Twenty-three Canadians will travel to Guiyang, China for the 41st International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) World Cross Country Championships taking place Sunday, March 28. The Canadian contingent will leave for China on March 24 to acclimatize to the conditions in Guiyang.
The Championship gets underway with the junior women’s 6-kilometre race at 12:00pm local time (12:00am eastern time) on March 28. The junior women earned team gold at the Panamerican Cross Country Cup held in February. Podium finishes by Hannah Woodhouse (silver) of Clarksburg, Ont., and Branna MacDougall (bronze) of Kingston, Ont., powered the Canadian junior women to a victory over the USA.
At 12:30pm local time (12:30am eastern time) the junior men take off in the 8-kilometre race. Justyn Knight of Vaughan, Ont., earned individual gold in the junior men’s race finishing 11 seconds in front of his nearest competitor, aiding the team in securing silver in the junior men’s team race at the Pan Am XC Cup.
The senior women’s 8-kilometre race begins at 1:15pm local time (1:15am eastern time). Rachel Hannah of Toronto, Ont., won individual bronze at the Pan Am Cup in the senior women’s race to lead the team to a runner-up finish. All of the Canadian senior women finished in the top 20 to at the Panamerican Cross Country Cup.
Kelly Wiebe of Swift Current, Sask., leads a young senior men’s team. The senior men’s 12-kilometre race begins at 2:10pm local time on March 28 (2:10am eastern time).
