Olympic 10,000m silver medallist, the third-fastest man in history over 3000m will be the man to watch at the Seville Cross Country set for Seville on November 17.
The 23-year-old opened the year in style by retaining his silver medal at the in Belgrade before setting a 10,000m PB of 26:31.13 in Nerja. Following his Olympic silver in , he clocked an Ethiopian record of 7:21.28 for 3000m and won the 5000m at the Diamond League Final in Brussels.
Ethiopians swept the 5,000m race at the Diamond League season-finale in Brussels with Berihu Aregawi claiming victory after shaking of two of his compatriots.
Sunday’s race will be Aregawi’s first cross-country outing this season, but fellow Etiopians Ayele Tadesse and Wegene Addisu have already made a mark on the tour, finishing second and fourth respectively in Soria last weekend.
Yet Aregawi’s fiercest opposition should come from Burundi’s Rodrigue Kwizera and Spain’s Thierry Ndikumwenayo. Kwizera is still unbeaten this cross-country season, having won in Amorebieta, Atapuerca and Soria. He has successively finished first, second and third on his appearances in Seville over the past three years.
Meanwhile, his training partner Ndikumwenayo, winner in Seville in 2022, is the and lowered his 10,000m PB to 26:49.49 for ninth place at the Paris Olympics. Ndikumwenayo will travel to Seville from his altitude stint in Sierra Nevada where he’s building up for the European Cross Country Championchips in Antalya on 8 December.
Top Ugandan and Ethiopian runners to compete in the 5000m at Oslo's Wanda Diamond League on May 30th.
Watch out too for Uruguay’s Santiago Catrofe. He boasts PBs of 7:37:15 for 3000m and 13:05.95 for 5000m and was a surprise winner in San Sebastian two weeks ago when he kicked away from Uganda’s Martin Kiprotich, who’ll also be in contention on Sunday.
Kiprotich will be joined by his compatriots Kenneth Kiprop, Dan Kibet and Hosea Kiplangat. The former is the world U20 5000m bronze medallist and triumphed in Cardiff where Kibet had to settle for third.
The Spanish charge will be led by European indoor 3000m silver medallist Adel Mechaal, US-based Aarón Las Heras, national 10km record-holder Abdessadam Oukhelfen, and the always consistent Nassim Hassaous.
Past winners in Seville include Fernando Mamede (1984 and 1985), Paul Tergat (1998 and 1999), Kenenisa Bekele (2003, 2004 and 2007), Joshua Cheptegei (2018) and Jacob Kiplimo (2019).