2013 World Cross Country Championships – US Men Stun Kenya and Win Team Silver

US Wins Silver and Beats Kenya For First Time Since 1984

by LetsRun.com
March 24, 2013

Bydgoszcz, Poland – USA men 2nd, Kenya men 3rd.

Let’s repeat that in case you don’t believe it. USA men 2nd, Kenya men 3rd.

It might be hard to believe, but thanks to a masterful team performance, the US men stunned the world today and grabbed the team silver medal as they edged Kenya 52 to 54 (Ethiopia won win with 38) at the 2013 World Cross Country Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland.

The American men were led by two well deserved top-10 finishes including a surprising sixth place by Ben True (13:20/27:41 pbs), who was only fifth at the US Trials, as 2013 US champion Chris Derrick (13:12/27:31 pbs) finished 10th. We say well deserved as Derrick and True ran as if they belonged with the leaders from the very get go.

Having two low sticks makes team success in cross country possible but the US team silver only became reality thanks to two perfectly executed races by 27:52/2:11:45 man Ryan Vail and 2012 US Cross Country champion Bobby Mack (13:39/27:53 pbs) who closed out the scoring for the US (the IAAF scores four of the six runners). The duo ran together for most of the race and moved up masterfully throughout to finish 17th and 19th respectively.

After the first of six laps, Vail and Mack were both outside the top 50 (Vail was 62nd, Mack 52nd) and the team battle between Kenya and the USA at that point was as follows:

Kenya 23
USA 122

At the midway point, neither was in the top 30 (Vail was 34th, Mack 33rd) and the team battle between Kenya and the USA at that point was as follows:

Kenya 40
USA 80

Even heading into the final 1950 meter loop, neither was inside the top 20 (Vail was 21st and Mack was 20th) and the team battle between Kenya and the USA at that point was still:

Kenya 49
USA 56

But on the last lap, Vail moved up four spots and Mack moved up one and three of the four Kenyans lost ground (one lost one spot, one lost two, one lost three and one gained one). As a result Kenya failed to finish in the top two and failed to beat the US at World Cross Country for the first time since 1984 – the same year that the US men last won a silver medal.

We’ll break down this historic day in more detail later but are off to celebrate briefly at the IAAF banquet. This is just a first draft/flash recap so check back for more info later. In the meantime enjoy our post-race videos. You see when the US finds out it won silver.

Team USA Gets Silver

Quick Take #1: It was great to be there and see the reaction when the US team was told they won the silver medal and celebrated like kids on Christmas (video below). LRC’s Robert Johnson with help from a USATF official as well as the Hanson brothers had manually scored it 52 to 54 but since it was so close, they were double checking their work before blurting it out to the team.

There is supposed to be “no cheering in the press box” but at World XC it’s impossible to not get caught up in the national fervor.  Goosebumps broke out when the crowd erupted and burst into chants of U-S-A, U-S-A when the US was announced as the silver medallists at the medal ceremony. The US team generated by far the largest crowd response of the day.

Quick Take #2: The US did catch a break when one of the Kenyan runners, 2010 world junior steeple champion Jonathan Ndiku, suffered an Achilles injury on the second lap and ended up at the hospital instead of the finish line. Ndiku, who has run 8:07st/13:11/27:32 got out hard like virtually the entire Kenyan team as he was in third after the first loop.

Quick Take #3: The US win was a huge surprise but so was Japhet Korir’s individual win. Korir was only 6th at the Kenyan Trials and becomes the youngest winner of the men’s senior crown.

Quick Take #4: No one on the US team had been born the last time the US won silver. Both Bobby Mack and James Strang were born in December 1984.

Quick Take #5: Want more info? See video interviews and stats below. Some transcribed quotes from the US team appear on the USATF recap here.

	POS	BIB	ATHLETE	COUNTRY	MARK	DETAIL
	1	143	Japhet Kipyegon KORIR	KEN	32:45
	2	101	Imane MERGA	ETH	32:51
	3	72	Teklemariam MEDHIN	ERI	32:54
	4	229	Moses Ndiema KIPSIRO	UGA	33:08
	5	234	Timothy TOROITICH	UGA	33:09
	6	245	Ben TRUE	USA	33:11
	7	71	Goitom KIFLE	ERI	33:16
	8	14	Collis BIRMINGHAM	AUS	33:18
	9	100	Feyisa LILESA	ETH	33:22
	10	236	Chris DERRICK	USA	33:23
	11	1	Rabah ABOUD	ALG	33:28
	12	146	Hosea Mwok MACHARINYANG	KEN	33:29
	13	92	Abera CHANE	ETH	33:31
	14	90	Tesfaye ABERA	ETH	33:35
	15	142	Geoffrey Kipkorir KIRUI	KEN	33:38
	16	88	Sergio SÁNCHEZ	ESP	33:38
	17	246	Ryan VAIL	USA	33:42
	18	66	Abrar OSMAN	ERI	33:42
	19	241	Robert MACK	USA	33:49
	20	184	Elroy GELANT	RSA	33:53

Full Team Results

• FINAL

• STARTLIST
• RESULT
• TEAM

• Official Results
• View
• Download

	POS	TEAM	COUNTRY	MARK
	1	Ethiopia	Ethiopia	38
	2	United States	United States	52
	3	Kenya	Kenya	54
	4	Eritrea	Eritrea	75
	5	Uganda	Uganda	76
	6	Algeria	Algeria	107
	7	Australia	Australia	116
	8	Spain	Spain	127
	9	Canada	Canada	140
	10	Poland	Poland	164
	11	Great Britain & N.I.	Great Britain & N.I.	166
	12	South Africa	South Africa	256
	13	Rwanda	Rwanda	298
	14	Japan	Japan	306
	15	Sudan	Sudan	350

*More coverage coming. More videos including the US women on our youtube channel