&nbsp; Javelin throwing’s loss is distance running’s gain because Caleb Ndiku chose not to follow in his father’s David’s career as a thrower. 
That decision was further justified when he regained the world title for Kenya. The tall and powerful Ndiku already won the World Youth silver last year at 1500m, and with an impressive P.B. at that distance of 3:38.2, you might have expected him to sit in a kick in the closing stages of this much longer race. 
In fact he won from the front, breaking clear with a scorching third 1926m lap in 5:22.
In the first half of the race Kenya were typically dominant, with Ndiku, Clement Langat and Japhet Korir all taking turns in front and with all their compatriots close by. There was quite a bit of looking around by the leaders and what they saw was that some Ethiopians were struggling to stay in the lead pack of 20 or so at the end of the first lap. All of whom were of East African origin or from South Africa. 
When Ndiku made his move during the third lap, the only non-Kenyan to try to keep up was Uganda’s Moses Kibet, who was third in 2009. But Kibet paid for that effort, because Ndiku pulled further clear and then Langat and Korir went 2-3 as the quartet negotiated the twists and obstacles on the second half of the lap. 
At the bell, Ndiku was some 40m in front and starting to lap some of the back markers. The undulating course made it hard to judge Ndiku’s lead but it did seem that the fight between Langat and Korir was bringing them closer to the leader. 
Ndiku’s lead was being cut to within 10m as Langat sprinted furiously around the last corner, but it was too late. Meanwhile Isaiah Koech had moved into fourth to secure Kenya a perfect team score of 10 for the fifth time in the history of the championships.
The winner thanked god for his victory. “I never knew that I was going to win,” he said, “I never looked behind.” 
He then explained about his attempts at javelin. “I tried when I was very young but it was hard for me.” How far did he throw? “I cannot tell because I had nobody to coach me and ended up thinking that was no good for me, so I decided to run.” 
His coach now is Paul Mutwii who is a vice-chairman of Athletics Kenya.
Langat admitted that he realised too late that he might have won the race, so was he disappointed?&nbsp; 
“No,” he explained with wide eyes. “I was only seventh in the Kenyan trials and now I have a silver medal.”
The team order was the same as in the junior women, Kenya from Ethiopia and Uganda. 
The first finisher without African origin was Japan’s Akinobu Murasawa closely followed by Trevor Dunbar of the United States with the top European Sondre Nordstad Moen (NOR) in 31st. 
“We will catch up with them eventually,” remarked Dunbar. “But it won’t be tomorrow.”
Mark Butler for the IAAF

bsp;- Javelin throwing’s loss is distance running’s gain because Caleb Ndiku chose not to follow in his father’s David’s career as a thrower.

Front running pays off for Ndiku - Men's Junior race report - Bydgoszcz 2010

&nbsp; Mercy Cherono said she thought that the selection of Bydgoszcz for the World Cross Country Championships would be a favourable omen for her. It was here that the 18-year-old Kenyan won the 3000 metres at the 2008 World Junior Championships.
Even Cherono could not have dreamed how favourable it would prove to be. She got the 38th IAAF World Cross Country Championships off to the best possible start for Kenya, not only winning the junior women’s race by a resounding margin, but also leading her team to a sweep of the first four places and a perfect 1-2-3-4=10 score.
Collectively and individually defending champion Ethiopia was confounded. Genzebe Dibaba, bidding for a third consecutive victory, finished a distant 11th. The Ethiopian challenge had been blown away when Cherono led her team-mates clear at the start of the final 2km loop of the Myslecinek Park course.
Then, Cherono was at the head of a group of four Kenyans - the others Purity Rionoripo, Esther Chemtai and Faith Chepngetich - but by half-way through the lap she was gloriously alone. At the final turn into the finish straight, she looked around for rivals. There were none. Even a more thorough examination would have revealed only Kenyan vests in sight.
Cherono officially won by seven seconds, clocking 18:47 for the approximately 6km distance. In truth, she won as she liked. She was not surprised she said, she just followed the team coach’s instructions on when to push.
“In the second lap, I had a lot left,” she said with a smile. Asked if she expected the Ethiopians to have been closer, she shrugged and smiled again.
It must have been particularly satisfying to have put Dibaba so comprehensively behind her. Twelve months ago in Amman, Cherono had also pulled clear in the final lap. Approaching the final climb, she had a substantial break on Dibaba, and no doubt it would have been on any normal course. But Dibaba caught and passed her Kenyan rival on the steep hill to the finish, winning by some three seconds.
So Bydgoszcz, as well as affirming a positive feeling for the place where she won her World Junior Championships, was also the site for revenge. This time there was no final comeback from Dibaba.
Behind Cherono, Rionoripo, who was wearing spikes, won a desperate sprint with the barefoot Chemtai to take the silver medal narrowly. Chepngetich completed the sweep of the first four places, prevailing over Genet Yalew of Ethiopia by one second.
Far from a third title, Dibaba closed out the scoring Ethiopian team in 11th place, 34 seconds behind the winner.
It was a day for thwarting hat-tricks. Not only was Dibaba denied, but Kenya’s easy victory in the teams race deprived Ethiopia of a third straight title.
Uganda completed an East African sweep, Annet Negesa, Rebecca Cheptegei, Viola Chemos and Linet Chebet combining to outlast perennial contender, Japan. Great Britain and the USA rounded out the first six teams.
Asian cross-country silver medallist Tejitu Daba of Bahrain in 10th place was the first non-East African finisher. She is Ethiopian-born, however. The first non-East African born finisher was Gulshat Fazlitdinova of Russia, the European junior cross-country silver medallist, in 16th place.
Emily Sisson of the USA (18th), Nanaka Izawa of Japan (19th) and Kate Avery of Britain (20th) rounded out the individual top 20.
Len Johnson for the IAAF

