World Cross Country Championships 2003

The 31 IAAF World Cross Country Championships the IAAF found in on 29 and 30 March 2003 Lausanne / Avenches ( Switzerland instead).

course

The venue was the hippodrome of the Institut équestre national d'Avenches (INEA) in Avenches, 60 km from Lausanne, where the teams stayed. The men covered 12.355 km on the long distance, the women on the long distance and the juniors 7.92 km, the juniors 6.215 km and the short distance athletes of both sexes 4.03 km.

Competitions

The junior women's race, the men's short-distance race and the women's long-distance race took place on March 29 and the other three races on the following day.

Kenenisa Bekele defended his short distance title by leaving his Kenyan rivals John Kemboi Kibowen and Benjamin Limo behind with an enormous sprint 250 m from the finish . Neither could it be seen that he had survived a typhoid infection a month earlier , nor that he had spent the evening before at an official IAAF dinner on Lake Geneva (he had never been on a ship before) and therefore went to bed at midnight had gone. The first European to cross the finish line was the Frenchman Ismaïl Sghyr of Moroccan origin in ninth place. Christian Belz became the first non-African runner in 18th place in front of his home crowd.

As in the previous year, Kenenisa Bekele made the double in the endurance race. On the last lap he ran out a lead of 13 seconds over the Kenyan Patrick Mutuku Ivuti , the 1999 silver medalist. Bronze went to Gebregziabher Gebremariam , the junior world champion of the previous year. The Somali-born American Mebrahtom Keflezighi came in eleventh as the best runner from a non-African country; the first European was the Portuguese Eduardo Henriques in 16th place.

In the women’s long haul, Deena Drossin from the USA, who was runner-up last year, led the long haul. She was only able to follow Werknesh Kidane , who had won silver on the short haul last year. 300 m from the finish, the Ethiopian showed off her stronger sprint force and won with a nine-second lead. The fight for the bronze medal was won by Ethiopian Merima Denboba two seconds ahead of her compatriot Eyerusalem Kuma and the first Kenyan Magdaline Jepkorir Chemjor . Due to the disqualification of sixth placed Pamela Chepchumba , who was the first athlete from Kenya to be found misusing erythropoietin (EPO) in a doping test the day before , Colleen De Reuck , who was third in the previous year, moved up to seventh place.

On the short haul, Edith Masai defended her title and prevented a double from Werknesh Kidane by a second. Two seconds behind, Kenyan Jane Wanjiku Gakunyi secured bronze in front of her compatriot , Isabella Ochichi , who was third in the previous year, and Benita Johnson , who came fourth in 2002, from Australia . The previous day's junior world champion Tirunesh Dibaba came in seventh, one place ahead of the first European, Alla Schiljajewa .

Results

Men

Long haul

Individual evaluation

space	athlete	country	Time (min)
1	Kenenisa Bekele	ETH	35:56
2	Patrick Mutuku Ivuti	KEN	36:09
3	Gebregziabher Gebremariam	ETH	36:17
4th	Richard Limo	KEN	36:39
5	Paul Koech	KEN	36:42
6th	John Cheruiyot Korir	KEN	36:50
7th	Sileshi Sihine	ETH	37:03
8th	Hicham Chatt	MAR	37:07

Of 117 registered athletes, 113 started and 102 reached the finish.

As the only participant from a German-speaking country, the Swiss Bruno Heuberger came in 70th place (40:23).

Team evaluation

space	Country and athletes	Total and individual points (individual placement in brackets)
1	Kenya Patrick Mutuku Ivuti Richard Limo Paul Koech John Cheruiyot Korir	17 0 2 04 05 06
2	Ethiopia Kenenisa Bekele Gebregziabher Gebremariam Sileshi Sihine Ketema Nigusse	23 0 1 03 07 12 (13)
3	Morocco Hicham Chatt Khalid El Aamri Abderrahim Goumri Jaouad Gharib	51 0 8 10 13 (15) 20 (23)

A total of 16 teams were rated.

