Semenya, Coburn join XC regulars at world championships

Caster Semenya has won Olympic and world titles on the track over 800 meters but can’t run that distance competitively now so she’s taking on cross-country at a world championships course more synonymous with an iconic Australian auto race. Emma Coburn has won a world title and an Olympic bronze medal in the steeplechase and, while she’s still pursuing that event, she’s taking on a new challenge with inspiration from her mother, Annie, who died last month in the U.S. Semenya and Coburn will be participating in the mixed relay event at the World Cross-Country Championships on Saturday in Bathurst, a town three hours’ drive west of Sydney which is the annual home of Australia’s premier 1,000-kilometer touring car race, and where the winner is called the King of the Mountain. Kamworor, who won cross-country world titles in 2015 and ’17 during a five-year period in which he also won three half-marathon world championships, said cross-country “is in my DNA.” Letesenbet Gidey will be aiming for her first senior individual world cross-country title in the women’s race after two years in which she’s set world records in the 5,000 and 10,000 on the track and won Olympic and world championships inside the stadium. The mixed event will be the first to take on the circuit which has an uphill start and undulating sections with classic Australian names like Boomerang and Billabong Coburn said she was still aiming to be competing in the steeplechase at the track worlds in Budapest later this year, but the cross-country event gave her “an opportunity to challenge my mind and body.” “This distance I think is really fun,” she said, “and the muscular strength in my legs will be beneficial on some of the technically challenging parts of the race, like the mud pit!” Coburn said her mother’s wish was for her to be strong and to keep running, which is why she agreed to run at the cross-country worlds. Semenya didn’t progress through the heats in the 5,000 meters at the track world championships in Oregon last July, placing 13th in the 12 1/2—lap race run in blistering heat.