bsp;- Mercy Cherono said she thought that the selection of Bydgoszcz for the World Cross Country Championships would be a favourable omen for her. It was here that the 18-year-old Kenyan won the 3000 metres at the 2008 World Junior Championships.

Cherono sets the record straight - Women's Junior race report - Bydgoszcz 2010

BydgoszczWith the IAAF World Cross Country Championships ready to start here in Bydgoszcz, the IAAF web team is proud to offer you live coverage of all the action.
To follow live results of all races - <A class="" href="http://www.iaaf.org/live/WXC10/index.html" mce_href="http://www.iaaf.org/live/WXC10/index.html">click here</A>
To follow full results of all races, individual and team standings - <A class="" href="http://www.iaaf.org/wxc10/results/eventCode=4393/index.html" mce_href="http://www.iaaf.org/wxc10/results/eventCode=4393/index.html">click here</A>
To read detailed race reports - <A class="" href="http://www.iaaf.org/wxc10/news/index.html" mce_href="http://www.iaaf.org/wxc10/news/index.html">click here</A>
To view photographs of all races - <A class="" href="http://www.iaaf.org/wxc10/photo/index.html" mce_href="http://www.iaaf.org/wxc10/photo/index.html">click here</A>
Also attached in related items, you can download start lists of all races, athletes' biographies and the IAAF World Cross "facts and figures".
Defending champions and medallists in Bydgoszcz
Men's Senior race
2009 champion Gebre-egziabher Gebremariam of Ethiopia&nbsp; 2009 silver medallist Moses Kipsiro of Uganda
Men's Junior race
2009 bronze medallist Moses Kibet&nbsp;of Uganda&nbsp;
Women's Senior race
2009 silver medallist Linet Masai of Kenya 2009 bronze medallist Meselech Melkamu of Ethiopia
Women's Junior race
2009 champion Genzebe Dibaba of Ethiopia (also a winner in 2008) 2009 silver medallist Mercy Cherono of Kenya
Former World champions 
Three former World champions compete today in Bydgoszcz in the&nbsp;women's senior race:
2003 World champion Worknesh Kidane of Ethiopia 2004 World champion Benita Johnson of Australia, now Benita Willis 2005,06, 08 World champion Tirunesh Dibaba of Ethiopia 
IAAF

With the IAAF World Cross Country Championships ready to start here in Bydgoszcz, the IAAF web team is proud to offer you live coverage of all the action.

