Agnes Ngetich dominates women’s race at World Cross Country Championships Tallahassee 26
World 10km record-holder Agnes Ngetich produced a dominant display to claim the women’s senior title at the World Athletics Cross Country Championships Tallahassee 26, storming to victory in 31:28 and winning by a remarkable 42 seconds.
Ngetich’s margin of victory was the second-largest in the history of the championships, surpassed only by Grete Waitz’s 44-second win in 1980. The Kenyan secured her first global gold after placing third in Bathurst in 2023 and fourth in Belgrade in 2024, extending Kenya’s proud tradition in the women’s senior race.
Uganda’s Joy Cheptoyek delivered a breakthrough performance to take silver in 32:10, edging Ethiopia’s Senayet Getachew by three seconds. Cheptoyek, seventh in the 10,000m at the World Championships in Tokyo, became Uganda’s first-ever individual senior women’s medallist at the World Cross Country Championships. Getachew added senior bronze to the U20 gold she won in 2023.
Getachew also anchored Ethiopia to the team title, their 13th senior women’s crown overall and first since 2019. She was backed by Asayech Ayichew in fourth place, two years after winning U20 silver, while world U20 3000m champion Aleshign Baweke and Alem Tsadik finished fifth and seventh to complete the scoring quartet. Kenya claimed team silver, with Uganda taking bronze. Ednah Kurgat, the 2017 NCAA cross country champion, was the leading US finisher in 10th place (33:28).
A lead group featuring Ngetich, Getachew, Ayichew and Cheptoyek passed the opening 2km in 6:03, but Ngetich soon asserted control. She surged clear on the second lap and continued to extend her advantage relentlessly, reaching halfway 25 seconds ahead and entering the final 2km with a 40-second cushion.
“I am so happy with this title,” said Ngetich. “I now have an individual world title and I am proud to become the 10th woman to win world cross country gold for Kenya. Beatrice Chebet told me to bring the gold medal back home. This title is special.”
Spain’s Maria Forero was the leading European finisher in 14th place, just one month after winning the European U23 title in Lagoa.
Women’s U20 race
Ethiopia’s Marta Alemayo delivered another authoritative display to retain her women’s U20 title at the World Athletics Cross Country Championships Tallahassee 26, becoming just the fourth athlete to win back-to-back crowns in the category.
The 17-year-old was in complete control over the 6km course, breaking clear early and striding home unchallenged in 18:52. Alemayo led an Ethiopian one-two as Wosane Asefa secured silver in 19:18, holding off Uganda’s Charity Cherop by a single second in a dramatic sprint finish. Kenya’s Cynthia Chepkirui finished fourth in 19:22, ahead of Ethiopia’s Yenenesh Shimket (19:35).
Cherop’s bronze carried historic significance, making her the first athlete from outside Kenya or Ethiopia to reach the women’s U20 podium since 2000. She also spearheaded Uganda’s breakthrough team gold, as the nation placed four athletes inside the top 10 to edge Kenya on countback, with Japan taking bronze. Uganda became only the third country, after Kenya and Ethiopia, to win the U20 women’s team title since the event was introduced in 1989.
A lead group of eight formed after the opening 2km lap, featuring Alemayo, Asefa, Shimket, Chepkirui and Cherop. Alemayo then injected pace at the start of the second lap, quickly splitting the field. Only Asefa and Chepkirui briefly matched her surge before the Ethiopian teenager asserted full control, extending her advantage through the final lap to seal a second consecutive world title.
“I am very happy with my second consecutive gold medal and to share the podium with Wosane,” said Alemayo. “My next plan is to race indoors and hopefully compete at the World Indoor Championships in March.”
