1997 IAAF World Cross Country Championships

The 1997 IAAF World Cross Country Championships took place on 23 March 1997. The races were held at the Parco del Valentino in Torino, Italy. A report of the event was given in The New York Times,^[1] in the Herald,^[2] and for the IAAF.^[3][4]

1997 IAAF World Cross Country Championships
Organisers	IAAF
Edition	25th
Date	23 March
Host city	Torino, Piemonte, Italy
Venue	Parco del Valentino
Events	4
Distances	12.333 km – Senior men 8.511 km – Junior men 6.6 km – Senior women 4.689 km – Junior women
Participation	725 athletes from 72 nations
← 1996 Stellenbosch 1998 Marrakesh →

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

Medallists

Event	Gold		Silver		Bronze
Individual
Senior men (12.333 km)	Paul Tergat  Kenya	35:11	Salah Hissou  Morocco	35:13	Tom Nyariki  Kenya	35:20
Junior men (8.511 km)	Elijah Korir  Kenya	24:21	Million Wolde  Ethiopia	24:28	Paul Kosgei  Kenya	24:29
Senior women (6.6 km)	Derartu Tulu  Ethiopia	20:53	Paula Radcliffe United Kingdom	20:55	Gete Wami  Ethiopia	21:00
Junior women (4.689 km)	Rose Kosgei  Kenya	14:58	Prisca Ngetich  Kenya	14:59	Ayelech Worku  Ethiopia	15:02
Team
Senior men	Kenya	51	Morocco	70	Ethiopia	125
Junior men	Kenya	13	Ethiopia	31	Morocco	74
Senior women	Ethiopia	24	Kenya	34	Ireland	64
Junior women	Kenya	15	Japan	38	Ethiopia	39

Race results

Senior men's race (12.333 km)

Main article: 1997 IAAF World Cross Country Championships – Senior men's race

Individual race

Rank	Athlete	Country	Time
	Paul Tergat	Kenya	35:11
	Salah Hissou	Morocco	35:13
	Tom Nyariki	Kenya	35:20
4	Paul Koech	Kenya	35:23
5	Mohammed Mourhit	Belgium	35:35
6	Bernard Barmasai†	Kenya	35:35
7	Joseph Kibor	Kenya	35:37
8	Smail Sghir	Morocco	35:56
9	Julio Rey	Spain	35:57
10	Khaled Boulami	Morocco	35:59
11	Habte Jifar	Ethiopia	35:59
12	El Hassan Lahssini	Morocco	36:01
Full results

^†: Athlete marked in the results list^[5] as nonscorer.

Teams

Rank	Team	Points
	Kenya Paul Tergat 1 Tom Nyariki 3 Paul Koech 4 Joseph Kibor 7 Joshua Chelanga 17 Shem Kororia 19 (Benjamin Koskei) (24) (William Kiptum) (28) (John Kosgei) (47)	51
	Morocco Salah Hissou 2 Smail Sghir 8 Khaled Boulami 10 El Hassan Lahssini 12 Elarbi Khattabi 16 Brahim Boulami 22 (Abderrahim Zitouna) (35) (Abdelaziz Sahere) (70) (Mustapha Bamouh) (82)	70
	Ethiopia Habte Jifar 11 Assefa Mezegebu 13 Ayele Mezegebu 18 Abraham Assefa 23 Girma Tolla 27 Tegenu Abebe 33 (Ibrahim Seid) (36) (Lemi Erpassa) (68) (Tesgie Legesse) (129)	125
4	Portugal	263
5	Spain	275
6	United Kingdom	325
7	Italy	344
8	Algeria	423
Full results

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

Junior men's race (8.511 km)

Main article: 1997 IAAF World Cross Country Championships – Junior men's race

Individual race

Rank	Athlete	Country	Time
	Elijah Korir	Kenya	24:21
	Million Wolde	Ethiopia	24:28
	Paul Kosgei	Kenya	24:29
4	John Gwako	Kenya	24:58
5	Charles Kwambai	Kenya	25:02
6	Patrick Ivuti	Kenya	25:06
7	Alene Emere	Ethiopia	25:10
8	Godfrey Nyombi	Uganda	25:14
9	Kipchumba Mitei	Kenya	25:20
10	Yibeltal Admassu	Ethiopia	25:22
11	Ali Ezzine	Morocco	25:24
12	Haylu Mekonnen	Ethiopia	25:25
Full results

Teams

Rank	Team	Points
	Kenya Elijah Korir 1 Paul Kosgei 3 John Gwako 4 Charles Kwambai 5 (Patrick Ivuti) (6) (Kipchumba Mitei) (9)	13
	Ethiopia Million Wolde 2 Alene Emere 7 Yibeltal Admassu 10 Haylu Mekonnen 12 (Dereje Tadesse) (14) (Mohamed Awol) (16)	31
	Morocco Ali Ezzine 11 Adil Kaouch 19 Abderahim Bouchlouch 21 Hicham Lamalem 23 (Aziz El Makhrout) (29) (Ahmed Ezzobayry) (39)	74
4	Japan	85
5	Uganda	135
6	Spain	144
7	South Africa	147
8	Algeria	192
Full results

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

Senior women's race (6.6 km)