Bydgoszcz 2010 - Follow all the action

BydgoszczThe traditional pre event for the IAAF World Cross Country Championships press conference was held today in Bydgoszcz.
Below extracts of VIPs and Athletes' quotes:&nbsp;
Lamine Diack – IAAF President
“Bydgoszcz has a special place in the heart of the IAAF. It is one of the rare cities that has organised one of the big championships of the IAAF for the first time [the 1999 World Youth Championships], and also the World Junior Championships in 2008. Thank you to the Mayor for your dedication to our sport, you have made Bydgoszcz the world capital of athletics.”
On the decision to hold the championships every two years from 2012 “Cross country continues to be a very important part of our life. I think cross country is a key issue in the development of middle and long distance running.
“We’ve decided we’ll have the World Cross Country every two years. We will start to develop cross country more at continental level. I think we will have more countries competing in their continental championships. Each continent will be obliged to have their own cross country championships.”
About absentees “We are very happy to have with us some great champions. The World Championships are for those who are here, and at the end of it we will have wonderful world champions, men, women and team. But here despite the dominance of East Africa, we still have countries like Spain and France who are always competing.”
On African domination in distance running “I’m convinced that in future European can compete, Asia can compete, right now we have to learn from them. We have to learn from Kenya, we have to learn from Ethiopia. It’s the only way to do it. They run because there is a tradition of running in their country. In our sport we cannot say it’s impossible, you have to say we can do it, it is possible. The world is now a village and everyone has a chance.”
Konstanty Dombrowicz – The Mayor of Bydgoszcz
“I wish good luck to all the athletes and all of you. The name of our city is Bydgoszcz and we can translate it to say “Be my guest”. I thank the Polish Federation for doing everything to put Bydgoszcz on the world map of athletics.”
Jerzy Skucha – President of the Polish Athletics Federation
On Poland’s prospects in the championships “We have a full team in all races. It will broaden the spectrum of our long distance runners. I don’t hope for much in terms of medals but I believe that one of our teams can fight for a place in the top eight.”
Athletes
Linet Masai KEN – World 10,000 Metres champion
“I think everyone is well prepared for this race, I am ready to perform my best.”
Which surface does she enjoy the most “I prefer cross country because I never missed a medal and it prepares me well for the track.”
Katarzyna Kowalska POL – Polish Cross Country and Steeplechase champion
Her thoughts on the race course “I believe it will be in much better condition than two weeks ago. It is a good course, not an easy course. A very interesting course and I don’t think it will be too bad.”
Her hopes “Here my chances are to get into the top 30. If I can do that it will be a great success for me.”
Her favourite event “I prefer to run in a stadium, I love running the steeplechase.
Mohamed Farah GBR – Former European Cross Country champion
Can he improve on his 11th place in 2007 “What you find is that you always want to do better. This is real cross country, I am excited and looking forward to it.”
On the absence of Kenenisa Bekele “Bekele is in a different class, when the big man is not here it makes a big difference, it gives every man a bit more confidence.”
Who does he think are some of the contenders “[Moses] Kipsiro, a training partner of mine, he’ll be up there. And [Gebre-egziabher] Gebremariam, If I can mix it with those guys it will be good.”
Shalane Flanagan USA – North American record holder at 5000m &amp; 10,000m
The conditions “The weather was a little too nice yesterday [Friday], you don’t want to be working on your tan at the World Cross Country Championships.”
The race “I like it that you have all the contenders in one race. I’ve prepared to run one of my hardest ever races. 
“I’m expecting it to be the toughest race of the year. It truly is one of the best races in the world. Linet and Tirunesh are fabulous runners, I admire them, I hope to be with them stride for stride.
The USA’s team medal prospects “My team-mates will be looking for me to put them in contention. The lowest score will be the best score”
Tirunesh Dibaba ETH – Multi World and Olympic champion
Why did she change her mind about competing in Bydgoszcz “This is not a competition you compete in for yourself, but for your country. Since the Federation asked me to compete, I am here.”
Her prospects “It looks very good, I worked out well. I had a lot of problems last year with my leg, this year I’m in good shape, I can say I’m back to my usual form.”
Can she take another gold “Everyone comes hoping to win, but I believe we have prepared well and we can win. Everyone has big dreams, Kenenisa has won many times, whether I can match that I don’t know.”
Will she interrupt her warm-up to watch her younger sister Genzebe in the junior race “When she runs I have to watch her, my heart would not allow me to otherwise.”
Mark Butler for the IAAF
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The traditional pre event for the IAAF World Cross Country Championships press conference was held today in Bydgoszcz.

"You don’t want to be working on your tan at the World Cross," Bydgoszcz Press Conference Quotes

BydgoszczOn the eve of the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland, IAAF President Diack chaired the official IAAF/LOC Press Conference in presence of M. Konstanty Dombrowicz, Mayor of Bydgoszcz.
Below&nbsp;an extract of President Diack's speech:&nbsp;
 "It is a real pleasure to welcome you all to the official press conference for the 38th edition of the IAAF World Cross Country Championships, especially as we are returning to Poland, for the first time since 1987 when this event took place in Warsaw.
"Cross country has changed dramatically since the late 1980s when the great African runners were just starting to make their mark on distance running but the World Cross Country Championships is still a supreme test for the endurance athlete. "And although East African athletes are now the ones to beat, we can still look forward to a truly international festival in Bydgoszcz, with athletes from every part of the world in both individual and team competitions. "Since the first IAAF World Cross in 1973, participation of athletes and participating countries has more than trebled, which shows the increased global reach of our sport. This year I am pleased to be able to welcome 499 runners (men and women) from 56 IAAF Member federations. "I am particularly pleased that we have with us today some of the top stars of the event, including Tirunesh DIBABA&nbsp; (ETH) – Double Olympic champion and Multiple World champion ,Mo FARAH (GBR) , Shalane FLANAGAN (USA), Katarzyna KOWALSKA (POL) and World 10,000m champion Linet MASAI (KEN) . I thank them warmly for their support. "But regardless of which individual stars, the added team element at the IAAF World Cross Country always makes it an annual festival of long distance running. The team competitions in all age groups and categories, and the ensuing battle for points give the Event a unique spirit. "The experience of hosting a World Championships in their home country will no doubt prove inspirational but I repeat that the whole world will be represented here in Bydgoszcz, Poland. I would like to thank the city authorities for all their efforts to promote this event as a cultural activity that the entire city can support. "On the eve of the competition, I am confident that the Local Organising Committee, supported by the Polish Athletics Federation and local authorities, have worked very hard to meet the needs of athletes, spectators, TV, sponsors and Media. It remains for me to wish all athletes the very best of luck!"

