This innovation was decided by the IAAF council last year, with the aim of perpetuating and promoting the practice of cross country racing among middle-distance track athletes. Cross country is an ancient discipline and constitutes an invaluable component of training for all runners - John Akii-Bua, the unforgettable Ugandan Olympic champion and world champion in the 400m hurdles in Munich ’72, was an assiduous exponent of cross country - and, indeed, an excellent part of any sports training programme.

Cross country is also a great show. Year after year, the television audience for the IAAF World Cross Country Championships increases: this year’s event will be broadcast to over eighty countries on the five continents.

Marrakech, this magnificent oasis of world-wide renown will provide a splendid backdrop to the beauty of the athletes in competition. This meeting point of diverse cultures, the ancient capital of the Kingdom, was the source of inspiration for one of the last great Islamic philosophers - Averroé - and has served as the setting for some of the most beautiful scenes in modern literature, which have drawn on its blend of architecture, customs, religions and different ethnic groups.

Along the winding tracks of the Ghabat Chabab olive groves, a stone’s throw from the centre of Marrakech, over 800 athletes from nearly seventy countries will deliver themselves to a fierce, yet pacific contest. On 21 March there will be the junior women and the senior women’s long race and the men’s short cross; on 22 March the junior men and the men’s long race, whilst the women’s short race will close the competition programme.

Who will be the victors? In the short race, which will make its debut in this 26^th edition of the World Championships, the smart money all seems to be on Daniel Komen, especially following his world records onslaught during the indoor season (3000m and 5000m). Komen took the Junior silver in the 1994 World Cross Country Championships and is now coming back to his origins to some extent. But Komen will not have the going easy: his Kenyan compatriots - champions all - are John and Paul Kosgei, John Kibowen, Benjamin and Kipkirui Limo will be there, as will strong teams from Spain (looking for a team victory), great Britain, Italy, France and, above all, Morocco.

No doubt, the rivalry between Morocco and Kenya will raise the temperatures this week-end in Marrakech. Tens of thousand of spectators are expected to line the course and cheer on hteir local heroes: Salah Hissou, silver medallist in Turin last year, will be team leader over the traditional distance. Paul Tergat (KEN) will be chasing his fourth successive victory and will find plenty of grist for his mill. He will need strong legs indeed to escape the horde of Moroccans, Ethiopians, Spanish, Portuguese, South African, Rwandans, Tanzanians and fellow Kenyans ( Paul Koech, Thoimas Nyariki, Wilson Boit Kipketer, Joseph Kibor, Christopher Kelong and Ismail Kirui), as he did last year in Turin’s Parco del Valentino.

The women’s races should be just as exceptional. Jackline Marange (KEN) will start favourite in the long cross, although the field seems better balanced than in the men’s races. Ethiopians, Moroccans and, above all, Paula Radcliffe (GBR) - who is running in both 8km and 4km events - Spain’s Julia Vaquero and Rocio Rios, France’s Josiane llado, the European cross country champion, Annemari Sandell from Finland, Manuela Dias of Portugal, South African Colleen De Reuck and Mariana Chirila from Rumania will all have their sights set on the podium.

Home

News Index