Thierry Ndikumwenayo wins the Almond Blossom Cross Country in Albufeira (© Organisers)
Thierry Ndikumwenayo takes on Oscar Chelimo and Rodrigue Kwizera in a clash between last year’s men’s race top three at the Cross Internacional das Amendoeiras em Flor – the penultimate Gold event in this season’s World Athletics Cross Country Tour – in Albufeira on Sunday (2).
The entries for the women’s race are led by Francine Niyomukunzi, runner-up in Albufeira last year.
As was the case last year, the Cross Internacional das Amendoeiras em Flor doubles as the European Champion Clubs Cup Cross Country.
Ndikumwenayo, racing for his Spanish club Playas de Castellon, defends his title. The Olympic finalist claimed a narrow victory in the Portuguese coastal city 12 months ago as he held off Uganda’s Chelimo and Kwizera of Burundi.
Ndikumwenayo went on to place ninth at the World Cross Country Championships in Belgrade – matching the position he achieved for the first time in 2019 – before he claimed European bronze medals on the track in the 10,000m and at cross country either side of competing at the Olympic Games.
His Playas de Castellon teammate Kwizera starts the race on top of the World Cross Country Tour standings thanks to his wins last year in Amorebieta-Etxano, Atapuerca and Soria. He started 2025 with a runner-up finish in Elgoibar and will be hoping for another strong performance in Albufeira, where he has twice won in the past.
Chelimo, meanwhile, will be running for Italian team Atletica Casone Noceto and the 2022 world 5000m bronze medallist will want to go one better than his runner-up finish last year.
He was also second in both Atapuerca and Amorebieta-Etxano in October after racing at the Olympics and he opened his year with a third-place finish in San Giorgio su Legnano.
Looking to challenge them will be Burundi’s Egide Ntakarutimana, currently in the top 10 on the World Cross Country Tour standings, plus Kenya’s Gideon Kipkertich Rono, who was third at last weekend’s Cross Cup de Hannut. Kenya’s Charles Rotich, who was sixth in the U20 race at last year’s World Cross Country Championships, is also among the entries.
Like Ndikumwenayo, Likina Amebaw secured victory for Playas de Castellon in Albufeira last year. While she doesn’t return to defend her title in the women’s race, last year’s runner-up Niyomukunzi of Burundi is among the entries as she looks to go one better than last time.
Running for her Italian team Cus Pro Patria Milano, she will look to build on her third-place finish in Elgoibar at the start of the month. The double Olympic finalist also made the podium in her final three races of 2024 – in Amorebieta-Etxano, where she won, plus in Atapuerca and Soria.
Leading hopes for Sporting Clube de Braga on home soil is Portugal’s Mariana Machado, who finished sixth at the European Cross Country Championships in Antalya in December.
Machado also secured sixth place in Albufeira last year.
They will go up against Spain’s Carolina Robles, the European 3000m steeplechase finalist who finished fourth in Elgoibar earlier this month and was one place behind Machado at last year’s Cross Internacional das Amendoeiras em Flor.
Niyomukunzi currently sits third and Robles fifth on the World Cross Country Tour standings. Another athlete currently in the top 10 who is in action is Spain’s Carla Arce.
Kenya’s Sheila Jebet, who won at the Cross Cup de Hannut at the weekend, is entered for the mixed relay, which is also set to feature Uganda’s Tokyo Olympic 1500m finalist Winnie Nanyondo, Romania’s European indoor 1500m silver medallist Claudia Bobocea and Portuguese 1500m record-holder Isaac Nader.