On the eve of the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland, IAAF President Diack chaired the official IAAF/LOC Press Conference in presence of M. Konstanty Dombrowicz, Mayor of Bydgoszcz.

IAAF President Diack press conference address in Bydgoszcz

BydgoszczThe Start Lists and Athletes' Biographies for the IAAF World Cross Country Championships, Bydgoszcz, Poland (Sun 28 March), are available, and at the conclusion of each race, event reports will follow. 
The Athlete Biographies for each race - Men's Senior, Men's Junior, Women's Senior, and Women's Junior - are downloadable in pdf format in ‘Related Content’ from the right-hand-side of this page. 
Start Lists and Results can be found on the <A class="" href="http://www.iaaf.org/wxc10/results/eventCode=4393/index.html" mce_href="http://www.iaaf.org/wxc10/results/eventCode=4393/index.html">Timetable/Results</A> section of the&nbsp;Bydgoszcz 2010&nbsp;section of the IAAF website.
IAAF
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The Start Lists and Athletes' Biographies for the IAAF World Cross Country Championships, Bydgoszcz, Poland (Sun 28 March), are available, and at the conclusion of each race, event reports will follow.

Bydgoszcz 2010 - START LISTS and ATHLETES' BIOS available

National 10,000m recordholder Collis Birmingham and 2004 world cross country champion Benita Willis will headline Australia’s assault on the 2010 IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland (28).
Following a week-long preparation camp in London (GBR), the 16-strong Australian team has arrived in Bydgoszcz all set to take on the world’s best cross country runners when racing gets under way this Sunday.
Birmingham, a four-time world cross country representative who posted his best-ever finish in 2009 (29th place), will be joined on the start line of the senior men’s 12km event by three-time World Cross Country representative Liam Adams, 2009 World Half Marathon representative Jeff Hunt, reigning national cross country champion Clint Perrett and rising star Duer Yoa.
Birmingham arrives in Bydgoszcz fresh from his run at the IAAF Challenge meeting in Melbourne&nbsp;earlier this month, where he placed fifth over 5000m in a Commonwealth Games A-qualifying time of 13:33.44. Last month the 25-year-old Victorian bettered his own meet record at Hobart’s Briggs Athletics Classic to win the 5000m for a fourth straight year on the Apple Isle, stopping the clock at 13:24.62.
Willis, a veteran of seven World Cross Country titles and winner of the World crown in Brussels (BEL) in 2004, will be joined by national 10,000m champion Eloise Wellings, dual world cross country teams bronze medallist Anna Thompson, three-time World Cross Country representative Lara Tamsett and senior international debutante Tamara Carvolth over the senior women’s 8km course.
Reigning national road racing champion Nikki Chapple, who was named to the Australian squad in January, has been forced to withdraw from the titles due to a stress reaction in her bone marrow and has not travelled to Poland with the team.
Thirty-year-old Willis placed fifth at this month’s Melbourne Track Classic in a time of 16:14.11 and, with individual gold (2004) and two team bronze medals (2006, 2008) already lining her trophy cabinet, will line up on Sunday intent on steering the women’s team to a podium finish and bolstering her medal collection.
“Women’s running in Australia is going from strength to strength and I think we’re a real chance for a medal,” Willis said following her win at the national cross country trials in Melbourne in January.
“We’ve got a lot of guts here in Australia and make no mistake, our isolation won’t stop us from hopefully becoming one of the best distance running countries in the world.”
Athletics Australia national distance coordinator Tim O’Shaughnessy, who is in Poland with the Australian team, said the nation’s top off-road racers were ready for a tough assignment this weekend.
“So far so good, London was a terrific way to recover from the flight and get in some training in an English-speaking country in a pretty relaxed atmosphere,” he said.
“Now we’re in Poland it’s getting down to business, we went over the course yesterday and it will be really tough, there are a lot of turns on it and it’s very rough and we’re expecting it to be a hard race.
“The team is fit and ready to go and looking for a good result, it's a world championships and everyone’s aware of that. Collis (Birmingham) is happy with his preparation and there’s a really good feel amongst the team, they're all ready and looking to go.”
Athletics Australia for the IAAF

-holder Collis Birmingham and 2004 world cross country champion Benita Willis will headline Australia’s assault on the 2010 IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland.

