World Cross Entries (Cheptegei v Kiplimo v Aregawi v Barega v Kamworor is on)

This should be epic. Ingebritsen afraid to get smoked again. If the course is hard expect Kiplimo and Cheptegei to dominate again.

I am interested to see how Leo Young does in the U20. I think a top 20 would be really good, the Ugandans, Kenyans, Ethiopians etc. send awesome runners to this.

Cheptegei, Kiplimo, Aregawi and Barega doing cross while Fisher and Jakob do indoor

Australia doesn’t wanna grant visas, so many people got denied! What’s the point organizing a world meet if you are not willing to let athletes in! Keep world-cross in Africa or Asia🤣

For instance, many europeans and Americans don’t even wanna run it! wtf

Funny.

Good to see Gaylord Silly of Seychelles still competing at the highest level - he’s a dark horse for me. Seems like the Kenyan team is going to be tough to beat.

Looks great, slightly surprised that Selemon Barega is in, while his caliber is higher than Chimdessa Debele, I remember reading him saying he's skip worlds (after 7th at Jan Meda trials) and run indoor. Only adds to the top quality though as he'll be a real contender for a medal I suspect and boost Ethiopia's chances of gold.

Also just noticed no Irene Cheptai but Beatrice Chebet who I think DNF at Kenyan trials is entered

I think top 20 is reasonable and would be good. I'll guess top 30.

Am I the only one excited to see not just these men but also the great Letesenbet Gidey take on the rest of the women??

World XC Championships is simply the best race in the world!

I am beyond pumped for this men's race. Was worried Barega wasn't going to run given he was 7th at the trials and said he was going to run indoor. I'm sorry to whoever was 6th but it's way more fun having the Olympic champ in the race.

Plus Cheptegei AND Kiplimo, an utterly stacked Kenyan team, and don't sleep on Rodrigue Kwizera of Burundi...

I'm thinking Cheptegei has to be the favorite but he'll have to work for it!

Chep’s been talking about this race since last summer and Bathurst is Kiplimo’s jam, full stop. If fully healthy and near peak fitness, the duo should arrive with the confidence of Nadal at Roland-Garros, expecting to finish 1-2.

A true battle of titans awaits. The presence of Fisher, Mantz and Ingebrigtsen would have made this event an unforgettable classic. It still might become so.

I agree on a man from Burundi contending, but maybe a different one?

Cheptegei ran 27 low in some road race end year and was coming back from injury. Kiplimo also hasn’t raced in awhile. I’m not sure if they’ll smoke everyone again - they’re marginal favourites but not clear imo.

All I know is Kenya is probably a lock for the team title with all their sub 27 and sub 59 guys. I don’t know anyone on the Uganda team.

With temperatures predicted around 92-95 degrees this will be a suffer fest. 290m of elevation gain over 10k. Aarhus was 324 so expect drama. Can't wait to watch.

I can't wait for the men's race and I'm really interested to see what Niyonsaba does in the women's race.

The big downer for me is the lack of Europeans involved. France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the UK have all just passed on this one. At least the UK sent a full women's team, but otherwise, a big fail for Europe on this one. Even if a country can muster a full team, there's quality individuals like Crippa, Can, Mechaal, and Grovdal who usually love to compete in XC. None will be there.

This is a big fail. I put the blame 100% on World Athletics. They obviously don't care about this championship.

First, when it was postponed for Covid, WA should have scrambled to find another location willing to quickly host the race. Since I am a little familiar with the U.S., places that host the NCAAs (Oklahoma, Jacksonville?) probably could have worked with the WA to stage the races on short notice, or at the very least just have the senior races that year. (Visa issues notwithstanding).

Countries that host Diamond League races, the Cross tour, or top-level indoor/outdoor meets should be required to send men's and women's senior teams. Without those countries' teams, the media coverage in them will be nil. How is the sport (in general, not just XC) supposed to gain in popularity? If countries don't send a team, they should be penalized in some way, perhaps remove sanctioning or points from a DL they host. More drastically, if they don't send a team, remove a spot from their 5000/10,000m teams.

Maybe a little harder to do, countries should also be required to send athletes that are in their yearly top 20 lists too. Not send some C/D listers. Again, much harder to enforce.

WA is directly responsible for this race and should not treat it like a stepchild.

Sure you do - you know half of their presumptive scorers in Cheptegei/Kiplimo. If they go 1-2 again in a race where 4 score, that’s huge.

Their other guys’ notable PRs:

Isaac Kibet - 27:41 road, 60:20

Rogers Kibet - 13:14, 27:31, 27:07 road

Samuel Kibet - 13:27, 28:22

Martin Kiprotich - 13:21, 28:21 road

So I’d have to favor Kenya’s depth and their apparent “ceiling,” but if Cheptegei, Kiplimo and 2 of those 4 bring their A game they could certainly get the W.

Maybe a little harder to do, countries should also be required to send athletes that are in their yearly top 20 lists too. Not send some C/D listers. Again, much harder to enforce

This would be tough to enforce- you can't make anyone compete. Even in the Super Bowl, if the Chiefs didn't want Mahomes to play that's their choice.

I DO wish there was some incentive for the best to run- Fisher should be there. He should WANT to be there to run against the best.