Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo and Beatrice Chebet of Kenya successfully defended their world cross country titles in Belgrade.
It’s just the fifth time in history that both the senior men’s and women’s champions have retained their titles at the championships — the first since Ethiopian duo Kenenisa Bekele and Tirunesh Dibaba did in (2005/06).
Kiplimo, 23, made it three successive world crowns for Uganda — Joshua Cheptegei winning the 2019 edition — timing 28 minutes 09 seconds over the 10,000m trip.
Kiplimo joins legends Bekele and Paul Tergat in defending the title, although he has still to go some way to equal their achievements of winning five in a row.
“It actually feels more exciting to successfully defend my title than to win the first one,” said Kiplimo. “But it was also tougher. I came here expecting I could win again, but the field was really strong. The course was fine, a little challenging with the obstacles. It was a little tough running in the heat, but that wasn’t a major issue.—AFP
