March 30, (THEWILL)- Jacob Kiplimo of Uganda and Kenya’s Beatrice Chebet cemented their status as world cross country champions with successful title defences in Belgrade, Serbia on Saturday, March25, 2024. Kiplimo’s victory marks an incredible third consecutive world crown for Uganda in the prestigious event.
The 23-year-old Kiplimo timed an impressive 28 minutes 09 seconds over the gruelling 10,000m course to join legends Kenenisa Bekele and Paul Tergat as one of just three athletes to defend the world cross country title. Ethiopia’s Berihu Aregawi took silver, finishing three seconds behind, with Kenya’s Benson Kiplangat rounding out the podium positions.
In the women’s race, Beatrice Chebet became the first female runner since Tirunesh Dibaba in 2005/2006 to retain her world cross country championship. The 24-year-old Kenyan, led compatriots Lilian Rengeruk and Margaret Kipkemboi in a 1-2-3 Kenyan podium lockout, extending their country’s remarkable dominance to nine successive wins.
Chebet’s victory was made all the more impressive considering she finished only 4th in the Kenyan trials for these championships. However, she timed her race to perfection, pulling clear of Rengeruk by three seconds, with Kipkemboi a further second adrift taking bronze.
While Kiplimo underlined his pedigree, Ugandan teammate Joshua Cheptegei could only manage 6th place, some 15 seconds behind the winner in an uncharacteristically disappointing performance from the 5000m and 10,000m Commonwealth Games champion.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
