Battling Irish Performances at World XC Championships 2019
Africans Dominate at World XC 2019
Aarhus, Denmark
Saturday March 30th 2019
Jamie Battle (left) and Darragh McElhinney (Bantry AC)
Fionnuala McCormack in Full Flight in Aarhus - Photo credit: Michelle Sammet
We were treated to a fabulous days entertainment today, however it may not have been the most pleasant for the athletes, as the course was declared, by many observers, to be "the hardest course ever"...maybe John Treacy might dispute that, recalling his 'Mudbath' wins in Limerick and Glasgow!
Cathal Dennehy quotes Darragh McElhinney
Hardest thing they've ever done? "It's up there," said McElhinney. "The course is just crazy."
McElhinney: "The first lap I was like, 'I'm f#*%ed.' Then the fourth lap I was grand. The course is weird, it's mad. It'd give Takeshi's castle a run for its money.'
Athletics Ireland Release - Daragh Browne
McCormack Delivers Magnificent Performance in Aarhus
Fionnuala McCormack (Kilcoole) delivered a magnificent performance to finish 18th in the senior women’s 10,000m race at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Aarhus, Denmark today.
Just six months after giving birth, McCormack was back on the world stage and as good as ever in a loaded field where Helen Obiri (Kenya) completed the grand slam of world titles, indoors, outdoors and now on the country. Sara Treacy (Dunboyne) battled to a 73rd place finish.
Cross country is Fionnuala McCormack's favourite discipline and it showed coming in second European, home favourite Anna Moller was 15th, with an exceptional display of gritty running. Seeing was believing on the 2km loop in Aarhus with athletes always either going uphill or downhill and having to traverse a mudpit, sandpit and waterpit.
"Everyone knows I love cross country," said McCormack afterwards who had huge praise for the organisers. "They built it up to be something brilliant and I think they pulled it off. The crowds out there were brilliant and the course was good. It felt longer than 10k but it was a good test."
Start of Under-20 Men. Darragh McElhinney, extreme left of photo, keeps out of trouble in the early stages
Darragh McElhinney (Bantry) and Jamie Battle (Mullingar Harriers) were the first Irish competitors on the day in the U20 men's 8,000m and they finished 53rd and 68th respectively. They got some valuable experience on the unforgiving course with the European Cross Country Championships in Dublin in 2020 in mind.
Finally it was the turn of Sean Tobin (Clonmel) and Kevin Dooney (Raheny Shamrock) and they had to battle hard in the men's 10km race which had huge depth throughout. Tobin finished 62nd with Dooney 105th. Uganda's Joshua Cheptegei won the men's race.
It was a pulsating day of racing with a carnival atmosphere in Aarhus, and the Danes proved to be wonderful hosts.
Interviews with all the athletes are on Athletics Ireland Twitter https://twitter.com/irishathletics and Facebook https://www.facebook.com/AthleticsIreland/.
Interviews
Fionnuala McCormack
Darragh McElhinney & Jamie Battle
Full World Cross-Country Championship Video
Approx. 4 Hours Long...Skip Forward/Back as you please
IAAF World Cross Country Championships Results
Aarhus, Denmark
1. Ethiopia, 2. Morocco, 3. Kenya
1. Beatrice Chebet (Kenya)
Blanket Finish in Under-20 Women's Race
Less than one second between the first 4 in the under-20 Women's Race, with the first 3 given the same time
1. Milkesa Menghesa (Ethiopia)
Darragh McElhinney 'eating up the ground' in Aarhus
53. Darragh McElhinney (Bantry AC),
68. Jamie Battle (Mullingar Harriers AC)
1. Helen Obiri (Kenya)
Helen Obiri, Kenya is first woman to win World, indoor, Outdoor and now Cross-Country
18. Fionnuala McCormack (Kilcoole AC), 37:59
73. Sara Treacy (Dunboyne AC), 40:50
1. Joshua Cheptegei (Uganda), 40:30
62. Sean Tobin (Clonmel AC), 34:33
105. Kevin Dooney (Raheny Shamrock AC), 36:09
