The Spanish Aarón Las Heras finishes twenty-second and Irene Sánchez-Escribano, thirty
MADRID, 18 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Ugandan Jacob Kiplimo and the Kenyan Beatrice Chebet have been proclaimed world cross country champions in the 44th edition of the cross country world championships, held in Bathurst (Australia), an appointment in which the Spanish Aarón Las Heras has signed a twentieth second place in the absolute men’s event.
Spain, the only European country that presented a complete team in the five tests of the program, improved in all of them except one -the mixed relay- the position achieved four years ago at the 2019 Aarhus World Cup, with up to five riders in the ‘Top 30 ‘: Aarón Las Heras (22nd in the absolute men’s competition), Xela Martínez (22nd under-20), María Viciosa (26th under-20), Sergio del Barrio (29th under-20) and Irene Sánchez-Escribano (30th in the absolute feminine).
In the senior men’s event, Kiplimo, runner-up in the last edition, this time won gold against Ethiopian Berihu Aregawi and also Ugandan Joshua Cheptegei, defending champion.
As for the Spaniards, the Catalan Aarón Las Heras, current European sub-23 5,000 meter runner-up, was the best positioned, twenty-second, with Nassim Hassaous in 34th place, Sergio Paniagua in 39th and Abdessamad Oukhelfen in 42nd, all for the quartet to add 137 points and finish seventh in teams. Andreu Blanes, no longer scoring, entered 55th.
In the absolute women’s event, the Kenyan Beatrice Chebet, junior gold in the previous edition, took the title after the shocking collapse in the final meters of the great favorite, the Ethiopian Letesenbet Gidey, disqualified for being helped up.
In it, the Toledo Irene Sánchez-Escribano entered as the first Spanish finish line, thirtieth. Carolina Robles finished in 50th position, out of the points but ahead of Laura Luengo (39th), Cristina Ruiz (41st) and Naima Ait Alibou (45th). The Spanish collective performance ended with the ninth position.
In the mixed relay, the team made up of Adam Maijó, Miriam Costa, Pol Oriach and Rosalía Tárraga finished eleventh, unable to match the great sixth place of four years ago.
For his part, Sergio del Barrio was the best Spaniard, twenty-ninth, in the men’s under-20 race, in which Aleix Vives (43rd), Rubén Leonardo (44th) and Aitor García (47th) also participated, all getting an eighth team placement, the best since Belfast’99.
In the women’s under-20 race, Galician Xela Martínez was twenty-second and María Viciosa, twenty-sixth, leading the best collective result (seventh) of the under-20s since Turin 1997. Mariam Benkert (31st) and Jimena Blanco (43rd) They completed the Spanish performance.