Former World champion Willis leads Australian bid for World Cross Country glory

With three days to go to the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Bydgoszcz (28 March), Entry Lists for the men's and women's&nbsp;races (junior and senior) are now available. 
Click here to go to the <A class="" href="http://www.iaaf.org/mm/document/athletes/athletes/05/62/63/20100325113748_httppostedfile_at-------.el1..v01.o_19590.pdf" mce_href="http://www.iaaf.org/mm/document/athletes/athletes/05/62/63/20100325113748_httppostedfile_at-------.el1..v01.o_19590.pdf">Entry Lists</A>&nbsp;(pdf)
Please note, that Official Start Lists will only be available following the Technical Meeting on 27 March 2010.
IAAF

With three days to go to the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Bydgoszcz, Entry Lists for the men's and women's&nbsp;races (junior and senior) are now available.

Bydgoszcz 2010 - Entry Lists now available

Uganda will once again count on the heroics of Moses Kipsiro as they look for medals at the 38th IAAF World Cross Country Championships, Bydgoszcz, Poland (28 March). Kipsiro won the men’s silver medal last year in Amman, Jordan, and is a member of a 16 strong team of runners who will travel to Poland. “I am ready to take on anybody in Poland, I know everybody has prepared to take the crown and I am among them, I want to insert confidence in my team-mates,” said Kipsiro.Uganda took fourth places in the senior and junior men's team category last year and will be all set to battle for a medals in Bydgoszcz. Ugandan team Men Moses Kipsiro, James Kibet, Geoffrey Kusuro, Martin Toroitich, Dickson Huru, Ben Siwa Junior Men Moses Kibet, Soyekwo Kibet, Thomas Ayeko, Timothy Toroitich, Alex Cherop Women Annet Negesa, Rebecca Cheptengei, Viola Chemos, Mercy Chelangat, Linet Chebet

Uganda will once again count on the heroics of Moses Kipsiro as they look for medals at the 38th IAAF World Cross Country Championships, Bydgoszcz, Poland (28 March).

