Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo celebrates winning in the men’s 5000m final athletics event at the Alexander Stadium, on day nine of the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, central England, on August 6, 2022. [File, Standard]
Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo, the reigning Chicago Marathon champion, won his third consecutive men’s crown on Saturday at the World Cross Country Championships.
The 25-year-old completed the hat-trick over 10 kilometers in a winning time of 28min 18sec with Ethiopia’s Berihu Aregawi 18sec back in a third consecutive runner-up finish, with Kenya’s Daniel Ebenyo third in 28:45.
Kiplimo became only the fourth man to win three world cross country titles in a row after Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele (2002-2006) and the Kenyans Paul Tergat (1995-1999) and John Ngugi (1986-1989).
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“To win three times, I’m so happy about it,” Kiplimo said. “I think it’s about the consistency in your training. Another thing it’s about is believing in yourself.”
Kiplimo was last year’s London Marathon runner-up in 2hr 3min 37sec in his debut at the 26.2-mile distance, then captured the Chicago Marathon in 2:02:23 last October, a quick turnaround that added to the challenge of defending his title.
“Today was the hardest one,” Kiplimo said.
Agnes Ngetich, the world 10km record holder, took the women’s title in 31:28 over 10km to deliver Kenya a 10th consecutive women’s crown at Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee, Florida.
Ngetich defeated Uganda’s Joy Cheptoyek by 42 seconds in a dominant performance with Ethiopia’s Senayet Getachew third in 32:13 over a course featuring sand, water and mud zones plus barriers resembling fallen logs.
In the men’s final, Kiplimo was second by two seconds at the mid-race mark and with two kilometers remaining was alongside Aregawi and world half marathon runner-up Ebenyo.
Kiplimo surged ahead by eight seconds on Aregawi entering the final kilometer and raced across the finish line to cheers.
He does not expect to seek a fourth world cross country crown as he will turn his attention to the marathon.
“I think now maybe this one is going to be the last one because of the marathon… because I’ll be training for the marathon,” Kiplimo said.
Aregawi, the 10,000m runner-up at the 2024 Paris Olympics, had lost by nine seconds to Kiplimo in 2023 and by only three seconds in 2024 in the two prior editions of the event.
Jimmy Gressier, the Frenchman who had been tipped for a podium finish after his shock 10,000m victory on the track at last year’s world championships, was a disappointing 15th.
Kenya’s Beatrice Chebet, the reigning 5,000 and 10,000m champion, did not seek a third consecutive women’s title because she is beginning a 2026 maternity break.
That left Ngetich to continue Kenya’s title streak and she did so in epic fashion.
Ngetich grabbed the early lead and began to stretch a gap after two kilometers, pulling away to run alone through the Florida pine trees and reach the midpoint at 15:20.
Ngetich led by 35 seconds after seven kilometers and stayed in command to the finish to win by the second-largest margin in the race’s history, trailing only the 1980 victory of Norway’s Greta Waitz by 44 seconds over 4.82km.
It was Ngetich’s first cross country competition since winning on home soil in last February’s Sirikwa Classic.
Ngetich was third behind Chebet at the 2023 worlds and fourth in a Kenyan top-four sweep in 2024.
Ethiopia swept the men’s and women’s team titles with Kenya second and Uganda third in each.