SBS VICELAND and SBS On Demand will showcase all the events on offer from 3:30pm to 8:00pm (AEDT) on Saturday, February 18.
Mixed Relay
The mixed relay could be a thrilling battle between the previous two title winning teams - Ethiopia and Kenya - with Australia also in the mix as they seek medal success on home soil.
The event totalling 15 teams will kick-start the championship action from Bathurst, where two women and two men will each run a loop of approximately 2km - each athlete carrying a wristband that they will hand over to their teammates in the takeover zone.
Both east African powerhouses will be led by steeplechase specialists, with Oregon 2022 bronze medallist Mekides Abebe and world and Olympic fourth-placed finisher Getnet Wale leading the title-holding Ethiopian squad, while world record-holder and Doha 2019 steeplechase gold medallist Beatrice Chepkoech will lead the charge for Kenya.
Considered to be Australia's best hope of medal success at the event, star-powered quartet Oliver Hoare, Jessica Hull, Stewart McSweyn and Abbey Caldwell will take to the start line this weekend against the world’s best distance runners - and with the event first up, you will not want to miss a moment of the action on SBS VICELAND and SBS On Demand!
Senior women's
Ethiopia's Letesenbet Gidey will be the hot favourite to take home victory in the women's event, having won bronze at the delayed 2020 Olympic Games but taking out the 10,000 metre event at Oregon 2022.
The 24-year-old won individual bronze at the last Cross Country Championships in 2019, but also won team gold and will be looking to repeat the feat in the team standings at Bathurst.
Gidey's competition will likely come from her Ethiopian compatriots Gete Alemayehu, Aarhus 2019 U20 bronze medallist Tsigie Gebreselama and Fotyen Tesfaye. Eritrea’s Rahel Daniel, who has claimed three victories at the World Athletics Cross Country Tour in the last month, and 2019 U20 gold medallist Beatrice Chebet of Kenya will provide stiff competition.
Ednah Kurgat and Weini Kelati will feature on the US team, while Australia’s Rose Davies and Leanne Pompeani will look to give the home crowd something to get excited about.
Senior men's
The men's race has been tipped to be a battle for the ages, with the top three of the Aarhus 2019 field in title holder Joshua Cheptegei, his Ugandan compatriot Jacob Kiplimo and Kenya’s two-time champion Geoffrey Kamworor, all returning to action.
Kamworor will be joined by world half marathon silver medallist Kibiwott Kandie and Diamond League champion Nicholas Kipkorir, while Ethiopia’s team boasts Olympic 10,000m champion Selemon Barega and world 5km record-holder Berihu Aregawi. Burundi’s Rodrigue Kwizera, winner of last season’s World Cross Country Tour and joint leader on this season’s tour, is also among the race's contenders.
While the mixed team relay is considered Australia's best medal chance this weekend, the host nation will also be looking to make an impact on the team standings in the senior men’s race. The team's main contenders have had the benefit of checking out the venue early as well as more time to adjust to the conditions in Bathurst.
The Australian team will feature Oceanian 10,000m record-holder Jack Rayner, who won the trial race for the event ahead of Matt Ramsden and Oceanian marathon record-holder Brett Robinson.
U20 women's
Faith Cherotich of Kenya was a relative unknown when she won bronze in the steeplechase at the 2021 World U20 Championships, making her gold medal-winning effort the following year in the same event all the more impressive at just 19 years of age. She will look to take home gold on a different terrain in Bathurst, with compatriots Pamela Kosgei, U20 3000m bronze medallist Nancy Cherop and Joyline Chepkemoi also a strong chance.
2021 World U20 Championships gold and silver medallists, Medina Eisa and Melknat Wudu respectively, will lead a host of Ethiopian contenders which also includes bolters Lemlem Nibret and Meseret Yeshaneh - making them a good chance of taking home the team title.
Although an athlete outside of Kenya or Ethiopia has not made it on to the U20 women's podium since 1999, national cross-country champions Irene Riggs of the USA and Amy Bunnage of Australia will be among those looking to change that.
U20 men's
Led by Ishmael Kirui and 2022 world U20 1500m champion Reynold Kipkorir Cheruiyot, Kenya will be looking to avenge their 2019 effort at the U20 event, where they failed to reach the podium for the first time since 1984.
Like the women's U20 race, the Kenyans will also face tough competition from the Ethiopian team, who are winners of the past two team titles and three of the past four U20 men’s titles. They will be led by Bereket Zeleke, who won the U20 men’s race at the prestigious Jan Meda Cross Country last month, which doubled as Ethiopia’s trial event for Bathurst.
Uganda is the only nation to have consistently broken up the Kenya-Ethiopia hegemony in recent editions of the World Cross, and in Kenneth Kiprop they have a genuine medal contender. Australia’s Logan Janetzki and Archie Noakes, meanwhile, will be flying the flag for the host nation.
