Agnes Ngetich wins World Cross women’s crown

Kenyan storms to victory by 42 seconds from Joy Cheptoyek of Uganda and Senayet Getachew of Ethiopia.

Agnes Ngetich put on a masterclass to win the senior women’s race at the World Cross Country Championships on Saturday (Jan 10) in Tallahassee.

Ngetich, the bronze medallist in Bathurst in 2023, powered away from her rivals to win by around 250 metres as she took obstacles such as the mud, sand and water sections in her stride over the 10km distance.

The 24-year-old has run a world 10km record of 28:46 on the roads and she looked just as comfortable here on the varying surfaces in Florida.

Beatrice Chebet of Kenya was not here to defend her title but she would have had her work cut out to beat the flying Ngetich.

As east Africans filled the top nine places, first non-African finisher was Ednah Kurgat of the United States in 10th with Lauren Ryan of Australia in 13th and Maria Forero of Spain in 14th also excelling.

Britain’s Megan Keith was the leading Brit home in 25th. Keith made a bold attempt to make the top 10 but struggled in the latter stages as temperatures hit 25C and dropped to her knees after finishing.

GB team-mate Poppy Tank was 29th with Phoebe Anderson 35th and Verity Ockenden 41st.

Ethiopia comfortably won the team prize from Kenya and Uganda as Britain finished seventh.