Rodrigue Kwizera wins the Cross Internacional de Soria (© Asociacion ADOC)
The 68th Cross Internacional Zornotza, the first Spanish stop of this season's World Athletics Cross Country Tour Gold, takes place in Amorebieta on Sunday (23). The cast is headed by Burundi's Rodrigue Kwizera in the men's event, while the women's contest seems to be wide open.
Sunday's 8700m race will be the second outing of this cross country campaign for the 22-year-old Kwizera, who as recently as last Sunday was marginally beaten in Castellon by his compatriot Thierry Ndikumwenayo after a thrilling sprint finish at the end of the 8000m contest.
Kwizera dominated last season to finally win the Cross Country Tour. He later moved to the road where he managed a big 10km PB of 26:56 in Herzogenaurach in May and also lowered his 10,000m career best on the track to 27:25.47 in Maia. He then finished 16th at the World Athletics Championships Oregon22.
The Burundian's victory shouldn't be in jeopardy on Sunday. Italy's Iliass Aouani looks to be his toughest opponent, the 27-year-old who enjoyed a promising debut over the marathon distance by clocking 2:08:34 in Milan in April but had to settle for 19th place at the European Championships having timed 27:59.62 for the 10,000m in between.
Kenya's Peter Njeru should also be a factor following a recent half marathon PB of 1:00:29 in Italy three weeks ago. Burundi's Celestine Ndikumana is the only other non-Spanish athlete on show, while local hopes rest on Daniel Arce and Nassim Hassaous. The former finished fourth at the European Championships in Munich in the 3000m steeplechase and has a career best of 8:14.31 set in Rome this year. As for Hassaous, the 27-year-old achieved a strong cross country campaign, topped by a seventh place finish at the European Cross Country Championships in Dublin, leading the Spanish team to a silver medal.
The women's field in Amorebieta is headed by Britain's Aimee Pratt. The 25-year-old had a busy outdoor season, competing at three major championships. First she excelled at the World Championships in Oregon where she broke the British 3000m steeplechase record twice, improving it to 9:15.64 in the final to finish seventh, then she finished just outside the medals at the Commonwealth Games and finally claimed another seventh-place finish at the European Championships. She has less experience at cross country and it will be interesting to see how she navigates this surface.
Burundi's Cavaline Nahimana, Rwanda's Clementine Mukandanga and Portugal's Lia Lemos should also aim for a podium place in the 6700m contest.
The former clocked 2:31:21 in the marathon only a couple of weeks ago, while Mukandanga has already raced twice this month with two half marathon efforts to her credit, topped by a lifetime best of 1:10:25 set on 9 October. Spain's Isabel Barreiro and Cristina Ruiz will battle for top-five places after improving their 5000m PBs to 15:27.47 and 15:34.49 respectively this season.
Amorebieta hosted the World Cross Country Championships back in 1993. That year the victors were Kenya’s William Sigei and Portugal’s Albertina Dias, while a little-known legend-to-be, Britain’s former world marathon record-holder Paula Radcliffe, placed 18th as a 19-year-old in her international senior debut.
The list of illustrious past winners in Amorebieta include Ukraine's Sergey Lebed (2000), Kenya's Joseph Ebuya (2011 and 2012), Portugal's Rosa Mota (1986), Ethiopia's Gete Wami (1999 and 2000) and Kenya's Vivian Cheruiyot (2007 and 2008).
Weather forecasters predict a sunny and slightly windy day on Sunday, with the thermometer reaching 23ºC by the time of the event.
Emeterio Valiente for World Athletics