Short haul

Individual evaluation

space	athlete	country	Time (min)
1	Kenenisa Bekele	ETH	11:01 am
2	John Kemboi Kibowen	KEN	11:04
3	Benjamin soda	KEN	11:06
4th	Michael Kipkorir Kipyego	KEN	11:18
5	Thomas Kiplitany	KEN	11:20
6th	Khalid El Aamri	MAR	11:22
7th	Meba Tadesse	ETH	11:24
8th	David Kilel	KEN	11:25

Of 138 registered athletes, 126 started, all of whom reached the finish. The Spaniard Alberto García was subsequently disqualified for doping .

Participants from German-speaking countries:

• 18: Christian Belz ( SUI ), 11:39
• 33: Viktor Röthlin ( SUI ), 11:47
• 45: Philipp Bandi ( SUI ), 11:56
• 72: Peter Philipp ( SUI ), 12:12
• 94: Jérôme Schaffner ( SUI ), 12:27
• 105: Michael Mächler ( SUI ), 12:37

Team evaluation

space	Country and athletes	Total and individual points (individual placement in brackets)
1	Kenya John Kemboi Kibowen Benjamin Limo Michael Kipkorir Kipyego Thomas Kiplitany	14 0 2 03 04 05
2	Ethiopia Kenenisa Bekele Meba Tadesse Tessema Absher Abiyote Endale	31 0 1 07 11 (12) 12 (13)
3	Morocco Khalid El Aamri Abderrahim Goumri Ahmed Baday Abdelkader Hachlaf	44 0 6 09 (10) 14 (15) 15 (16)

A total of 17 teams were rated. The Swiss team finished seventh with 138 points.

Women

Long haul

Individual evaluation

space	Athlete	country	Time (min)
1	Werknesh Kidane	ETH	25:53
2	Deena Drossin	United States	26:02
3	Merima Denboba	ETH	26:28
4th	Eyerusalem Kuma	ETH	26:30
5	Magdaline Jepkorir Chemjor	KEN	26:33
6th	Elizabeth Rumokol	KEN	26:37
7th	Colleen De Reuck	United States	26:49
8th	Caroline Cheptanui Kilel	KEN	26:55

Of 68 registered athletes, 66 started and 63 crossed the finish line. The Kenyan Pamela Chepchumba , who originally took sixth place, and the Moroccan Asmae Leghzaoui were subsequently disqualified for doping.

Participants from German-speaking countries:

• 35: Marie-Luce Romanens ( SUI ), 28:24
• 37: Claudia Oberli ( SUI ), 28:34
• 44: Mirja Moser ( SUI ), 28:56

Team evaluation

space	Country and athletes	Total and individual points (individual placement in brackets)
1	Ethiopia Werknesh Kidane Merima Denboba Eyerusalem Kuma Tereza Yohannes	17 0 1 03 04 09
2	Kenya Magdaline Jepkorir Chemjor Elizabeth Rumokol Caroline Cheptanui Kilel Joan Jepkorir Aiyabei	30 0 5 06 08 11 (12)
3	United States Deena Drossin Colleen De Reuck Katie McGregor Elva Dryer	36 0 2 07 13 (15) 14 (17)

A total of six teams were rated. The Moroccan team subsequently fell out of the ranking due to the disqualification of Asmae Leghzaoui.

Short haul

Individual evaluation

space	Athlete	country	Time (min)
1	Edith Masai	KEN	12:43
2	Werknesh Kidane	ETH	12:44
3	Jane Wanjiku Gakunyi	KEN	12:46
4th	Isabella Ochichi	KEN	12:48
5	Benita Johnson	OUT	12:48
6th	Merima Denboba	ETH	12:52
7th	Tirunesh Dibaba	ETH	12:54 pm
8th	Alla Shilyayeva	RUS	12:56

Out of 103 registered athletes, 99 started and 98 reached the finish. The Moroccan Asmae Leghzaoui , who took eleventh place, was subsequently disqualified for doping.

