Entry lists for the World Athletics Cross Country Championships Belgrade 24 confirm that 485 athletes from 51 teams will descend on Serbia for the global event on Saturday 30 March.
A total of 245 athletes (138 men, 107 women) are entered for the individual senior races, while 187 athletes (95 men, 92 women) will be in action in the U20 races. In the mixed relay, 12 countries have been entered.
Kenya topped the medal table at the last edition of the World Athletics Cross Country Championships in Bathurst, Australia, in 2023, with a total of six gold medals.
Beatrice Chebet, who went on to win the world 5000m bronze on the track and the inaugural world 5km road race title later in the year, was among Kenya’s champions in Bathurst and she defends her title in the senior women’s race. Her compatriots Agnes Ngetich, the bronze medallist in Bathurst, and Emmaculate Anyango are expected to provide tough opposition.
The entry list also features multiple Olympic and world gold medallist Sifan Hassan, but she has confirmed that she no longer intends to compete.
The winners of the past two senior men’s titles – Jacob Kiplimo and Joshua Cheptegei – will race, looking to add more medals for Uganda. The full podium from Bathurst will clash again, as champion Kiplimo and bronze medallist Cheptegei line up along with Ethiopia’s silver medallist Berihu Aregawi. Their challengers include Kenya’s Sabastian Sawe.
Ethiopia’s Lemlem Nibret, who finished fifth in Bathurst, and Abel Bekele, seventh last year, again feature in the U20 races.
Kenya will defend their title in the mixed relay, for which the nation’s squad – including reserves – features Purity Chepkirui, Mirriam Cherop, Reynold Cheruiyot, Kyumbe Munguti, Virginia Nyambura and Emmanuel Wanyonyi. Hagos Gebrhiwet is entered as part of the Ethiopian squad, while the host nation team features multiple European medallist Elzan Bibic.
The final start lists will be available on Friday 29 March.
The Facts and Figures document for WXC Belgrade 24, edited by Mark Butler, has also been published and is available here.
By World Athletics
