Sawe, Ngetich headline strong national team
By Vincent Voiyoh, March 4, 2024Central Rift Valley’s Sebastien Sawe braved a star-studded battalion of athletes to clinch the national cross-country title at the Prisons Training College in Ruiru on Saturday afternoon, a feat that earned him a ticket to represent Kenya later this month in Belgrade, Serbia, for the World Cross Country Championships.
Sawe, 28, clocked 28:38.3 to emerge as the winner, beating national champion Samuel Chembolei, who settled for second place, and double World Cross Country winner Geoffrey Kamworor, who finished fourth but managed to make the cut for Team Kenya.
The new national champion, who won a gold medal in the inaugural World Athletics Road Running Championships in Riga, Australia last year by defeating his competitors in the half-marathon race, says his focus now is to grab gold in Serbia this month.
“I am really delighted to have emerged as the winner of this race. I had trained well and put in the effort for this win; from here, my target is to grab the world title in Belgrade. Of course, we will be going to Serbia as a team for Kenya’s success. We want to ensure that we reclaim the individual title this year,” he told People Sport.
In the women’s category, world record holder in the 10km mixed-gender race, Agnes Ngetich, was too good for her peers as she surged to victory to stamp her ticket for the World Cross Country Championships.
Ngetich, who won a bronze medal last year in Bathurst, Australia, clocked 31:50.9 to cross the finish line in first position ahead of high-flying Emmaculate Anyango of Nairobi and Lilian Kasait. Women’s world cross-country champion Beatrice Chebet completed the race in fourth position in a time of 31:59.7.
In the last edition of the World Cross-Country Championships in Australia, Kenya topped the medal standings with 10 medals (6 gold, 2 silver, 2 bronze).
Ethiopia finished second with 10 medals while Uganda settled for a third position with 4 medals.