Hellen Obiri stuns rivals in senior race

2019 IAAF World Cross Country Championships - Aarhus, Denmark - March 30, 2019 Kenya's Hellen Obiri celebrates winning the women's race. [Reuters]

World 5000m champion Hellen Obiri ensured the senior women’s crown stayed with Kenya, winning the senior 10km women race at 2019 World Cross Country Championships in Aarhus, Denmark.

Obiri, 29, conquered the uphill, downhill, mud and windy conditions, one of the toughest course to become the first women to win outdoors, indoors and cross country world individual titles at the senior level to emulate Kenenisa Bekele of Ethiopia in her world cross country debut.

From the gun the race developed into Kenya, Ethiopia and Uganda contest with world 3,000m steeplechase champion Beatrice Chepkoech leading the opening kilometres of the race.

Obiri covered 3 minutes 30 seconds per kilometre to win the race 36:14 with Ethiopian duo of Dera Dida and Letesenbet Gidey on her toe.

“It is really special,” Obiri said after her victory. “It was my debut IAAF World Cross Country Championships and my only chance to do it. I now don’t need to do any more cross country.”

The 29-year-old had clearly also thought about her tactics ahead of this weekend. She led the race from the early stages and could be seen visibly leaning into the hill as she tackled the climb up the Moesgaard Museum roof on each lap.

“I thought you must look down, as you don’t want to look up to see where you are going and at how difficult the hill is,” she revealed of her technique. “I knew it wasn’t going to be a test of speed, as it was a tough hill. It was all about mind games.”

At the end of the second of five laps, a group of five had already broken away, led by Obiri in 14:16, with sub-2:22 marathon runner Dera Dida, world U20 steeplechase silver medallist Peruth Chemutai, steeplechase world record-holder Beatrice Chepkoech and two-time world U20 cross-country champion Gidey in close procession.

Chepkoech was the first to drop off and at the end of the third lap it was still Obiri, Ethiopian Trials winner Dida, Chemutai and Gidey. Further back, home nation hope and European U23 cross-country champion Anna Emilie Moller was working her way through the field and now up to 18th.

By the fourth lap, Obiri and the Ethiopian pair had broken away but the Ugandan duo of Rachael Chebet and Chemutai were chasing hard. Obiri continued to push the pace, determined not to relinquish pole position, pushing on and leading into the hills and relaxing on the downhills.

On the final lap it was down to Obiri versus Dida. Would it be the speed of the 5000m specialist or the strength of the marathon runner that ruled supreme?

A few minutes later the world had the answer, as it was Obiri who strode freely to the finish line first, reached in 36:14, two seconds ahead of Dida, with 20-year-old Gidey third in 36:24. Chebet and Chemutai were fourth and fifth in 36:47 and 36:49, with Ethiopian Tsehay Gemechu sixth in 36:56. Chepkoech was seventh, with teammate Eve Cherona eighth. 21-year-old Moller moved up to 15th by the finish.

Kenya and Ethiopia have occupied the top two spots in the team.