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Eritrea's Zersenay Tadesse took advantage of favourite Kenenisa Bekele's last-lap exit to win the World Cross Country crown in Kenya.
Bekele, searching for a sixth straight title, was leading comfortably but suddenly slowed down and stepped off the course on the last lap. Tadesse sprinted on to finish the 12km race in 35 minutes, 49 seconds from Moses Mosop and Bernard Kipyego. Britain's Mo Farah recovered from a slow start to finish in 11th. Farah, the European Cross Country champion, registered a massive improvement from his 40th place in last year's 4km race, finishing the more testing 12k race in 37:31. Kenyan-born Lornah Kiplagat, representing Holland, powered to the women's title in Mombasa. Kiplagat, who won silver in Japan last year, became the first European to win the world title since Britain's Paula Radcliffe in Dublin five years ago. She completed the 8km race in 26 minutes, 23 seconds ahead of Ethiopians Tirunesh Dibaba and Meselech Melkamu. Britain's Hattie Dean and Hayley Yelling were 15th and 16th. The depleted British team exceeded expectations to finish fifth overall with Felicity Milton 49th and Eleanor Baker 60th while Kate Reed failed to finish in the humid conditions. The junior women's team had to compete when the heat was at its worst in Mombassa and did well to also come home fifth in the team event. Charlotte Purdue, 15, was the first Briton across the line in 15th with Emily Pidgeon 17th. Britain's junior men finished 13th overall with Lee Carey the top finisher in 58th. |
