50th Anniversary of the World Athletics Cross Country Championships on Saturday 18 February 2023, in Bathurst, Australia

On Saturday 18 Februar2023, in Bathurst, Australia, the 44th World Athletics Cross Country Championships will take place. This edition will mark 50 years of the championships.

World Athletics Heritage and MOWA are celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the World Athletics Cross Country Championships which were created in 1973. The championships replaced the International Cross Country Championships which had been founded in 1903.

In 1973, the then called ‚IAAF World Cross Country Championships‘ were the first world championships event which were fully owned and organised by the then named ‚International Amateur Athletics Federation‘ (IAAF).

BOOK PUBLISHED

READ HERE – https://worldathletics.org/heritage/news/world-cross-50-ebook-published https://worldathletics.org/heritage/news/world-cross-50-ebook-published

Marking the celebrations, WA Heritage have published a 690 pages (A5 format) history of the World Cross.

The ’50th Anniversary of the World Athletics Cross Country Championships‘ is available as an online free access e-book and there are printed copies of the book available for purchase too.

Edited by renowned statistician Mirko Jalava, the book contains full results and race reports from all editions of the championships, 1973 to 2019.

DONATION – DORIS BROWN HERITAGE

READ HERE – https://worldathletics.org/heritage/news/doris-brown-heritage-cross-country-mowa https://worldathletics.org/heritage/news/doris-brown-heritage-cross-country-mowa

When it comes to showcasing the heritage of women’s cross country running, nothing could be more fitting than the winner’s medal earned by the aptly-named Doris Brown Heritage on her trip to Barry, Wales, in March 1967.

World Athletics Heritage is delighted that Brown Heritage has generously donated her historic prize to the Museum of World Athletics (MOWA). In winning it 55 years ago, she became the first official women’s international cross country champion.

It was the first of five successive victories by the bespectacled Seattle runner in the International Cross Country Union (ICCU) Championships, the forerunner of the global country championships that we know today. In the era of the World Athletics Cross Country Championships, from 1973 onwards, only one woman has won five senior long course titles: the great Grete Waitz.

FIVE  DECADES OF THE WORLD CROSS

Since the start of the year, we have been recalling the amazing races which have taken place at the World Athletics Cross Country Championships over the last five decades.

Click on links to read…

50 years of the World Cross: the launch in 1973

50 years of the World Cross: the rise of Africa

50 years of the World Cross: long-short doubles

50 years of the World Cross: 2003 ‚centenary‘ in Lausanne

50 years of the World Cross: Uganda emerges as dominant force

We hope you enjoy our celebration of this important anniversary for the history our sport.

Chris Turner
Director of World Athletics Heritage & curator of MOWA

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