Geoffrey Kamworor: I didn’t want to disappoint Kenyan fans

Kenya dominated the World Cross-Country Championships on Sunday with Geoffrey Kamworor defending his men’s title, Irene Cheptai leading a historic clean sweep in the women’s race and Asbel Kiprop helping to secure a third gold in the mixed relay.

Kamworor had to rely on a late break to win the men’s race in 28 minutes and 24 seconds, making him the first back-to-back winner since 2006. Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei had led for most of the race, to the delight of the home crowd, with dozens of Ugandans running alongside him.

But there was drama as he collapsed in the final lap, eventually recovering to hobble over the line in 30th place.

“I was confident of retaining my title,” said Kamworor. “When the Ugandan broke away, I kept my cool and ran my race. I knew he would get tired. His pace was so high and it would have been amazing if he had maintained to the end. From the start of the race I was really focused. I knew there were a lot of Kenyans who travelled overnight and I didn’t want to disappoint them.”

Kenya proved to be even more dominant in the women’s race, Cheptai leading home five of her teammates for a first-ever podium clean sweep for the east African running powerhouse.

“The course was very tough,” Cheptai said. “We didn’t think it was possible to get one through six but we cooperate as Kenyans.”