 Sihine and Kipchoge were neck-and-neck going into the final stages |
Ethiopian rising stars Sileshi Sihine and Tirunesh Dibaba won the men's and women's races at the Great North Cross Country in Newcastle on Saturday. Sihine, 20, finished the 8.6km course strongly, coming home in 26 minutes 14 seconds, clear of Kenya's world 5,000m champion Eluid Kipchoge.
Five-times world cross-country champion Paul Tergat could only manage third.
Earlier, 18-year-old world 5,000m champion Dibaba won the women's race ahead of Elvan Abeylegesse of Turkey.
Ethiopian-born Abeylegesse tried valiantly to get back on terms after Dibaba broke clear, but lost out by four seconds to the winner who clocked 21 minutes one second for the 6.3km course.
Susan Chepkemei finished third at Exhibition Park, while the top British finisher was world 1500m finalist Jo Pavey in sixth place.
Men's results (8.6km)
1 S Sihine (Eth) 26:15
2 E Kipchoge (Ken) 26:21
3 P Tergat (Ken) 26:41
4 Z Tadessa (Eri) 26:51
5 J Kibowen (Ken) 28:11
6 D Anderson (GB) 28:14.
Women's results (6.3km)
1 T Dibaba (Eth) 21:01
2 E Abeyelegesse (Tur) 21:05
3 S Chepkemei (Tur) 21:11
4 E Modor (Can) 21:20
5 D Tulu (Eth) 21:30
6 J Pavey (GB) 21:38.
MMIX
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