Kipsiro heads Ugandan team of 16 for Bydgoszcz

The IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Bydgoszcz will mark the end of an era, because for the first time since 2001 we will see neither Kenenisa Bekele nor Zersenay Tadese on the medal podium. Those two titans of cross country running dominated this race throughout the noughties but now Bekele is injured while Tadese - as we saw so spectacularly at the Lisbon Half Marathon - is prioritising road racing. Without this pair, there’s never been a better time for a Kenyan victory in the big race.
Ten championships have now passed since an individual Kenyan man won the long race at the World Cross Country Championships, the blue riband event of distance running. That man was Paul Tergat in Belfast 1999. Now a new Paul might be the one to resume that sequence. 
Paul Tanui, just 19, will come to Bydgoszcz having won the next toughest race in the world – the Kenyan Championships – by the yawning margin of 30.2 seconds. The progress of Paul Kipngetich Tanui, to give his full name, has been frightening. He was fourth in the junior race in Amman before transferring to Fukuoka where he has thrived in the Japanese corporate system with fast times on the track and Ekiden circuit. 
Of course, victory in the trials is one thing, preserving that form to the championships is another and Tanui’s vastly experienced compatriots will know all about that process. 
Leonard Komen has finished 2nd-4th-2nd-4th at the past four world championships, as a junior then a senior. Joseph Ebuya was fourth in 2008 and won at Edinburgh in January where Kenenisa Bekele was fourth. Hosea Macharinyang was fifth in 2007. Richard Matelong has Olympic and world steeplechase medals from each of the past three years. 
Yet this quartet was all beaten in their trials by Tanui and another 19 year-old, Lucas Rotich. Like Tanui, we know he’s good, but we won’t know just how good until the race unfolds in Bydgoszcz.
Gebremariam leads Ethiopia's charge
The world cross does not seem to be as much of a priority these days for Ethiopia’s men, yet they still ended up with the champion in 2009 through Gebre-egziabher Gebremariam. He is back, but after four big wins before Christmas he lost both his IAAF Permit races in 2010. One of those was to compatriot Hunegnaw Mesfin who also triumphed at the Five Mills on his 21st birthday and may be ready for a breakthrough in Poland after a disappointing 2009. 
Last year’s junior winner Ayele Abshero is on this year’s senior team, but there is no Bekele, Sihine, Cherkos, Fikadu or Jeylan. Ethiopia however may have its own Paul Tanui in Azmeraw Bekele. He was a clear-cut winner of the Ethiopian trial race and won the Marrakech half marathon, but at the time of writing we don’t even know how old he is. Clearly he has minimal international experience and that will be a disadvantage.
If any Eritrean is going to take over Tadese’s mantle on the country, it will be his training partner, the tall Samuel Tsegay. He impressed with his fifth place at the World Half Marathon Championships and looks set to climb much higher than his 16th place finish in Amman. The world will be looking at athletes like him who can crack the domination of “KenEth”, and another in that category will be Uganda’s Moses Kipsirio who was so near to winning in 2009. One more returning from that leading pack in Amman is Chakir Boujattaoui (MAR), who has quietly progressed since his eighth place last year.
One day, a man born outside of Africa will cause a sensation and win the World Cross Country Championships again. Bydgoszcz 2010 may be a bit soon for that, so there will be some interest not only in the first finisher from outside of Africa, but also the first European and the first without African heritage. 
One in eight of the entrants for this year’s senior race are migrants or transferees from Africa. In this category are the leading Europeans Alemayehu Bezabeh (ESP) and Mohamed Farah (GBR). Farah worked his way through to 11th in the tough conditions at Mombasa 2007 and is targeting the championships for the first time since then. 
One European entered who has already defeated the best of Kenya and Ethiopia this year is another Spaniard, Sergio Sánchez. He was world indoor silver medallist at 3000m in Doha, but surely it’s too much to ask for the same sort of result over four times that distance.
The leading European in 2009 was Spain’s Carles Castillejo in 28th place. He is entered again so it looks as if Spain will be the team to beat for the likes of Australia, Britain, France, Portugal, the United States, Japan and Poland. The Poles have one of the most interesting entries, Jaroslaw Cichocki (38). He last competed in the World Cross Country Championships as a junior in 1990. At a time when the possible winner of this year’s race wasn’t even born. Junior race - Uganda’s Golden Opportunity
There is a possibility that for the first time since 1991, the gold could go somewhere other than Ethiopia or Kenya. The two men who finished ahead of Uganda’s Moses Kibet in Amman are now seniors. Kibet performed impressively against seniors in Seville and Elgóibar then retained his national junior title. Can he become only the fourth Ugandan to win a world gold?
If not, the title could go to a 16-year-old for the first time in a decade. Apart from Kibet, Japheth Korir is the highest-placed returnee from Amman, having finished fifth in 2009. He was fourth in this year’s Kenyan trial which was won by the experienced Charles Kibet, a junior team gold medallist at the last two World Championships. Kenya has now won the last 10 team titles and 20 of the last 21, losing only to Ethiopia in Marrakech 1998.
In Bydgoszcz the Ethiopian team will be spearheaded by Biftu Gashaw and Woldsenbet Debebe who were seventh and eighth in Amman but just sixth and seventh in their own country’s trial race. 
Perhaps Eritrea can again upset the Kenyan/Ethiopian duopoly as they did with their team silvers in 2007. They bring back three top 20 finishers from last year including 16 year-old Goitom Kifle.
The junior race can hold a special level of excitement because individual reputations do not count for so much. There’s no telling how good an athlete might be at this stage of their development, though obviously it helps to come from Kenya, Ethiopia, Eritrea or Uganda. 
There will be a race within a race to see who can be the first finisher from outside this bloc. In 2009 that honour went to the USA’s German Fernandez who was a brilliant 11th. That might be a bit too much to expect of this winter’s US number one Trevor Dunbar who hails from Kodiak in Alaska, so at least he will be unworried by the much colder conditions Bydgoszcz will provide in comparison with 2009. Another used to the cold will be Norway’s Sondre Nordstad Moen, a former cross country ski champion who surely will improve on last year’s top European placing of 50th.
Sadly the number of European entrants in this race is falling. Twenty years ago in?Aix-les-Bains, 73 of the 126 finishers represented countries from Europe. In 2010 the provisional total for Europe is half of that including just five scoring teams compared with 12 in 1990. One of those 12 became the last European junior men’s team to stand on the podium. They were the Italians who were led by 18 year-old Stefano Baldini.
Much better placed to challenge for team medals this time round are Japan. Their great strength in depth may pay dividends as that country fields three sub-29 minute 10,000m runners. Traditionally it has been the Japanese junior women who have grabbed team bronzes but actually their junior men were the first to achieve this feat ... in 1987 when the World Championships last came to Poland.
Mark Butler for the IAAF
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Bydgoszcz will mark the end of an era, because for the first time since 2001 we will see neither Kenenisa Bekele nor Zersenay Tadese on the medal podium. Those two titans of cross country running dominated this race throughout the noughties but now Bekele is injured while Tadese - as we saw so spectacularly at the Lisbon Half Marathon - is prioritising road racing. Without this pair, there’s never been a better time for a Kenyan victory in the big race.

