Kiplimo is 2023 World Cross-Country champion

Ugandan’s Jacob Kiplimo Saturday won gold at the 2023 World Cross-Country title in Australia.

Kiplimo clocked 29min 17sec around the 10km-long course at Mount Panorama in Bathurst, northwest of Sydney -- better known as one of the world's most challenging motor racing courses.

He crossed nine seconds clear of Ethiopia's Berihu Aregawi with fellow Ugandan Cheptegei taking bronze.

Cheptegai -- the 5,000m and 10,000m world record holder -- was defending the title he won four years ago in Aarhus, Denmark when Kiplimo took silver.

The commonwealth double champion Kiplimo now holds both the Cross-Country and Half-Marathon world titles.

But after leading the pack through much of the race he was overhauled by his countryman on the final lap of five and didn't have the legs to reel him in.

They faced a gruelling challenge on a hot day, with an uphill start followed by a run through a vineyard and a rapid 350m downhill section before an uphill run at the end of each 2km loop. 

Kiplimo has won a championship medal every year since 2016. In 2018, he won a silver medal in the U20 10000m race, in 2016 he won a bronze medal in the world cross-country men's junior race, in 2017 he won the gold medal in the world cross-country junior men's race.

In 2019, Kiplimo won the silver medal in the world cross-country men's senior race, while in the 2021 Olympic and 2022 world 10000m races, he won bronze medals.

He is a Commonwealth double winner of the 21km races of 2020 and 2022.

Women's race

In the women's race over the same distance, Ethiopia's Gidey -- the 5,000m, 10,000m and half marathon world record holder -- took the lead on the final lap and pulled away from Kenya's Beatrice Chebet.

She looked to have timed her race perfectly but began grimacing in the closing stages and collapsed with barely 100m to go, handing world 5,000m silver medallist Chebet the title in 33.48.

Gidey was illegally helped to her feet and stumbled over the finish line, but was disqualified.

Fellow Ethiopian Tsigie Gebreselama came second with Kenya's Agnes Jebet Ngetich third.

Kenya won the mixed relay, where two women and two men each run a 2km loop, in 23.14 -- seven seconds ahead of Ethiopia to avenge their defeat by the fellow African powerhouse in Denmark. Australia came third.

Kenyan Ishmael Kipkurui claimed the men's U20 title while Ethiopia's Senayet Getachew was the women's champion.

Additional reporting by AFP