Mawia, Kibet storm to cross country victories in Poland

Lucy Mawia and 19-year-old Levy Kibet secured wins in the women's and men's categories at the Cross Country Bydgoszcz na Start in Poland during a World Athletics Cross Country Tour Gold event on Sunday.

Mawia timed 20:11 in the women's contest while Kibet came home at 23:18 to win the men's race, with compatriot Maureen Cherotich joining Mawia on the podium with her third-place finish after clocking 20:27.

A large pack of 10 runners ran together through the opening 2km lap, covered in 7:12. The pace then started to increase, and by the half-way stage just five women remained in contention: Mawia, fellow Kenyans Maureen Cherotich and Lilian Jepkemboi, Ethiopia’s Tsiyon Abebe and Ukraine’s Viktoria Kaliuzhna. By the end of the second lap, though, Mawia had just Abebe and Cherotich for company.

Weekly Buzz: Ababu promises heaven, Benzema gets holy grail as CR7 stocks fall

Mawia started to push on and reached the finish line of the 6km race in 20:11, 10 seconds ahead of world U20 3000m silver medallist Abebe. Cherotich finished a comfortable third in 20:27.

The men’s race similarly boiled down to three principal contenders, though they emerged much earlier in the race.

Kibet ran alongside Bahrain’s Birhanu Balew and Uganda’s Joel Ayeko for most of the race, covering the first 2km lap in 5:59 before reaching the half-way point in 11:53. The pace increased again on the next lap, which was covered in 5:46.

Wanyonyi looking to exit junior athletics category on a high

But Kibet, the 2021 world U20 5000m bronze medallist, had the better finish and pulled away from his opponents in the closing stages to win in 23:18. Balew was second in 23:25, nine seconds ahead of Ayeko.

More info by World Athletics