- The World Athletics Cross Country Championships Tallahassee 26 is set to take place on Saturday, January 10.
- It is confirmed that 485 athletes from 52 federations are entered for the global event at the, at Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee, Florida.
- Headlining the Kenyan contingent will be Agnes Ngetich, the 10km record holder, who will compete in the senior women’s category.
World Athletics has officially released the final entry lists for the 46th World Athletics Cross Country Championships (WXC Tallahassee 26), set to take place this Saturday, at Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee, Florida.
It is confirmed that 485 athletes from 52 federations are entered for the global event.
A total of 246 athletes (101 women, 145 men) are entered for the individual senior races, while 163 athletes (76 women, 87 men) are listed for the U20 races. In the mixed relay, 15 teams have been entered.
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World Athletics Cross Country Championships Tallahassee 26 Preview
Headlining the Kenyan contingent will be Agnes Ngetich, the 10km record holder, who will compete in the senior women’s category aiming to improve upon her 2023 bronze medal performance.
Ngetich will be determined to secure the title for her nation, as the two-time defending champion Beatrice Chebet will not participate this year following her announcement of maternity leave, which will keep her out for the entire season.
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Kenyan athletes have won the past nine senior women’s titles, and Ngetich will strive to extend that streak.
She will face stiff competition from another top Kenyan contender, Maurine Chebor, who is also strongly positioned to claim gold.
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Chebor won the national trials in October. She also finished second at the Kenyan Cross Country Championships in February and secured the Kenyan police cross-country title last year.
The 21-year-old has shown a strong return to form following some injury struggles in 2024 and should be among the leading contenders when she makes her international championship debut.
Ngetich and Chebor will be joined on the Kenyan team by national trials runner-up Brenda Jepchumba Kenei, Joyline Chepkemoi, Rebecca Mwangi, and Caren Chebet as they look to claim the senior women’s team title for the third consecutive edition and the eighth time in 10 editions.
The senior women’s team title has been won by either Kenya or Ethiopia at each World Cross Country Championships since 1995.
Senayet Getachew, the world U20 champion in 2023, and Asayech Ayichew, who finished second in the U20 race in 2024, both step up to Ethiopia’s senior squad this time.
Meanwhile, in the men’s senior race, defending champion Ugandan Jacob Kiplimo, has already one of the defining cross-country runners of his era and now chases a rare slice of sporting immortality.
Victory in Tallahassee would make him just the fourth man in history to win three successive world cross-country titles, a feat previously achieved by John Ngugi, Paul Tergat, and Kenenisa Bekele.
Kenya, the winner of the team title for the past two editions, brings a squad built for relentless pressure.
World half marathon silver medallist Daniel Ebenyo leads the charge after a convincing victory at the Kenyan trials, supported by Kevin Chesang, Denis Kemboi, and Shadrack Koech.
While the Kenyans will be formidable, the battle will also feature Ethiopia’s Berihu Aregawi, who has earned silver behind Kiplimo at both the 2023 and 2024 editions of the World Cross Country Championships.
The margins, however, tell their own story. Nine seconds separated the pair in 2023; that gap shrank to just three seconds in 2024.
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The Ethiopian arrives in Tallahassee with unfinished business and the knowledge that, on his day, he possesses the strength and speed to finally deny Kiplimo a hat-trick.
In the U20 categories, Ethiopia’s Marta Alemayo returns at just 17 years of age to defend her world title.
Kenya aims to retain the mixed relay crown with a gold-medal core from Belgrade that includes world 1500m bronze medallist Reynold Cheruiyot, Purity Chepkirui, and Kyumbe Munguti.
World Athletics Cross Country Championships Tallahassee 26: When, kick-off times, and format
The WXC Tallahassee 26 takes place on Saturday, January 10.
The programme kicks off with the mixed relay at 9:45 am local time / 5:45 pm East Africa Time and ends with the senior men’s race at 12:20 pm / 8:20 pm East Africa Time.
The senior women’s and men’s races are each 10km, while the U20 women’s race is 6km and the U20 men’s race is 8km.
In each of these races, teams can feature up to six athletes, with the top four scoring. The team with the lowest aggregate of points will be judged the winner.
If a team fails to finish with a complete scoring team, the runners will be counted as individuals in the race result and be eligible for individual awards (senior events only).
The mixed relay involves teams of two women and two men, running in the order man-woman-man-woman. Athletes must carry a wristband transferred to the next athlete within the takeover zone.
How to watch and follow World Athletics Cross Country Championships Tallahassee 26
The WXC Tallahassee 26 will be streamed live in a number of territories on the World Athletics website, as well as via broadcasters around the world.
Keep an eye on the dedicated event website where TV information will be available ahead of the championships.
Fans will also be able to follow the action via the World Athletics live results platform, which will offer an enhanced experience.
What’s at stake for Agnes Ngetich and other Kenyans in the WXC Tallahassee 26
Individual gold medal winners are set to receive US$30,000 (equivalent to 3.9 million Kenyan shillings), while second and third place will earn US$15,000 (1.9 million Kenyan shillings) and US$10,000 (1.3 million Kenyan shillings), respectively.
The fourth, fifth, and sixth-place finishers will take home $7,000, $5,000, and $3,000, respectively.
There are also prize money for the mixed relay per team, and the team races feature their own prize money.