColgan and
Ethiopia’s Haile Gebrselassie.
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