Main article: 1997 IAAF World Cross Country Championships – Senior women's race

Individual race

Rank	Athlete	Country	Time
	Derartu Tulu	Ethiopia	20:53
	Paula Radcliffe	United Kingdom	20:55
	Gete Wami	Ethiopia	21:00
4	Julia Vaquero	Spain	21:01
5	Sally Barsosio	Kenya	21:05
6	Merima Denboba	Ethiopia	21:18
7	Catherina McKiernan	Ireland	21:20
8	Naomi Mugo	Kenya	21:23
9	Sonia O'Sullivan	Ireland	21:25
10	Jane Omoro	Kenya	21:29
11	Lydia Cheromei	Kenya	21:34
12	Elena Fidatof	Romania	21:35
Full results

Teams

Rank	Team	Points
	Ethiopia Derartu Tulu 1 Gete Wami 3 Merima Denboba 6 Berhane Adere 14 (Getenesh Urge) (27) (Kore Alemu) (54)	24
	Kenya Sally Barsosio 5 Naomi Mugo 8 Jane Omoro 10 Lydia Cheromei 11 (Florence Barsosio) (13) (Susan Chepkemei) (19)	34
	Ireland Catherina McKiernan 7 Sonia O'Sullivan 9 Valerie Vaughan 23 Una English 25 (Maureen Harrington) (108) (Pauline Curley) (117)	64
4	United Kingdom	98
5	Japan	100
6	United States	128
7	France	148
8	Italy	160
Full results

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

Junior women's race (4.689 km)

Main article: 1997 IAAF World Cross Country Championships – Junior women's race

Individual race

Rank	Athlete	Country	Time
	Rose Kosgei	Kenya	14:58
	Prisca Ngetich	Kenya	14:59
	Ayelech Worku	Ethiopia	15:02
4	Edna Kiplagat	Kenya	15:10
5	Zenebech Tadese	Ethiopia	15:11
6	Kei Satomura	Japan	15:12
7	Emiko Kojima	Japan	15:12
8	Caroline Tarus	Kenya	15:14
9	Anita Kiptum	Kenya	15:15
10	Agnes Kiprop	Kenya	15:15
11	Risa Tanaka	Japan	15:20
12	René Kalmer	South Africa	15:31
Full results

Teams

Rank	Team	Points
	Kenya Rose Kosgei 1 Prisca Ngetich 2 Edna Kiplagat 4 Caroline Tarus 8 (Anita Kiptum) (9) (Agnes Kiprop) (10)	15
	Japan Kei Satomura 6 Emiko Kojima 7 Risa Tanaka 11 Tomoko Hashimoto 14 (Kumiko Hiyama) (16) (Yuka Hata) (17)	38
	Ethiopia Ayelech Worku 3 Zenebech Tadese 5 Worknesh Kidane 13 Etaferahu Tarekegn 18 (Kutre Dulecha) (20) (Merima Hashim) (23)	39
4	Morocco	107
5	South Africa	141
6	Spain	151
7	Russia	165
8	Germany	206
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	2	2	10
2	Ethiopia	2	2	4	8
3	Morocco	0	2	1	3
4	Great Britain	0	1	0	1
	Japan	0	1	0	1
6	Ireland	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 725 athletes from 72 countries. This is in agreement with the official numbers as published.^[15] Although announced, athletes from  Sierra Leone did not show.^[6]

•  Algeria (23)
•  Andorra (1)
•  Angola (2)
•  Argentina (3)
•  Australia (17)
•  Belarus (5)
•  Belgium (14)
•  Botswana (3)
•  Brazil (19)
•  Bulgaria (2)
•  Burundi (1)
•  Cameroon (6)
•  Canada (23)
•  Central African Republic (1)
•  Chile (4)
•  China (9)
•  Colombia (10)
•  Congo (2)
• Côte d'Ivoire (2)
•  Croatia (4)
•  Czech Republic (5)
•  Equatorial Guinea (1)
•  Estonia (7)
•  Ethiopia (27)
•  Finland (16)
•  France (27)
•  Germany (5)
•  Hong Kong (1)
•  Hungary (20)
•  India (18)
•  Ireland (10)
•  Israel (3)
•  Italy (27)
•  Jamaica (3)
•  Japan (22)
•  Kazakhstan (2)
•  Kenya (28)
•  Kyrgyzstan (3)
•  Lesotho (10)
•  Lithuania (2)
•  Malta (8)
•  Mauritius (12)
•  Mexico (18)
•  Morocco (21)
•  Namibia (10)
•  Netherlands (13)
•  New Zealand (11)
•  Palestine (3)
•  Poland (2)
•  Portugal (17)
•  Romania (13)
•  Russia (12)
•  Rwanda (6)
•  San Marino (1)
•  Seychelles (4)
•  Slovakia (2)
•  Slovenia (4)
•  South Africa (27)
•  Spain (26)
•  Sweden (2)
•   Switzerland (9)
•  Tajikistan (3)
•  Tanzania (7)
•  Turkey (19)
•  Turkmenistan (5)
•  Uganda (4)
•  Ukraine (3)
• United Kingdom (27)
•  United States (27)
•  Yemen (11)
•  Yugoslavia (5)
•  Zimbabwe (5)

See also

• 1997 IAAF World Cross Country Championships – Senior men's race
• 1997 IAAF World Cross Country Championships – Junior men's race
• 1997 IAAF World Cross Country Championships – Senior women's race
• 1997 IAAF World Cross Country Championships – Junior women's race
• 1997 in athletics (track and field)