MIAMI – Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo, the reigning Chicago Marathon champion, hailed his consistency in training and self-belief after winning his third consecutive men’s crown at the World Cross Country Championships on Jan 10.

The 25-year-old completed the hat-trick over 10km in a winning time of 28min 18sec at Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee, Florida.

Ethiopia’s Berihu Aregawi was 18sec back in a third consecutive runner-up finish, with Kenya’s Daniel Ebenyo third in 28:45.

Kiplimo became only the fourth man to win three world cross country titles in a row, after Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele (2002-2006) and the Kenyans Paul Tergat (1995-1999) and John Ngugi (1986-1989).

“To win three times, I’m so happy about it,” Kiplimo said. “I think it’s about the consistency in your training. Another thing, it’s about believing in yourself.”

Kiplimo finished second at the 2025 London Marathon in 2hr 3min 37sec in his debut in the 42.195km event, then captured the Chicago Marathon in 2:02:23 last October, a quick turnaround that added to the challenge of defending his title.

“Today was the hardest one,” Kiplimo said.

Agnes Ngetich, the world 10km record holder, took the women’s title in 31:28 over 10km to deliver Kenya a 10th consecutive women’s crown.

Ngetich defeated Uganda’s Joy Cheptoyek by 42 seconds in a dominant performance with Ethiopia’s Senayet Getachew third in 32:13 over a course featuring sand, water and mud zones plus barriers resembling fallen logs.

In the men’s final, Kiplimo was second by two seconds at the mid-race mark and, with two kilometres remaining, was alongside Aregawi and world half-marathon runner-up Ebenyo.

Kiplimo surged ahead by eight seconds on Aregawi entering the final kilometre and raced across the finish line to cheers.

He does not expect...