Jacob Kiplimo claimed a historic third consecutive title at the 2026 World Athletics Cross Country Championships in Tallahassee, USA.
The Ugandan long-distance runner, an Olympic bronze medallist in the men’s 10,000m at Tokyo 2020, came home in 28 minutes 18 seconds in the senior men’s race on Saturday (10 January).
Only three other men have claimed three consecutive world cross-country titles, and Kiplimo now joins John Ngugi, Paul Tergat and Kenenisa Bekele in achieving the ‘threepeat’ on the trail.
Ethiopia’s Olympic 10,000m silver medallist Berihu Aregawi added a World Championship silver medal, followed closely behind by Kenya’s Daniel Simiu Ebenyo in third place.
Kiplimo, a three-time Olympian, has now won five World Championship gold medals and a total medal tally of eight. After winning last year’s Chicago Marathon in the United States, the Ugandan has secured another medal to open the 2026 season.
Earlier on at Florida’s Apalachee Regional Park, Agnes Jebet Ngetich won the first individual world title of her career in the senior women’s race. The Kenyan athlete was a force to be reckoned with, finishing in 31:28.
With double defending world champion Beatrice Chebet not competing this year as she expects her first child, Ngetich stepped up to add to her two team gold medals and individual bronze from the previous two World Championships.
Uganda’s Joy Cheptoyek and Senayet Getachew of Ethiopia rounded off the podium in Florida, the first time the competition has been held in the USA since Boston 1992.