1996 IAAF World Cross Country Championships

The 1996 IAAF World Cross Country Championships was held in Stellenbosch, South Africa, at the Danie Craven Stadium on March 23, 1996. A preview on the event was given in the Herald,^[1] and a report in The New York Times.^[2]

1996 IAAF World Cross Country Championships
Organisers	IAAF
Edition	24th
Date	March 23
Host city	Stellenbosch, Western Cape, South Africa
Venue	Danie Craven Stadium
Events	4
Distances	12.15 km – Senior men 8.35 km – Junior men 6.3 km – Senior women 4.22 km – Junior women
Participation	669 athletes from 65 nations
← 1995 Durham 1997 Torino →

Complete results for senior men,^[3][4][5] junior men,^[6][7][8] senior women,^[9][10][11] junior women,^[12][13][14] medallists, ^[15] and the results of British athletes^[16] were published.

Medallists

Event	Gold		Silver		Bronze
Individual
Senior men (12.15 km)	Paul Tergat  Kenya	33:44	Salah Hissou  Morocco	33:56	Ismael Kirui  Kenya	33:57
Junior men (8.35 km)	David Chelule  Kenya	24:06	Assefa Mezegebu  Ethiopia	24:19	Samuel Chepkok  Kenya	24:24
Senior women (6.3 km)	Gete Wami  Ethiopia	20:12	Rose Cheruiyot  Kenya	20:18	Naomi Mugo  Kenya	20:21
Junior women (4.22 km)	Kutre Dulecha  Ethiopia	13:27	Annemari Sandell  Finland	13:32	Jepkorir Ayabei  Kenya	13:35
Team
Senior men	Kenya	33	Morocco	99	Ethiopia	107
Junior men	Kenya	13	Ethiopia	26	Morocco	94
Senior women	Kenya	24	Ethiopia	44	Romania	70
Junior women	Kenya	21	Ethiopia	26	Japan	70

Race results

Senior men's race (12.15 km)

Main article: 1996 IAAF World Cross Country Championships – Senior men's race

Individual race

Rank	Athlete	Country	Time
	Paul Tergat	Kenya	33:44
	Salah Hissou	Morocco	33:56
	Ismael Kirui	Kenya	33:57
4	Paul Koech	Kenya	34:10
5	Haile Gebrselassie	Ethiopia	34:28
6	Joseph Kimani	Kenya	34:30
7	Khalid Skah	Morocco	34:34
8	Smail Sghir	Morocco	34:34
9	William Kiptum	Kenya	34:35
10	Josephat Machuka	Kenya	34:37
11	Abraham Assefa	Ethiopia	34:55
12	Jon Brown	United Kingdom	34:55
Full results

Teams

Rank	Team	Points
	Kenya Paul Tergat 1 Ismael Kirui 3 Paul Koech 4 Joseph Kimani 6 William Kiptum 9 Josephat Machuka 10 (Stephen Arusei) (14) (James Songok) (23) (James Kariuki) (61)	33
	Morocco Salah Hissou 2 Khalid Skah 7 Smail Sghir 8 Abderrahim Zitouna 13 Mustapha Bamouh 29 Khaled Boulami 40 (Mohamed Issangar) (52) (Abdelaziz Sahere) (54) (Brahim Boulami) (78)	99
	Ethiopia Haile Gebrselassie 5 Abraham Assefa 11 Habte Jifar 17 Fita Bayissa 18 Ayele Mezegebu 21 Chala Kelele 35 (Girma Tolla) (39) (Nigousse Urge) (71) (Tesfaye Tafa) (DNF)	107
4	Spain	205
5	United Kingdom	252
6	Italy	352
7	South Africa	379
8	Portugal	397
Full results

• Note: Athletes in parentheses did not score for the team result

Junior men's race (8.35 km)

Main article: 1996 IAAF World Cross Country Championships – Junior men's race

Individual race

Rank	Athlete	Country	Time
	David Chelule	Kenya	24:06
	Assefa Mezegebu	Ethiopia	24:19
	Samuel Chepkok	Kenya	24:24
4	Elijah Korir	Kenya	24:26
5	Charles Kwambai	Kenya	24:28
6	Mizan Mehari	Ethiopia	24:51
7	Kipchumba Mitei	Kenya	24:55
8	Million Wolde	Ethiopia	24:56
9	Patrick Ivuti	Kenya	25:00
10	Lemma Alemayehu	Ethiopia	25:34
11	Miloud Abaoub	Algeria	25:42
12	David Galindo	Mexico	25:43
Full results

Teams

Rank	Team	Points
	Kenya David Chelule 1 Samuel Chepkok 3 Elijah Korir 4 Charles Kwambai 5 (Kipchumba Mitei) (7) (Patrick Ivuti) (9)	13
	Ethiopia Assefa Mezegebu 2 Mizan Mehari 6 Million Wolde 8 Lemma Alemayehu 10 (Sisay Bezabeh) (13) (Geremew Haile) (28)	26
	Morocco Aziz Driouche 14 Abderrahman Chmaiti 19 Rachid Amroug 20 Rachid Boulahdid 41 (Ahmed Ezzobayry) (47) (Abdelghani Lahlali) (DNF)	94
4	Algeria	100
5	South Africa	140
6	China	158
7	Japan	158
8	Spain	197
Full results

• Note: Athletes in parentheses did not score for the team result

Senior women's race (6.3 km)

