Consistency, belief the key as Jacob Kiplimo captures third straight world cross-country title

MIAMI – Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo, the reigning Chicago Marathon champion, hailed his consistency in training and self-belief after winning his third consecutive men’s crown at the world cross-country championships on Jan 10.

The 25-year-old completed the hat-trick over 10km in a winning time of 28min 18sec at Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee, Florida.

Ethiopia’s Berihu Aregawi was 18 seconds back in a third consecutive runner-up finish, with Kenya’s Daniel Ebenyo third in 28:45.

Kiplimo became only the fourth man to win three world cross-country titles in a row, after Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele (2002-2006) and Kenyans Paul Tergat (1995-1999) and John Ngugi (1986-1989).

“To win three times, I’m so happy about it,” Kiplimo said. “I think it’s about the consistency in your training. Another thing, it’s about believing in yourself.”

Kiplimo finished second at the 2025 London Marathon in 2hr 3min 37sec in his debut in the 42.195km event, then

captured the Chicago Marathon in 2:02:23 last October

, a quick turnaround that added to the challenge of defending his title.

“Today was the hardest one,” Kiplimo said.

Agnes Ngetich, the 10km road world record holder, took the women’s title in 31:28 to deliver Kenya a 10th consecutive women’s crown.

Ngetich defeated Uganda’s Joy Cheptoyek by 42sec in a dominant performance, with Ethiopia’s Senayet Getachew third in 32:13 over the 10km course – featuring sand, water and mud zones plus barriers resembling fallen logs.

In the men’s final, Kiplimo was second by 2sec at the mid-race mark and, with 2km remaining, was alongside Aregawi and world half-marathon runner-up Ebenyo, 30.

Kiplimo surged ahead by 8sec on 24-year-old Aregawi entering the final kilometre and raced across the finish line to cheers.

He does not expect to seek a fourth world cross-country crown as he will turn his attention to the marathon.

“I think now maybe this one is going to be the last one because of the marathon... because I’ll be training for the marathon,” Kiplimo said.

Aregawi, the 10,000m runner-up at the 2024 Paris Olympics, had lost by 9sec and 3sec to Kiplimo in the 2023 and 2024 editions respectively.

Jimmy Gressier, the Frenchman who had been tipped for a podium finish after his shock 10,000m victory on the track at the 2025 world championships, finished a disappointing 15th in 29:36.

Singapore’s Ethan Yan was 108th among 114 finishers in 36:19.

Kenya’s Beatrice Chebet, the 5,000 and 10,000m reigning Olympic and world champion, did not seek a third consecutive women’s title because she is beginning a 2026 maternity break.

That left Ngetich to continue Kenya’s title streak, and she did so in epic fashion.

Ngetich grabbed the early lead and began to stretch a gap after 2km, pulling away to run alone through the Florida pine trees and reach the midpoint at 15:19.

Ngetich led by 35 seconds at the 7km mark and stayed in command to the finish to win by the second-largest margin in the race’s history, trailing only the 1980 victory of Norway’s Grete Waitz by 44 seconds over 4.82km.

It was Ngetich’s first cross-country competition since winning on home soil in last February’s Sirikwa Classic.

Ngetich was third behind Chebet at the 2023 world meet and fourth in a Kenyan top-four sweep in 2024.

Among the 89 finishers were Singapore’s Vanessa Lee (77th, 41:22), Nicole Low (78th, 41:27), Ng Xuan Jie (81st, 41:57) and Faith Zhen Ford (86th, 44:57).

Ethiopia swept the men and women’s team titles with Kenya second and Uganda third in each. AFP