IAAF World Road Relay Championships

The IAAF World Road Relay Championships was a biennial international athletics competition in long-distance relay running. First organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) in 1992, the championship ran for four editions, with its last one occurring in 1998.[1][2]

The relay format was based on the ekiden races native to Japan, where six runners team up for legs of varying length to cover the classic 42.195 km marathon distance. The first, third and fifth legs were of 5 km each, the second and fourth legs were 10 km each, and the final leg covered the remaining 7.195 km.[3]

The first edition saw the Kenyan men's team break the world record for the ekiden relay with a run of 2:00:02 hours. The Moroccan team at the following edition improved this further with a world and championship record time of 1:57:56 hours. The Ethiopian women's team set the championship record of 2:16:04 hours in 1996 and retained their title the following year. Kenya and Ethiopia were the most successful nations at the event – Kenya took three men's titles, as well as a women's silver and a men's bronze, while Ethiopia had two women's titles, three silver medals and one bronze medal.[1]

The competition was preceded by the IAAF World Challenge Road Relay – a one-off race held in 1986 in Hiroshima. [4]

Editions

  Edition in gold was held as the IAAF World Challenge Road Relay
Edition Year Location Date Men's teams Women's teams Athletes
1986 Hiroshima, Japan
1st 1992 Funchal, Portugal 9–10 May
2nd 1994 Litochoro, Greece 16–17 April
3rd 1996 Copenhagen, Denmark 13–14 April 25 12 210
4th 1998 Manaus, Brazil 18–19 April

Medallists

Men

Year Gold Silver Bronze
1986  Ethiopia 1:59:11  Great Britain 1:59:14 Oceania 2:00:12
1992  Kenya
Eliud Barngetuny
William Koech
Ezekiel Bitok
William Sigei
Richard Tum
William Mutwol
2:00:02 WR  Portugal
Carlos Patrício
Dionísio Castro
Alberto Maravilha
Juvenal Ribeiro
Juan Carlos Montero
Domingos Castro
2:01:34  United Kingdom
Carl Udall
David Clarke
John Mayock
Colin Walker
John Sherban
David Lewis
2:02:34
1994  Morocco
Brahim Jabbour
El-Arbi Khattabi
Hicham El Guerrouj
Salah Hissou
Brahim Boutayeb
Khalid Skah
1:57:56 WR CR  Ethiopia
Worku Bikila
Badilu Kibret
Abraham Assefa
Fita Bayisa
Chala Kelele
Haile Gebrselassie
1:58:51  Kenya
Peter Ndirangu
Joseph Kibor
Clement Kiprotich
Paul Yego
John Kiprono
Simon Rono
2:00:51
1996  Kenya
Simon Rono
Joseph Kimani
Mark Yatich
Stephen Kirwa
David Kipruto
William Kiptum
2:00:40  Brazil
Wander Moura
Vanderlei de Lima
Edgar de Oliveira
Delmir dos Santos
Tomix da Costa
Ronaldo da Costa
2:01:24  Ethiopia
Lemi Erpassa
Kidane Gebremichael
Sisay Bezebah
Abraham Assefa
Tegenu Abebe
Worku Bikila
2:01:50
1998  Kenya
John Kibowen
Paul Koech
Benjamin Limo
Thomas Nyariki
John Kosgei
Paul Kosgei
2:01:13  Ethiopia
Million Wolde
Ayele Mezgebu
Berhanu Aldane
Tesfaye Tola
Fita Bayisa
Alene Emire
2:03:47  Brazil
Elenilson da Silva
Tomix da Costa
Ronaldo da Costa
Daniel Ferreira
Leonardo Guedes
Sergio da Silva
2:04:50

Women

Year Gold Silver Bronze
1986  New Zealand 2:18:18  Soviet Union 2:18:33  United States 2:19:11
1992  Portugal
Fernanda Marques
Aurora Cunha
Felicidade Sena
Conceição Ferreira
Fátima Neves
Fernanda Ribeiro
2:20:14  Denmark
Berit Worm
Dorthe Rasmussen
Anita Palshøj
Aino Slej
Nina Christiansen
Bettina Andersen
2:24:42  Spain
Begona Herraez
Carmen Brunet
Cristina Nogue
Ana Isabel Alonso
Rocío Ríos
Rosa Perez
2:25:06
1994  Russia
Tatyana Pentukova
Nadezhda Galliamova
Elena Kavaklioglu
Natalya Sorokivaskaya
Yelena Romanova
Olga Churbanova
2:17:19  Ethiopia
Askale Bereda
Derartu Tulu
Leila Aman
Gadissie Edato
Birhan Dagne
Asha Gigi
2:19:09  Romania
Daniela Bran
Alina Tecuţa
Mariana Chirila
Anuţa Cătună
Florina Pană
Iulia Negură
2:19:18
1996  Ethiopia
Genet Gebregiorgis
Birhane Adere
Ayelech Worku
Gete Wami
Getenesh Urge
Luchia Yishak
2:16:04 CR  Romania
Iulia Ionescu
Mariana Chirila
Lelia Deselnecu
Iulia Negură
Luminita Gogârlea
Elena Fidatov
2:18:41  Japan
Yukiko Okamoto
Naomi Sakashita
Ai Fukuchi
Ikuyo Goto
Noriko Ura
Eri Yamaguchi
2:18:58
1998  Ethiopia
Yimenashu Taye
Gete Wami
Genet Gebregiorgis
Asha Gigi
Ayelech Worku
Merima Denboba
2:21:15  Kenya
Jackline Maranga
Jane Omoro
Leah Malot
Susan Chepkemei
Naomi Mugo
Sally Barsosio
2:21:49  Romania
Stela Olteanu
Alina Tecuţa
Mariana Chirila
Cristina Pomacu
Constantina Diţă
Luminita Gogârlea
2:24:13

Medal table

Rank Nation Gold Silver Bronze Total
1  Kenya 3 1 1 5
2  Ethiopia 2 3 1 6
3  Portugal 1 1 0 2
4=  Morocco 1 0 0 1
4=  Russia 1 0 0 1
6  Romania 0 1 2 3
7  Brazil 0 1 1 2
8  Denmark 0 1 0 1
9=  Great Britain 0 0 1 1
9=  Japan 0 0 1 1
9=  Spain 0 0 1 1

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 IAAF World Road Relay Championships. Association of Road Racing Statisticians (2004-03-27). Retrieved on 2013-09-30.
  2. Istanbul 2012 (pg. 195). IAAF. Retrieved on 2013-09-30.
  3. 4th IAAF World Road Relay Championships - highlights of the event to be broadcast world-wide from the heart of Amazonia. IAAF (1998-04-08). Retrieved on 2013-09-30.
  4. IAAF World Road Relay Championships. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2013-09-30.
List of medallists

External links