Kiplimo wins XC world title; Chebet in women’s title upset
>> Lightning cracked as Jacob Kiplimo was finishing off his win in the crosscountry world championships, waving his arms to celebrate as he strode the last steps of a downhill run to the line that had claimed a major casualty in the women’s race earlier Saturday.
Letesenbet Gidey was leading the women’s race on the same stretch of grass when she turned her head slightly to get a glimpse at fast-finishing Beatrice Chebet, tripped on a mound and stumbled to the ground as the 22-year-old Kenyan ran past her for a memorable win.
Chebet won in the 10-kilometer race in 33 minutes and 48 seconds and, making matters worse for Gidey as she sat on the ground, her back to the finish, Tsigie Gebreselama took second place in 33:56 and Agnes Jebet Ngetich finished third in 34:00.
Gidey, helped off the ground by a man carrying an Ethiopian flag who was quickly waved off the course by a team official, crossed the finish line in fourth place but was later disqualified.
“I didn’t expect to win, but I hung in,” said Chebet, who closed a 20-meter gap with a late burst of speed that put pressure on a fatiguing Gidey. “I saw that toward the finish Gidey was a bit slower and I ran hard and I won.”
Gidey holds the world records in the 5,000- and 10,000-meters on the track and also in the half-marathon and won the 10,000 at the track and field world championships last year.
She was so close to being the first Ethiopian woman since 2008 to win the world cross-country title, but instead Chebet, the Diamond League 5,000-meter champion, extended Kenya’s dominance of the race by picking up her first senior cross-country championship.
The men’s race started immediately after the women’s event, 20 minutes ahead of schedule because organizers were worried about thunder storms approaching the course at Mount Panorama, the annual venue for Australia’s premier touring car race.
The men’s 10K race was a tight contest until a fourman group surged with one 2-kilometer lap to go on the hilly, challenging course, with the temperature dropping quickly and the wind picking up.
All three medalists from the 2019 world championships were in contention, with defending champion Joshua Cheptegei leading with only a half-lap to go, jostling with fellow Ugandan Kiplimo, runner-up at the last worlds, and Kenya’s two-time champion Geoffrey Kamworor.
Kiplimo timed his kick to perfection, finishing in 29:17 to win from Ethiopia’s Berihu Aregawi in 29:26 and Cheptegei holding off Kamworor for the bronze in 29:37.
“I think my tactics were the best,” Kiplimo said. “I want to win another gold medal for my country. That’s my mission.”
The course featured tight turns, undulations and steep inclines, as well as a muddy pit in a section called the Billabong that made conditions slippery.
With lightning nearby, storm clouds gathering and rain getting heavier, spectators were urged to leave Mt Panorama as soon as the race finished and the medal ceremonies were moved indoors.