Kenya once again proved it is a force to be reckoned with in the world global athletics competitions with nearly a clean sweep of the 40th IAAF World Cross Country Championships held in Bydgoszcz, Poland on Sunday.
432 athletes from the 56 participating nations including Uganda, braved the extremely cold freezing Polish weather that reached as low as – 6 degrees to compete in four different categories.
Neighbors, Kenya topped the medal standings in the competition with 5 gold,3 silver and 1 bronze. Horn of Africa nation, Ethiopia was second overall even though they had the most overall medals with 10.They registered only 3 gold medalists.
Uganda returned empty handed as as the 18 athletes did not even make it to the medal podium.
Kenya’s 19 year new revelation, Japhet Kipyegon Korir put up a brave show in the senior’s catergory with a victory where he recorded 32:45 in which he beat defending champion, Imane Merga whereas Uganda’s main medal hopeful, Moses Kipsiro finished a distant fifth on 33:08.
Kenya won the overall women’s table log with 19 points, in a category where Uganda managed 10th position. Ethiopia won the overall men’s category with 38 points and Uganda was fifth.
Final Medal Tally
RankNation GoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 Kenya 5 3 1 9
2 Ethiopia 3 4 3 10
3 United States 0 1 0 1
4 Bahrain 0 0 1 1
4 Eritrea 0 0 1 1
4 Great Britain 0 0 1 1
4 Morocco 0 0 1 1