Participants from German-speaking countries:

• 39: Anita Weyermann ( SUI ), 13:44
• 57: Andrea Etter ( SUI ), 13:57
• 74: Christina Carruzzo ( SUI ), 14:19
• 81: Monique Zimmer ( SUI ), 14:34
• 91: Renata Bucher ( SUI ), 3:24 pm

Team evaluation

space	Country and athletes	Total and individual points (individual placement in brackets)
1	Kenya Edith Masai Jane Wanjiku Gakunyi Isabella Ochichi Priscah Jepleting Ngetich	18 0 1 03 04 10 (11)
2	Ethiopia Werknesh Kidane Merima Denboba Tirunesh Dibaba Ejegayehu Dibaba	24 0 2 06 07 09
3	Russia Alla Schiljajewa Olga Romanowa Anastassija Subowa Wiktorija Klimina	76 0 8 13 (14) 26 (30) 29 (34)

A total of 16 teams were rated. The Moroccan team dropped from third to fourth place due to the disqualification of Asmae Leghzaoui. The Swiss team finished 14th with 194 points.

Juniors

Individual evaluation

space	athlete	country	Time (min)
1	Eliud Kipchoge	KEN	22:47
2	Boniface Toroitich Kiprop	UGA	22:49
3	Solomon Busendich	KEN	22:51

Of 122 registered athletes, 121 started and 116 reached the finish.

Participants from German-speaking countries:

• 85: Rolf Rüfenacht ( SUI ), 26:57
• 88: Daniel Fässler ( SUI ), 27:02
• 92: Mathias Büschi ( SUI ), 27:11
• 94: Claudio Ammann ( SUI ), 27:17
• 106: Patrick Gentsch ( SUI ), 28:11
• 113: Fabian Hertner ( SUI ), 29:18

Team evaluation

space	Country and athletes	Total and individual points (individual placement in brackets)
1	Kenya Eliud Kipchoge Solomon Busendich Augustine Kiprono Choge Moses Cheruiyot Mosop	15 0 1 03 04 07
2	Ethiopia Girma Assefa Getachew Dinku Tessema Absher Solomon Molla	28 0 5 06 08 09
3	Uganda Boniface Toroitich Kiprop James Kibet Moses Ndiema Kipsiro Isaac Kiprop	48 0 2 10 (13) 14 (18) 22 (27)

A total of 20 teams were rated. The Swiss team finished 19th with 267 points.

Juniors

Individual evaluation

space	Athlete	country	Time (min)
1	Tirunesh Dibaba	ETH	20:21
2	Peninah Biwott Jepchumba	KEN	20:22
3	Wear burqa	ETH	20:28

Of 108 registered athletes, 104 started and 100 reached the finish.

Participants from German-speaking countries:

• 21: Stefanie Murer ( SUI ), 22:38
• 82: Deborah Büttel ( SUI ), 25:15

Team evaluation

space	Country and athletes	Total and individual points (individual placement in brackets)
1	Ethiopia Tirunesh Dibaba Gelete Burka Meselech Melkamu Sentayehu Ejigu	14 0 1 03 04 06
2	Kenya Peninah Biwott Jepchumba Emily Chebet Muge Gladys Jepkemoi Chemweno Chemtai Rionotukei	22 0 2 05 07 08 (9)
3	Morocco Mariem Alaoui Selsouli Siham Hilali Najat El Fiddi Loubna Jao	78 0 9 (13) 11 (19) 13 (22) 45 (66)

A total of 16 teams were rated.

Web links

• World Cross Country Championships 2003 ( memo of March 29, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) on the IAAF website
• Senior Men's race (Long course) ( Memento of October 16, 2007 in the Internet Archive ), Senior Men's race (Short course) ( Memento of October 16, 2007 in the Internet Archive ), Senior Women's race (Long course) ( Memento of 16. October 2007 in the Internet Archive ), Senior Women's race (Short course) ( Memento from October 16, 2007 in the Internet Archive ), Junior Men's race ( Memento from October 16, 2007 in the Internet Archive ), Junior Women's race ( Memento from October 16 2007 on the Internet Archive ) - results on the Athchamps website

Coordinates: 46 ° 53 ′ 10 "  N , 7 ° 0 ′ 42"  E ; CH1903:  567,458  /  192866