Australia’s Best Heading To World XC Championships

Two seasoned veterans hope to put Australia on the medal podium in March.

Australia is sending a combined team of 16 athletes to the World Cross Country Championships in March. At the top of the list for the men’s team is Australian 5,000m record holder Craig Mottram. At the 2008  event, he finished 31st. Joining Mottram is Collis Birmingham who represented his country in the 5,000m and 10,000m events at the 2010 Commonwealth Games.

Tim O’Shaughnessy, the Athletics Australia National Distance Coordinator, is excited having “the Big Mzungu” (Mottram’s nickname coined by his African competitors) on the squad. “The men’s team is one of the strongest we’ve had for a number of years with Craig Mottram back in the team for the first time since 2008 and then with Collis Birmingham’s continued improvement, he’ll certainly be looking to his best-ever performance at a world cross country championships,” he said.

Leading the women’s squad is the 2004 World Cross Country champion, Benita Willis. She is a three-time national champion in the women’s 5,000m.

The event will take place in Punta Umbria, Spain, on 20 March.

For More: IAAF