World Cross-country attracts record entries

Feb 11, 2014

30 countries had confirmed participation beating Germany which had the previous record of 25 countries in 2000. The last edition in Poland attracted 23 nations

By James Bakama

AFTER Stephen Kiprotich striking Olympic and World Championship gold, Uganda is setting even more records.

Uganda’s latest sports feat is a new record in the number of entries for the World University Cross-country Championships.

Uganda will host the 19th edition of the race in Entebbe on March 22.

By yesterday 30 countries had confirmed participation beating Germany which had the previous record of 25 countries in 2000. The last edition of the biennial meet in Poland attracted 23 nations.

The surge in numbers largely has to do with the increased participation of African universities. Of the 30 countries that have so far confirmed, 17 are from Africa.

An extension of the deadline to February 22 was also a factor. Countries are by the deadline expected to have submitted their entries by name, individual athlete details plus team itineraries.

“This number is a vote of confidence not only on Uganda but also the organisers. We are really appreciative and also promise to do our best,” said head of the championship secretariat Patrick Ssebuliba.

First established in 1968 as a men’s only event, a women’s race was added in 1976 and the world university body FISU gave the event its official sanctioning two years later.

The program of each championship consists of a men’s and women’s race

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});