Monte Carlo, France, May 11- The Polish city of Bydgoscscz will host the second biennial World Cross Country Championships in 2013, world governing body The IAAF announced Wednesday.
The development comes after the same city held the last annual World Cross in 2010 where Kenya made history by winning eight out of eight gold medals on offer to complete an unprecedented sweep of all individual and team titles.
In a statement at their website, IAAF said, "The decision to award the 40th edition of these championships to Bydgoszcz, which hosted this IAAF World Athletics Series event in 2010, was unanimously supported by the IAAF Council, and followed a meeting in Monaco on May 3 when the IAAF met representatives of the Polish Athletics Federation, the city of Bydgoszcz, and the 2010 Local Organising Committee."
The event that has been dominated by East Africa distance running giants, Kenya and Ethiopia, will be held on March 24 2013.
“Bydgoszcz has been a superb organiser of IAAF World Athletics Series events from the inaugural World Youth Championships in 1999 through to the 2008 World Junior Championships and most recently last year’s World Cross Country Championships,” IAAF President Lamine Diack stated Wednesday.
"We are delighted that we will again experience their warm welcome, dedication and experience as an event organiser.”
At the first biennial World Cross in Punta Umbria, Spain on March 20, Kenya and Ethiopia shared the eight individual and team top medals with six going to the former.
Faith Chepng’etich (junior women 6km), Geoffrey Kipsang Kamworor (junior men 8km) and Vivian Cheruiyot (senior women 8km) bagged were the individual gold medallists for Kenya while Imane Merga (senior men 12km) took the other top medal for Ethiopia.
Kenya took the team titles in senior women and senior men races.
The decision to make the World Cross biennial was taken ahead of the 2010 edition with the continued dominance of the two East African rivals cited as a reason why interest in the event was falling in Europe hence difficulty in securing sponsors to sustain its annual running.
It has been held in Africa thrice in Morocco, South Africa and Kenya.
IAAF gave its continental affiliates to stage their own cross championships and on March 6, South Africa hosted the revived Africa Cross Championships where Kenya again won all eight out of eight gold medals with perfect 10 scores in all races to boot.