Bydgoszcz 2010 - Time for another Paul? Men's Races Preview

Last year in Amman, Linet Masai lost the World Cross Country individual title to team-mate Florence Kiplagat on the uphill finish to the Bisharat Golf Club.
This year, the 20-year-old Masai faces an uphill battle of a different nature if she is to keep the individual title in Kenyan hands at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Bydgoszcz. Leading the Ethiopian team will be three-time champion Tirunesh Dibaba, who won in Edinburgh in 2008 but did not run in Amman.
Kenya and Ethiopia should again contend for the individual and team honours in Bydgoszcz. Strong as each nation is in depth, Masai and Dibaba should be the standard-bearers for their respective teams.
Each has an impressive set of numbers on her side. Before missing last year, Dibaba’s record over the previous four years at the world cross-country went first in 2005, first in 2006, second in 2007 and first in 2008. In 2005, during the 10-year period in which the short race was also on the programme, the Ethiopian star won the double.
At 20, Masai’s record is not as long, but it is nonetheless impressive. Third in 2008 behind Dibaba and Mestawet Tufa; second last year. Were it not for Dibaba, there would be a certain mathematical inevitability about her chances this time. Masai also inherited Dibaba’s World track title at 10,000 metres in Berlin last year.
Masai has been in imposing cross-country form this season, with wins in Soria last November and the Cross Italica in Seville in January. She also won her own national title in Nairobi last month, somewhat surprisingly her first major domestic victory. Her convincing win by some 20 seconds over Lineth Chepkurui came despite losing a shoe at the half-way point of the race.
Kidane and Melkamu also in the mix
In looking for others who might challenge for individual honours, it is hard to go beyond the Kenyan and Ethiopian squads. Chepkurui was fourth in Amman last year as Kenya won the team title handily. Margaret Wangare and Emily Muge finished close behind her in the selection race.
On the Ethiopian side, Werknesh Kidane, the 2003 long-course champion, returns after two year’s maternity leave. It is hard to assess her form, she finished some way behind Meselech Melkamu and Mamitu Daska in the Ethiopian trial, but as a former winner she must be respected.
Melkamu, too, has her claims. Three times she has been a bronze medallist and she also took the silver medal behind Masai in the Berlin 10,000m.
Looking beyond East Africa, Benita Willis is the only other former winner (long-course 2004, running as Benita Johnson) in the race. She won the Australian selection trial but her domestic form on the track has been patchy. As a proven cross-country runner, she demands respect.
Shalane Flanagan of the USA was a bronze medallist in the Beijing Olympic 10,000 metres and a clear winner of the US title. Other than that, however, her cross-country form is not outstanding, with a best at world level of 14th in the now-defunct short race in 2004.
It's not all about&nbsp;African runners&nbsp;
Hayley Yelling of Great Britain won the European title in Dublin late last year. Ana Dulce Felix won Portugal’s trial at the Almond Blossom Race on 7 March.
With Dibaba, Kidane and Melkamu, Ethiopia will make a strong bid to regain the team title lost to Kenya in Amman last year. The result could well come down to the fourth finisher.
The bronze medal appears up for grabs. Portugal took third last time, and its four scoring members in Amman - Felix, Sara Moreira, Ana Dias and Analia Rosa - all return to Bydgoszcz. Australia was third in Edinburgh and again will be headed by Willis. But marathoner Lisa Weightman, a top-20 finisher in Edinburgh and Amman - is not running this time and the team has also been hit by the withdrawal of in-form Nikki Chapple through injury. Lara Tamsett, Eloise Wellings and Anna Thompson still provide strong back-up.
Flanagan heads a strong US team and Yelling will be backed up by the consistent Freya Murray and Stephanie Twell as she seeks to lead Britain to its first senior women’s medal since Brussels in 2004. Japan, Spain and Morocco are never far away, the latter returning five of the team which finished sixth on count-back last year.
With rain and mud predicted for the championships, how well runners handle the conditions could be the x-factor in deciding individual and team results.
Junior Race
Two-time winner Genzebe Dibaba, younger sister of Tirunesh, will be looking for a unique hat-trick of junior wins in Bydgoszcz. She faces last year’s runner-up, Mercy Cherono of Kenya, along with her Kenyan team-mate Nelly Chebet (fifth in Amman).
Dibaba ran the senior women’s race at the Ethiopian trial and pulled out with an injury, but presumably her form is better than that. In her absence, little-known Afera Godfay beat World Youth 3000m bronze medallist Genet Yalew and Emebet Anteneh, seventh in the junior race in Amman.
Chebet and her team-mate Purity Cherotich Rionoripo are the reigning World youth champions at 1500 and 3000 metres, respectively, while Mercy Cherono already has a Bydgoszcz gold medal to her name, having won the 3000 at the 2008 World junior titles.
Japan and Great Britain have fought for the minor medal in the past two editions of the World Cross Country and both boast strong squads again.
The Japanese are again headed by Nanaka Izawa, who won the selection trial race. Izawa finished 17th in Amman last year, with her team-mates packing in close behind. Emelia Gorecka, who was too young to represent Britain at last year’s European cross-country championships, won the trial for Bydgoszcz. Thanks to a 16th birthday in between, Gorecka can represent this time.
&nbsp;She will be joined by a strong team, including Hannah Walker and Annabel Gummow who finished second and third respectively in the trials.
Len Johnson for the IAAF

