In long distance running, there is one event that is the most challenging of all. While the marathon and ultra-marathon can be rough, and closing 1 500m in the Olympic decathlon can break people, to find the cauldron where the best distance runners in the world are produced, we have to look at the World Cross Country Championships. While the cross-country discipline is considered key to the development of young athletes, it is not a focal point for senior athletes, with professional runners focusing on track or road. However, every two years, the world’s best converge in…
In long distance running, there is one event that is the most challenging of all.
While the marathon and ultra-marathon can be rough, and closing 1 500m in the Olympic decathlon can break people, to find the cauldron where the best distance runners in the world are produced, we have to look at the World Cross Country Championships.
While the cross-country discipline is considered key to the development of young athletes, it is not a focal point for senior athletes, with professional runners focusing on track or road.
But every two years, the best in the world join forces in a helluva battle where the greatest champion is crowned.
Teamwork and depth
In other disciplines, athletes specialize in events from middle distance (800m – 1500m) to long distance (5,000m – 10,000m on the track and 10km – 42km on the road).
Cross country, however, see all these athletes toeing the line in the same race, and it makes for an exciting contest.
Additionally, large squads test each other’s depth by working together as a team, which adds a unique dynamic to cross country not seen in other forms of distance running.
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Usually held on muddy, uneven and undulating courses in difficult conditions, the World Cross Country Championships are designed to be rough, and to win the global title, athletes need to be fast, strong and resilient.
Because it is so difficult, of course, cross-country remains the only discipline in which South Africa has never won a medal at a major global championship.
When the country’s elite women arrived in the Nineties, they almost missed the podium on several occasions, and SA-born athletes Zola Budd (Great Britain) and Colleen de Reuck (United States) continued to win medals for other countries, the global cross. country medals continue to elude SA’s top athletes.
A promising relay team
However, on Saturday morning, South Africa’s longest drought in athletics finally came to an end when the top national team took on the mixed relay team at the World Championships in Bathurst, Australia.
The relay quartet features two-time Olympic 800m champion Caster Semenya, rising middle distance stars Prudence Sekgodiso and Ryan Mphahlele, and experienced track athlete Tshepo Tshite, and should combine well in the 4x2km race.
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If we are realistic, we have to admit that the national squad will not be able to fight at the front of the individual races against the quality international line-up at Bathurst.
But if he’s at his best, SA’s mixed relay team might give him a chance. And the long-awaited place on the podium in the most difficult event may be within reach.