IAAF World Cross Challenge

The IAAF World Cross Challenge was an annual global series of cross country running competitions organized by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). Athletes accumulated points in the series' cross country meets during the season, which typically began in December and finished in March prior to the annual IAAF World Cross Country Championships. The series was based upon the IAAF Grand Prix track and field circuit and the IAAF hoped to similarly boost the sport of cross country running.^[1] The last series was held in 1999–2000,^[2] after which point it was replaced by the IAAF Cross Country Permit Meetings series which featured similar races but did not have a point scoring format.^[3]

IAAF World Cross Challenge

Sport	Cross country running
Founded	1990
Ceased	2000
Continent	Global

Editions

IAAF World Cross Challenge editions

Ed.	Year	Start date	End date	Meets	Ref.
1	1990–91
2	1991–92
3	1992–93
4	1993–94
5	1994–95
6	1995–96
7	1996–97	22 December 1996	23 March 1997	12	[4]
8	1997–98	21 December 1997	21 March 1998	12	[5]
9	1998–99	20 December 1998	28 March 1999	7	[6]
10	1999–2000	19 December 1999	19 March 2000	7	[7]

Meetings

IAAF World Cross Challenge meetings

#	Meeting	City	Country	1990–91	1991–92	1992–93	1993–94	1994–95	1995–96	1996–97	1997–98	1998–99	1999–2000
1	Lotto Cross Cup Brussels	Brussels	Belgium							X	X	X	X
2	Great North Cross Country	Durham	United Kingdom							X	X	X	X
3	Cross Internacional de Itálica	Seville	Spain							X	X	X	X
4	Almond Blossom Cross Country	Vilamoura	Portugal							X	X	X	X
5	Nairobi International Cross Country	Nairobi	Kenya							X		X	X
6	Chiba International Cross Country	Chiba	Japan							X	X	X	X
7	IAAF World Cross Country Championships	Various	Various							X	X	X	X
8	Belfast International Cross Country	Belfast	Northern Ireland							X	X
9	Cross Zornotza	Amorebieta-Etxano	Spain							X	X
10	Cross Auchan	Tourcoing	France							X	X
11	Eurocross	Diekirch	Luxembourg							X	X
12	Cinque Mulini	San Vittore Olona	Italy							X	X
13	Mombasa International Cross Country	Mombasa	Kenya								X

Results

Men

Season	Gold		Silver		Bronze
1990-91	Ondoro Osoro  Kenya	115	Addis Abebe  Ethiopia	113	Richard Chelimo  Kenya	107
1991-92	Fita Bayissa  Ethiopia	138	Ondoro Osoro  Kenya	97	Dominic Kirui  Kenya	88
1992-93	Ismael Kirui  Kenya	116	Fita Bayissa  Ethiopia	110	Dominic Kirui  Kenya	103
1993-94	Haile Gebrselassie  Ethiopia	107	William Sigei  Kenya	97	Ismael Kirui  Kenya	91
1994-95	Ismael Kirui  Kenya	135	Paulo Guerra  Portugal	130	Salah Hissou  Morocco	117
1995-96	Paul Tergat  Kenya	125	James Kariuki  Kenya	97	Joseph Kimani  Kenya	64
1996-97	Paul Tergat  Kenya	113	Bernard Barmasai  Kenya	102	Jon Brown  Great Britain	83
1997-98	Paul Tergat  Kenya	139	Tom Nyariki  Kenya	119	Paul Koech  Kenya	113
1998-99	Paul Koech  Kenya	118	Paul Tergat  Kenya	97	Mohammed Mourhit  Belgium	85
1999-00	Paul Tergat  Kenya	107	Patrick Ivuti  Kenya	104	Assefa Mezgebu  Ethiopia	102

Women

Season	Gold		Silver		Bronze
1990-91	Susan Sirma  Kenya	125	Jane Ngotho  Kenya	123	Derartu Tulu  Ethiopia	88
1991-92	Catherina McKiernan  Ireland	141	Albertina Dias  Portugal	123	Luchia Yishak  Ethiopia	122
1992-93	Catherina McKiernan  Ireland	141	Albertina Dias  Portugal	138	Esther Kiplagat  Kenya	98
1993-94	Catherina McKiernan  Ireland	141	Albertina Dias  Portugal	123	Margareta Keszeg  Romania	97
1994-95	Catherina McKiernan  Ireland	135	Rose Cheruiyot  Kenya	126	Catherine Kirui  Kenya	100
1995-96	Rose Cheruiyot  Kenya	138	Gabriela Szabo  Romania	109	Gete Wami  Ethiopia	104
1996-97	Gete Wami  Ethiopia	132	Elena Fidatov  Romania	118	Paula Radcliffe  Great Britain	99
1997-98	Merima Denboba  Ethiopia	120	Paula Radcliffe  Great Britain	104	Jackline Maranga  Kenya	98
1998-99	Gete Wami  Ethiopia	144	Merima Denboba  Ethiopia	79	Paula Radcliffe  Great Britain	72
1999-00	Lydia Cheromei  Kenya	122	Gete Wami  Ethiopia	119	Ayelech Worku  Ethiopia	94

See also

• IAAF Combined Events Challenge
• IAAF Hammer Throw Challenge
• IAAF Race Walking Challenge