World Cross Country Championships: Chebet bags senior gold in dramatic finish

The commentator had already called the cold for Letesenbet Gidey, so had the rest of the world to be honest! 

However, in a case of never counting your chicks before they hatch, and lessons on running one's own race, Beatrice Chebet, who never gave up when the Ethiopian kicked and kept the chase, swooped in to claim gold when Gidey lost her footing with less than 10m to go. 

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It was one of best displays of mental strength in distance running. While Gidey kept glancing over her shoulders in a clear indicator she was not sure of her lead, Chebet kept the faith and raced on.

The Kenyan closed in on the Ethiopian and would still have given her a chase down the finish line even without the fall. 

Chebet clocked 33:48 to upgrade her 2019 junior gold to a senior one, defending the title won by Hellen Obiri in 2019. 

Ethiopia’s Tsigie Gebreselama was second in 33:56 while Agnes Jebet completed an All-African podium and a Kenyan 1-3 in 34:00. 

"I had already accepted fate that I was going for silver when she kicked. However, when I noticed she wasn't moving as fast I decided to up.my pace and try catch up. I was not expecting to win but I am so happy I worked hard and kept the pace going even when it looked impossible," an elated Chebet said at the finish line. 

Beatrice continues a Kenyan dominance in the senior women's title. No other country has won the senior title since Tirunesh Dibaba's title for Ethiopia in 2008. 

She also helped Kenya reclaim the women's team title they had lost to Ethiopia in 2019.

Florence Kiplagat (2009), Emily Chebet (2010, 2013), Vivian Cheruiyot (2011), late Agnes Tirop (2015), Irene Cheptai (2017) and Hellen Obiri (2019) have maintained the winning streak. 

Meanwhile, it was not all gloom in the men's senior race as despite missing on the podium with two-time champion Geoffrey Kamworor finishing fourth, the men won the team title. 

Kamworor finished in 29:37 with Kibiwott Kandie, Daniel Simiu and Sebastian Kimaru following him home in fifth through to seventh to lock the team title ahead of Ethiopia and Uganda. 

2019 silver medalist Jacob Kiplimo clocked 29:17 to get the gold ahead of Ethiopia’s Berihu Aregawi (29:26) and 2019 champion Joshua Cheptegei in 29:37. 

Kenya had missed out on the senior men's team title since 2011 finishing third in 2013 and bagging silver in 2015, 2017 and 2019