WXC Preview: Kenya’s Sawe to face ambitious defending champion, high-ranking rivals
Kenya's Sebastian Sawe will have to contend with a tough opposition when he turns up for the World Athletics Cross Country Championships in Belgrade on Saturday, March 30, 2024.
Among the men to give Sawe a run for his money is Uganda's Jacob Kiplimo, who is the defending champion. The 2023 runner-up, Berihu Aregawi, and Joshua Cheptegei, the 2019 champion, will also participate.
Sawe, a world half marathon champion, knows in the back of his mind that the Ugandan unit is a strong one given that they have claimed back-to-back senior men’s titles through Kiplimo and Cheptegei.
Sawe will lead the Kenyan team looking to assert itself against the regional Ethiopian and Ugandan rivals.
Ishmael Kipkurui, world U20 cross-country champion; Nicholas Kipkorir, a world 5km bronze medalist; as well as Samwel Chebolei Masai, Benson Kiplangat, and Gideon Kipkertich Rono, are the other members of the Sawe-led squad.
Uganda's Belgrade team
Martin Kiprotich and Dan Kibet are the other members of the Ugandan squad. Kiprotich finished 18th in Bathurst, as Kibet finished second at last month’s Ugandan Cross Country Championships.
Although Kiplimo is returning to the global stage after an injury saw him sit out of the World Championships in Budapest last August, he remains one of the pre-race favourite. 
He made a return to action in October and went on to win the World Cross Country Tour Gold meeting in Atapuerca before a victory at the Zevenheuvelenloop 15km road race.
2024 has seen good fortunes for the world half marathon record-holder, as he won the 10km in Valencia and the Ugandan Cross Country Championships.
On the other hand, Cheptegei will hope to outclass his rivals and win back a title he last lifted in 2019. Should he manage to beat the competition, he will join a famed group of multiple World Cross Country winners, as Kenenisa Bekele, Paul Tergat, and Geoffrey Kamworor have done before.
Although Ethiopia has faltered in the recent past, their hopes lie in Aregawi, who will be chasing for that gold last won in 2011. The silver medallist in Bathurst will be boosted by his recent win at the Cross Country Tour Gold meeting in Elgoibar.
Dinkalem Ayele, who won the recent Lisbon Half Marathon; African 10,000m silver medallist Chimdessa Debele, who was 11th in Bathurst; Ethiopian trials winner Boki Diriba, who took U20 bronze in Bathurst last year; and Tadese Worku, the 2019 world U20 cross country silver medallist and 2021 world U20 3000m champion, are the other teams in the Ethiopian squad.
Spain’s Thierry Ndikumwenayo, a ninth-place finisher in the senior men’s race at the 2019 World Cross, is another star to keep a close eye on.
He has had two cross-country successes this year after winning the Spanish Championships at the Cross Country Tour Gold meeting in Albufeira.
Eritrea's flag will be carried by Merhawi Mebrahtu, who is the 2022 world U20 5000m silver medallist and placed second in Hannut in January. In his recent outing, he finished eighth over 10,000m at the African Games.
Mebrahtu will be accompanied by Aron Kifle, who finished fourth and fifth at the 2019 and 2017 World Cross Country, respectively. The other man on the team is Filmon Kibrom, as per World Athletics.
Although Thierry Ndikumwenayo will be representing another nation this time around, Burundi will have their hopes carried by Celestin Ndikumana. At the African Games in Accra, Ghana, Ndikumana finished fourth and sixth over 5000m and 10,000m respectively.
