The just concluded fifth edition of the annual Absa Sirikwa Classic World Cross Country Tour meet, which was held last Saturday, 14th February, at the Lobo Village in Kapseret constituency, Eldoret town, met the requirements set by World Athletics for a gold label status event.
Of the participants, this year’s edition attracted the highest number of entries, totalling 1925 from 15 different nationalities.
The 10km senior men’s and women’s races, won by John Korir and Agnes Jebet Ng’etich, respectively, witnessed stiff competition, the men’s event attracting 204 participants while the women’s race.
Despite his debut in cross country, Korir beat the 2025 champion, Daniel Ebenyo Simiu, to the gold medal, with the latter managing a 5th place.
Ugandan duo Hosea Kiprop and Enos Chebet were the best-placed foreign athletes, placing 31st and 32nd, respectively.
Reigning world cross-country champion Agnes Jebet Ng’etich stamped her authority, easing to victory in style to bag her 3rd title since the inception of the race.
Joy Cheptoyek of Uganda was the best foreign athlete, finishing 5th in the women’s race.
The under-20 races, 6 km for women and 8 km for men, featured 404 athletes, while the star-studded 2 km loop had an equal number of entries.
The kids’ athletics were equally lit, as thousands of children, accompanied by their parents and guardians, thronged Lobo Village from the wee hours of the day, ready to compete in races from 500m to 2km.
Organisation of the race was superb and met the World Athletics standards, including sufficient security, good crowd management, a well-equipped media centre and even the distance measurement for different races.
Absa Sirikwa is among the two gold-label cross-country meets in Africa besides Chepsaita.
The race’s impact for the past five years has been huge, with traders reaping big from selling merchandise to spectators who turned up from Uasin Gishu County and its neighbouring counties, where athletics is a religion.
Organisers are confident with the race continuity owing to its world-class standards for the past four editions.
Among the superstars who have competed in the race to date are Olympic champions Faith Kipyegon, Emmanuel Wanyonyi and Beatrice Chebet, just to mention a few.
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