| I Africa Cross Country Championships | |
|---|---|
| Organisers | CAA |
| Edition | 1st |
| Date | 6 March 2011 |
| Host city | Cape Town,South Africa |
| Events | 4 |
←1985 2012 → | |
The1stAfrican Cross Country Championships was an internationalcross country running competition for African athletes which was held on 6 March 2011 inCape Town,South Africa.[1] Organised by theConfederation of African Athletics, it marked the start of a new continental competition for Africa following the decision by theIAAF to alter the scheduling of theWorld Cross Country Championships from every year to a biennial format.[2]
The event consisted of four race categories, featuring senior and junior races for men and women. TheKenyan athletes took a complete sweep of the competition, winning all the individual medals and the four team titles.Mercy Cherono, a formerWorld Junior Champion, took the women's senior title while the less well-knownJohn Mwangangi won the men's senior race.Japhet Korir andCaroline Chepkoech won the men's and women's juniorgold medals, respectively.[3]Sigosi Chesonane, representing the host nation, was the only non-Kenyan to reach the top five in an event, finishing fifth in the men's senior race.[4]
Although Kenya dominated the competition, none of its runners at the African event ran at the2011 IAAF World Cross Country Championships two weeks later.Athletics Kenya sent the best performers at that year'sKenya Cross Country Championships to the world event, while those ranking seventh to tenth in the national race were sent to the event in Cape Town.[5] The continent's second foremost nation in cross country,Ethiopia, did not send any athletes to the competition.
The Kenyan team's jubilant celebrations led to the entire squad of 30 runners and officials missing their flight forNairobi, scheduled later that day atCape Town International Airport.[6]
| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Senior men's 12 km |  John Mwangangi (KEN) | 35:31 min |  Stephen Kiprotich (UGA) | 35:34 min | Henry Chirchir (KEN) | 35:35 min |
| Senior women's 8 km | Mercy Cherono (KEN) | 27:13 min | Viola Kibiwot (KEN) | 27:14 min | Doris Changeywo (KEN) | 27:22 min |
| Junior men's 8 km | Japhet Korir (KEN) | 23:03 min | Patrick Muaka (KEN) | 23:04 min | Nicholas Togom (KEN) | 23:18 min |
| Junior women's 6 km | Caroline Chepkoech (KEN) | 19:59 min | Mary Mananu (KEN) | 20:00 min | Zipporah Wanjiru (KEN) | 20:05 min |
Championships of theConfederation of African Athletics | ||
|---|---|---|
| Senior |  | |
| U20 | ||
| Youth | ||
| Cross Country | ||
| Regional | ||
