Athletics Canada sending 28 athletes to World Cross Country Championships in Bathurst, Australia

Athletics Canada is sending 28 athletes to the World Cross Country Championships which are taking place in Bathurst, Australia on February 18.

The last international cross-country meet to take place before the pandemic was the 2020 Pan Am Cross Country Cup on February 29 in Victoria, BC. It’s been since 2019 that a Worlds meet has taken place.

Thelma Wright was involved in landing the Cup for Victoria and is also involved in these Bathurst championships.

“We have great leadership, talent, and experience to allow Canada to meet the tremendous challenge of World Cross Country racing,” said Team Lead Thelma Wright. “Canada historically has excellent individual and team results in both men’s and women’s U20 races, as well as some outstanding individual performances in our Senior ranks. This year’s team will be no different and we look to some very positive results and surprise performances.”

Athletics Canada to send team of 28 athletes to World Cross-Country Championships in Bathurst, Australia.

Details: https://t.co/F1XYYp1GPm

— Athletics Canada (@AthleticsCanada) February 1, 2023

In 2019 in Aarhus, Canada finished seventh in the mixed relay, sixth in the women’s U20 race, 12th in the men’s U20 race, 16th in the open men’s race, and seventh in the open women’s race. While Wright thinks all of Canada’s teams have a chance at improving on their 2019 results, she believes Canada’s senior women have an especially great shot at bettering their past ranking.

“With five of our six senior women having previous world cross-country experience, and with four Olympians on the team, our Senior Women’s team is one of our strongest in a decade.” 

Although cross-country running started in an organized way in Great Britain in the early 1800s, the World Cross Country Championships first began in 1973 with an annual event. It has since moved to every other year. This is the first time that the meet is being held in Australia. And the second time in Oceania as Auckland, New Zealand hosted in 1988.

The most prolific athlete at the World Cross Country Championships is Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele with six long course wins and six short course win and five times doubling by winning both the short and the long races five times. He also won the U20 race and finished second once. Kenya’s Paul Tergat won five years in a row from 1995 to 1999.

Norway’s Greta Waitz was the most successful on the women’s side having won four times during the 1980s. American Lynn Jennings won three times in a row and Kenyan Derartu Tulu and Ethiopian Tirunesh Dibaba have won multiple times more recently. Most athletes who succeed at the World Cross Country Championships go on to have strong international careers on the roads and tracks including Tergat, Bekele, Paula Radcliffe, and most recently Hellen Obiri who holds Kenyan records in the one-mile, 3000m, and 5000m distance events. Obiri has won two Olympic silver medals and two World Athletics Championships gold medals. She has now transitioned to the marathon.

The top-placing male Canadian at the World Championships was St. John’s Newfoundland and Labrador’s Paul McCloy who placed eighth in 1987 in Warszawa, Poland.

The top Canadian female was Lynn Kanuka (nee Williams) who took bronze during the 1989 event in Stavanger, Norway.

2023 WORLD CROSS-COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS – TEAM CANADA ROSTER

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