6th African Cross Country Championships: Hammamet, Tunisia |27 February 2024
Yannick Magnan finishes 10km race in 34th place
- 25th-place finish for Tiphano Uranie in 8km race
Local long-distance runners Yannick Magnan and Tiphano Uranie could only managed 34th and 25th-place finishes in their respective races at the recently held 6th African Cross Country Championships, which took place in Hammamet, Tunisia on February 25.
There were nine participating countries at the event which was a resumption championships after the interruption due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to the organisers – Fédération Tunisienne d'Athlétisme (FTA) – even if the number of participants was not significant, the quality was there with the participation of the great African and world cross-country nations.
The two athletes were chosen based on their good performances during the annual cross-country series hosted by the Seychelles Athletics Federation (SAF) last month at the Roche Caïman Fitness Trail.
At the event Magnan competed in the senior 10km category; while Uranie who is still a junior athlete competed in the 8km category.
In the senior 10km race, Magnan clocked 36 minutes and 08.64 seconds (36:08.64) to finish 34th overall, out of 36 contestants.
The category was won by Kenyan Vincent Langat in 28:31.28, finishing ahead of compatriot Naibei Kiplimo who was second in 28:40.27.
Gemechu Diriba of Ethiopia was third overall in 28:57.23.
In the junior (U-20) 8km race, Uranie clocked 32:01.78 to finish 25th overall out of 30 participants.
The race was dominated by the Kenyan trio of Gideon Kipngetich, Kiprotich Ruto and Titus Kiprotich who clocked 23:16.34, 23:17.31, and 23:18.02 respectively.
The African Cross Country Championships is a regional cross country running competition for athletes from Africa.
The competition had a one-off edition in 1985 in Nairobi, Kenya, and the medallists were mostly from the host nation.
Following an announcement by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) that the IAAF World Cross Country Championships would change to a biennial format, the Confederation of African Athletics stated that the 2011 African Cross Country Championships would be held in Cape Town, South Africa, marking a relaunch of the competition.
Compiled by Roland Duval