Last year in Amman, Linet Masai lost the World Cross Country individual title to team-mate Florence Kiplagat on the uphill finish to the Bisharat Golf Club.

Bydgoszcz 2010 - Can Dibaba prevent Masai's rise to top spot? - Women's Races Preview

IAAF Ambassador Wilson Kipketer was in Bydgoszcz last weekend to promote next Sunday’s IAAF World Cross Country Championships (28 March).
Kipketer’s positive personality lit up the dull sky above Bydgoszcz. Following on from a rainy day on Saturday (20), the Danish World 800m record holder led a nearly 200 strong group on a promotional run in beautiful weather on Sunday morning. It was as if Kipketer’s ever smiling face had temporarily even charmed Mother-Nature into believing it was spring. But without his influence outdoors it was&nbsp;quickly back to normal, as virtually as soon as the run finished and Kipketer left the course to attend a press conference, the heavens opened up again with more rain! 
But thankfully the past week has been generally much warmer in Bydgoszcz, sunny at times and what is also important, dry, so only a week after the Polish national championships took place on a snowy, muddy course, now the surface is getting better and better.
Kipketer’s schedule in Bydgoszcz was exceptionally tight and he used every opportunity to let his infectious smile promote the World Cross Country Championships, sharing his experiences and of course signing lots of autographs and photos.
Beginning on Saturday morning with a short tour of the course tour, and then after making a few TV interviews, Kipketer visited City Hall. A very positive meeting with the Mayor Konstanty Dombrowicz finished with the proposal that Kipketer help the city as an advisor to build a sports programme for the young generation. 
Then in between two visits to the biggest shopping center in the city, the Focus Mall, to meet hoards of youngsters and sign autographs, Kipketer was taken to a volleyball match. 
The audience at what was the last match of the season for Bydgoszcz’s team Delecta was 2500 spectators, and they gave a real enthusiastic and noisy welcome to the 800m star who was accompanied by the WXC 2010 mascot, ‘Crossby’. 
In the late afternoon there was another meeting with the public at “Wegliszek” Café down town with a video presentation about Kipketer’s career.
On Sunday morning, in the promotional run Kipketer was accompanied by Andreas Jonsson, who is one of the best speedway riders in the world representing the Bydgoszcz team 'Polonia'.
“My team is on stand-by to show Wilson how to ride a speedway motorbike (without brakes and gears; the sport of Speedway is very popular in both Denmark and Poland). The next time he visits Bydgoszcz he should just call us,” said Jonsson, who was a little nervous ahead of the run.
“Maybe one lap (of the course) will be enough,” Kipketer reassured the reluctant runner.
“I enjoy staying in Bydgoszcz a lot," said Kipketer.&nbsp;"This is the fourth time and each time I can feel and see that the city is really open not only for athletics but for sport in general. I hope to come back here.”
“Today I invite the people of Bydgoszcz to support the best cross country runners on next Sunday. I wish you a successful championship,” concluded the IAAF Ambassador.&nbsp;&nbsp; 
Maciej Lopatto (LOC) for the IAAF

- IAAF Ambassador Wilson Kipketer was in Bydgoszcz last weekend to promote next Sunday’s IAAF World Cross Country Championships (28 March).

WORLD ATHLETICS CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS

Bydgoszcz marks Dibaba's healthy return to World Championships competition

Chebet lets her legs do the talking - Bydgoszcz 2010

Joseph Ebuya ends Kenyan drought - Men's Senior race report

Kenyans rule supreme in Bydgoszcz

Chebet's strong finish prevails - Women's Senior race report - Bydgoszcz 2010