1973 World Cross Country Championships

The first IAAF World Cross Country Championships the IAAF took place on 17th March 1973 at the racetrack from Waregem ( Belgium instead).

The men started over a distance of 11.98 km, the women over 3.99 km and the juniors over 7.02 km.

Results

Men

Individual evaluation

space	athlete	country	Time (min)
1	Pekka Päivärinta	FIN	35: 46.4
2	Mariano Haro	ESP	35: 46.5
3	Rod Dixon	NZL	36:00
4th	Tapio cantans	FIN	36:05
5	Willy Polleunis	BEL	36:05
6th	Roger Clark	CLOSELY	36:08
7th	Juan Hidalgo	ESP	36:12
8th	Gaston Roelants	BEL	36:13

Of 156 athletes who started, 148 reached the finish.

Participants from German-speaking countries:

• 44: Detlef Uhlemann ( FRG )
• 56: Gerd Frähmcke ( FRG )
• 87: Albrecht Moser ( SUI )
• 88: Wilhelm Jungbluth ( FRG )
• 94: Karl-Heinz Betz ( FRG )
• 103: Ludwig Niedermeier ( FRG )
• 123: Falko Will ( FRG )
• 139: Jean-Pierre Berset ( SUI )
• DNF: Willi Wagner ( FRG )
• DNF: Wolfgang Krüger ( FRG )

Team evaluation

space	Country and athletes	Total points and individual placement
1	Belgium Willy Polleunis Gaston Roelants Erik De Beck Erik Gyselinck Karel Lismont Marc Smet	109 5 8 18 19 28 31 00 00 0 0 0 0
2	Soviet Union Nikolai Swiridow Pawel Andrejew Nikolai Puklakow Boris Oljanizki Walentin Sotow Vladimir Merkushin	119 9 17 21 22 23 27 00 0 0 0 0 0
3	New Zealand Rod Dixon Richard Tayler Bryan Rose Euan Robertson Eddie Gray Nathan Healey	136 3 12 14 15 38 54 00 0 0 0 0 0

A total of 18 teams were rated. The German team finished 14th with 508 points.

Women

Individual evaluation

space	Athlete	country	Time (min)
1	Paola Pigni	ITA	13: 45.2
2	Joyce Smith	CLOSELY	13:58
3	Joske Van Santberghe	BEL	14:01
4th	Rita Ridley	CLOSELY	14:02
5	Sinikka Tyynela	FIN	14:09
6th	Jean Lochhead	WHALE	14:12
7th	Marijke Moser	SUI	14:13
8th	Irja Pettinen	FIN	14:14

Of the 75 athletes who started, 74 made it to the finish line.

Further participants from German-speaking countries:

• 18: Christel Rosenthal ( FRG )
• 21: Christa Kofferschläger ( FRG )
• 26: Manuela Preuss ( FRG )
• 34: Gerda Ranz ( FRG )
• 54: Sylvia Schenk ( FRG )

Team evaluation

space	Country and athletes	Total points and individual placement
1	England Joyce Smith Rita Ridley Penny Yule Carol Gould	40 0 2 04 14 20
2	Finland Sinikka Tyynelä Irja Pettinen Nina Holmén Aila Koivistoinen	73 0 5 08 10 50
3	United States Doris Brown Francie Larrieu Vicki Foltz Caroline Walker	90 15 16 29 30

A total of twelve teams were rated. The German team came in fifth with 99 points.

Juniors

Individual evaluation

space	athlete	country	Time (min)
1	Jim Brown	SCO	20: 52.8
2	José Haro	ESP	21: 00.6
3	Léon Schots	BEL	21: 07.2

All 55 athletes who started reached the finish.

Participants from German-speaking countries:

• 22: Bernhard Vifian ( SUI )
• 28: Markus Ryffel ( SUI )
• 50: Hugo Wey ( SUI )

Team evaluation

space	Country and athletes	Total points and individual placement
1	Spain José Haro José Luis Ruiz Fernando Cerrada	18 0 2 07 09
2	Italy Franco Fava Aldo Tomasini Luca Bigatello	22 0 4 05 13
3	England Dennis Coates Barry Smith Tony Staynings	24 0 6 08 10

A total of twelve teams were rated. The Swiss team finished eighth with 100 points.

Web links

• Senior Men's race ( Memento of October 16, 2007 in the Internet Archive ), Senior Women's race ( Memento of October 16, 2007 in the Internet Archive ), Junior Men's race ( Memento of October 16, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) - results on the Athchamps website
• Hace 37 años: el primer campeonato mundial de cross , illustrated review by Paul Martin in the blog Atletismo e Historia, March 26, 2010 (Spanish)