More top runners drop out of world cross-country championships

World Championship 1,500m and 5,000m medallist Sifan Hassan is the latest athlete to withdraw from the upcoming World Cross-Country Championships. 

The Dutch athlete was to be a headliner of the March 30 event, but will reportedly not compete this coming weekend. Hassan set the world 5K record just four weeks ago in Monaco and is next scheduled to compete at the Berlin Half-Marathon on April 6. 

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The Americans are sending very strong men’s and women’s teams, but unfortunately Shelby Houlihan is missing from that lineup. The 2019 USA cross-country champion took the national cross title following a killer 2018 season, where she racked up 4 national titles on the track. She didn’t accept her spot on the team. 

The American lineup on the women’s side includes Marielle Hall, Courtney Frerichs, Karissa Schweizer, Stephanie Bruce, Sarah Pagano and Anne-Marie Blaney. 

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On the men’s side, the American are sending Shadrack Kipchirchir, Emmanuel Bor, Leonard Korir, Hillary Bor, Stanley Kebenei and Stanley Kebenei. 

The Canadian squad is also down a few frontrunners, with 2016 5,000m Olympians Andrea Seccafien and Luc Bruchet out of the line up. Bruchet is dealing with a stress reaction in his foot. 

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While some big names won’t be in attendance, there are still several huge match-ups that you won’t want to miss. Notably in the senior men’s race world half-marathon champion and world 10,000m gold medallist Geoffrey Kamworor is the front runner and in the U20 race, distance stud Jakob Ingebrigtsen is looking to take the title. 

In the senior women’s race, world 5000m champion Hellen Obiri will face steeplechase world record-holder Beatrice Chepkoech. Full entry lists can be found here. 

The event, which is sponsored by the Danish brewery Mikkeller, will consist of five 10K races, with each race capped at 400 runners: junior men (8K), junior women (6K), senior men (10K), senior women (10K), and the 8K mixed relay.

Canadian junior women

Brogan MacDougall (team captain)
Makenna Fitzgerald
Anne Forsyth
Taryn O’Neill
Maggie Smith
Charlotte Wood

Canadian junior men

Evan Burke (team captain)
Andrew Davies
Joshua Desouza
Ibrahim Kedir
Nicolas Mota
Maximus Thiessen

Canadian senior women

Gen Lalonde (team captain)
Katelyn Ayers
Jessica O’Connell
Natalia Hawthorn
Claire Sumner
Natasha Wodak
Lindsay Carson

Canadian senior men

Ehab El-Sandali
Evan Esselink
Rory Linkletter
Benjamin Preisner
Mike Tate