Isaac Kimeli is back and ready to compete at the Cross Cup de Hannut on Sunday, September 26. Fresh from breaking the national 10km record in Valencia, the 30-year-old aims to shine again in this World Athletics Cross Country Tour Gold event held in his home country.
Kimeli will face tough competition in the men’s 9km race. He will be joined by Uganda’s Dan Kibet and Burundi’s Celestin Ndikumana, both ranked in the top seven of the World Cross Country Tour standings.
In the women’s 9km race, excitement is in the air as 17-year-old Yenenesh Shimket from Ethiopia takes on Charity Cherop from Uganda. Both young athletes are recent winners in the World Cross Country Tour. Polish runner Anna Bankowska-Gosk, who seeks her third victory at this event, will also join the field.
Last month, Kimeli ran an impressive 27:10 in Valencia, which set a new Belgian 10km record, finishing fifth overall. Just a month earlier, he placed fourth at the European Cross Country Championships. Ndikumana finished behind him in Valencia with a personal best of 27:23 and secured a strong second place in the Campaccio cross country meeting shortly before that. Kibet started the season with a win in Spain, building on a solid year where he finished 11th at the World Cross Country Championships.
More strong contenders include Stanley Waithaka Mburu, the 2022 world 10,000m silver medallist, and Gideon Rono, who placed eighth in last year’s World Cross Country Championships. Uganda’s Rogers Kibet returns after finishing second in Hannut last year. Robin Hendrix and Ruben Querinjean will also represent Belgium alongside Kimeli.
Shimket recently won at the Cinque Mulini, marking a strong start to her season after picking up another win the previous weekend. Simultaneously, Cherop had a successful season opener in Spain, reinforcing her status as the top athlete in the World Cross Country Tour standings.
Kenya’s Sheila Jebet, who was a runner-up to Shimket and Cherop in their earlier races, will also be competing. At only 19, she brings experience from her fourth-place finish in the U20 race at last year’s World Cross Country Championships.
Returning to Hannut, Bankowska-Gosk is eager to add to her past victories from 2019 and 2020. The competitive field will also include Jessica Gibbon from Britain, who recently won the Cross Cup in Roeselare, along with Belgium’s Chloe Herbiet and Roxane Cleppe.
Just two days before the race, the Cross Cup de Hannut received a special honor. It was awarded a World Athletics Heritage Plaque, highlighting its rich history in cross country racing.
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