Kwizera equals Bekele at Itálica as Amebaw wins women’s race

Rodrigue Kwizera won the Itálica Cross Country 2026 on Sunday 8 November in Santiponce, Seville, in a time of 27:36. The FACSA Playas de Castellón athlete claimed his third win at the event, equalling Kenenisa Bekele’s record. His teammate Likina Amebaw won the women’s race in 30:41.

The 44th edition, organised by the Seville Provincial Council, attracted 5,057 entries across all categories, the highest number in its history. It was the third Gold meeting of the World Athletics Cross Country Tour season.

Kwizera draws level with Bekele after close finish

Kwizera had won at Itálica in 2021 and 2023. His latest victory puts him alongside Bekele, who won in 2003, 2004 and 2007, as the only three-time winners in the competition’s 44-year history.

The 27-year-old runner, who was born in Burundi and is based in Castellón, obtained Spanish nationality in July. This was his first cross-country win as a Spaniard. He arrived in Santiponce having set the Spanish half marathon record of 58:03 in Valencia and won the world cross-country circuit in each of the past four years.

His possible participation in December’s European Cross Country Championships in Belgrade is subject to approval by World Athletics.

Kiboino and Kibet stay with the champion until the end

The men’s race, over 9,550 metres, began with Dani Arce leading alongside Juan Antonio Pérez and Miguel Ángel Martínez Chazarra. The first lap, of 2,370 metres, was completed in 6:59 and the second in 7:08, before Dismas Yeko increased the pace and reduced the leading group to nine athletes.

Charles Kiboino then accelerated and covered the third lap in 6:44. With the clock at 19:45, only Kwizera and Frankline Kibet remained alongside the Kenyan. Kiboino responded to the Spaniard’s attack on the final passage through the woods and took the lead on the last bend.

The three reached the final 200 metres together, where Kwizera used his finishing speed to take victory. Kiboino, the 19-year-old Kenyan 10,000-metre champion, finished second, one second behind. Kibet, the world under-20 cross-country champion, was third, two seconds behind the winner.

Playas de Castellón shines in both races

The Castellón club took both senior race wins and placed three athletes among the top six men. Alongside the winner, Thierry Ndikumwenayo and Martínez Chazarra, from Valencia, completed the FACSA Playas de Castellón line-up. Martínez Chazarra caught his teammate and both finished 23 seconds behind Kwizera.

Ndikumwenayo had already won twice in Santiponce. Among the other Spanish runners, Arce finished in under half an hour, while Aarón Las Heras did not start because of injury.

Amebaw breaks away in women’s race on final lap

The women’s race was also contested over 9.55 kilometres. Uganda’s Charity Cherop took the lead from the start, followed by Amebaw and a group that gradually lost runners as the race progressed. The first lap was completed in 8:00 and the second in 7:32, with the Ethiopian close to the leader.

Yenenesh Shimket lost contact halfway through the third lap, leaving three contenders. With 2.5 kilometres to go, Amebaw attacked at the start of the final lap and opened a gap on the climb. She held her advantage to the finish ahead of Cherop, second in 30:49, and Kenya’s Cynthia Chepkurui, third in 30:57.

The winner, who has been based in Peguerinos, Ávila, for years, improved on her third-place finish in 2025. The previous week she had won the Amorebieta cross-country race. At the end of the summer, she won the Diamond League and the World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest over 5,000 metres, as well as the World 5K road title.

International race results

Behind the podium finishers, the remaining places reflected the presence of Spanish athletics in both races. Carolina Robles, from Seville, overtook María Forero, from Huelva, to finish as the first Spaniard; Amina Maatoug was the first European.

Men’s race

• 4th Denis Kemboi
• 5th Thierry Ndikumwenayo
• 6th Miguel Ángel Martínez Chazarra
• 7th Andrew Alamisi
• 8th Dismas Yeko
• 9th Berihu Aregawi
• 10th Samuel Simba Cherop
• 14th Juan Antonio ‘Chiki’ Pérez
• 16th Zakaria Boufaljat
• 17th Brahim El Ourzadi
• 18th Jaime Migallón
• 19th Ciro Martín
• 20th Víctor Ruiz
• 35th Dani Arce

Women’s race

• 4th Yenenesh Shimket: 31:24
• 5th Maurine Chebor: 32:02
• 6th Francine Niyomukunzi: 32:06
• 7th Amina Maatoug: 32:18
• 8th Carolina Robles
• 9th María Forero
• 10th Elena Burkard: 33:21
• 11th Marta Serrano
• 14th Ángela Viciosa
• 15th Carla Gallardo
• 17th María Barbero
• 19th Laura Priego

Itálica hosts cross-country at its Roman site

The Ciudad Ceremonial de Itálica hosted the competition, with the course passing through the amphitheatre and along the Roman road, and the finish line beneath a triumphal arch. Four races sold out.

The programme included an evening mass-participation race on 7 November. The following day, the under-20 races brought the morning’s competition to a close.