Main article: 1996 IAAF World Cross Country Championships – Senior women's race

Individual race

Rank	Athlete	Country	Time
	Gete Wami	Ethiopia	20:12
	Rose Cheruiyot	Kenya	20:18
	Naomi Mugo	Kenya	20:21
4	Derartu Tulu	Ethiopia	20:21
5	Colleen de Reuck	South Africa	20:21
6	Fernanda Ribeiro	Portugal	20:23
7	Julia Vaquero	Spain	20:28
8	Jane Ngotho	Kenya	20:31
9	Gabriela Szabo	Romania	20:37
10	Berhane Adere	Ethiopia	20:37
11	Sally Barsosio	Kenya	20:43
12	Iulia Negura	Romania	20:55
Full results

Teams

Rank	Team	Points
	Kenya Rose Cheruiyot 2 Naomi Mugo 3 Jane Ngotho 8 Sally Barsosio 11 (Florence Barsosio) (15) (Lornah Kiplagat) (80)	24
	Ethiopia Gete Wami 1 Derartu Tulu 4 Berhane Adere 10 Getenesh Urge 29 (Asha Gigi) (43) (Kore Alemu) (57)	44
	Romania Gabriela Szabo 9 Iulia Negura 12 Elena Fidatof 17 Mariana Chirila 32 (Viorica Ghican) (38) (Lelia Deselnicu) (41)	70
4	Australia	92
5	Portugal	104
6	France	111
7	Spain	116
8	Japan	124
Full results

• Note: Athletes in parentheses did not score for the team result

Junior women's race (4.22 km)

Main article: 1996 IAAF World Cross Country Championships – Junior women's race

Individual race

Rank	Athlete	Country	Time
	Kutre Dulecha	Ethiopia	13:27
	Annemari Sandell	Finland	13:32
	Jepkorir Ayabei	Kenya	13:35
4	Nancy Kipron	Kenya	13:49
5	Edna Kiplagat	Kenya	13:50
6	Etaferahu Tarekegn	Ethiopia	13:53
7	Cristina Iloc	Romania	13:56
8	Shura Hotesa	Ethiopia	13:59
9	Elizabeth Cheptanui	Kenya	14:00
10	Caroline Tarus	Kenya	14:04
11	Ayelech Worku	Ethiopia	14:09
12	Sintayahu Fikre	Ethiopia	14:12
Full results

Teams

Rank	Team	Points
	Kenya Jepkorir Ayabei 3 Nancy Kipron 4 Edna Kiplagat 5 Elizabeth Cheptanui 9 (Caroline Tarus) (10)	21
	Ethiopia Kutre Dulecha 1 Etaferahu Tarekegn 6 Shura Hotesa 8 Ayelech Worku 11 (Sintayahu Fikre) (12) (Zenebech Tadese) (14)	26
	Japan Emiko Kojima 15 Yuka Hata 16 Tomoko Hashimoto 17 Kaori Yoshimura 22 (Emi Kato) (63) (Ayumi Iwashita) (64)	70
4	Romania	78
5	United States	123
6	Spain	146
7	South Africa	174
8	France	214
Full results

• Note: Athletes in parentheses did not score for the team result

Medal table (unofficial)

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Kenya	6	1	4	11
2	Ethiopia	2	4	1	7
3	Morocco	0	2	1	3
4	Finland	0	1	0	1
5	Japan	0	0	1	1
	Romania	0	0	1	1
Totals (6 entries)		8	8	8	24

• Note: Totals include both individual and team medals, with medals in the team competition counting as one medal.

Participation

An unofficial count yields the participation of 669 athletes from 65 countries. This is in agreement with the official numbers as published.^[16]

•  Algeria (6)
•  Angola (3)
•  Argentina (8)
•  Australia (15)
•  Belarus (7)
•  Belgium (16)
•  Botswana (10)
•  Brazil (20)
•  Cameroon (4)
•  Canada (18)
•  China (7)
•  Chinese Taipei (2)
•  Colombia (10)
•  Congo (1)
•  Croatia (3)
•  Czech Republic (4)
•  Egypt (2)
•  Estonia (1)
•  Ethiopia (27)
•  Fiji (6)
•  Finland (16)
•  France (27)
•  Germany (2)
•  Hong Kong (1)
•  Hungary (2)
•  India (18)
•  Ireland (14)
•  Israel (1)
•  Italy (27)
•  Jamaica (10)
•  Japan (22)
•  Kazakhstan (2)
•  Kenya (26)
•  Lesotho (9)
•  Lithuania (1)
•  Malawi (7)
•  Mauritius (12)
•  Mexico (12)
•  Morocco (17)
•  Mozambique (5)
•  Namibia (11)
•  Netherlands (16)
•  New Zealand (12)
•  Papua New Guinea (8)
•  Poland (1)
•  Portugal (17)
•  Romania (13)
•  Russia (10)
•  Senegal (1)
•  Seychelles (4)
•  Slovakia (2)
•  South Africa (27)
•  Spain (27)
•  Eswatini (6)
•  Sweden (1)
•   Switzerland (8)
•  Tajikistan (2)
•  Tanzania (10)
•  Uganda (7)
•  Ukraine (6)
• United Kingdom (26)
•  United States (26)
•  Yugoslavia (5)
•  Zambia (3)
•  Zimbabwe (19)

See also

• 1996 IAAF World Cross Country Championships – Senior men's race
• 1996 IAAF World Cross Country Championships – Junior men's race
• 1996 IAAF World Cross Country Championships – Senior women's race
• 1996 IAAF World Cross Country Championships – Junior women's race
• 1996 in athletics (track and field)