World Cross Country Championships 2026 LIVE Preview: Key Athletes To Watch & Team USA Medal Chances

The World XC Championships return to the U.S. for the first time since 1992, with Saturday’s races in Tallahassee offering a chance to reignite global attention on the best distance runners in the world. How to watch: The races will be broadcast on Peacock (starting at 9:35 a.m.) and will be televised on CNBC (starting at 10 a.m. ET) Schedule (All times ET): 9:45 a.m. – Mixed 4x2K Relay 10:20 a.m. – Women’s U20 6K Race 10:55 a.m. – Men’s U20 8K Race 11:35 a.m. – Women’s Senior 10K Race 12:20 p.m. – Men’s Senior 10K Race Read our full race preview here: https://citiusmag.com/articles/world-cross-country-championships-2026-preview 🌀 Mixed Relay Preview Favorites: Kenya 🇰🇪 w/ Reynold Cheruiyot Challengers: 🇦🇺 Australia (Jessica Hull, Olli Hoare) 🇫🇷 France (Agathe Guillemot) 🇺🇸 USA (Sage Hurta-Klecker, Ethan Strand) 🇲🇦 Morocco's NCAA stars 💡 Kenya has won 3 of 4 editions since 2017. 👟 Senior Women’s Race 📉 Star Power Dip: No Beatrice Chebet (pregnancy), no Olympic or World medalists from 5000m/10,000m entered. Top Teams: 🇰🇪 Kenya: Agnes Ngetich leads (14:01/28:46 PBs); Maurine Chebor debuts 🇪🇹 Ethiopia: Loaded with U20 grads like Senayet Getachew, Asayech Ayichew 🇺🇬 Uganda: Joy Cheptoyek, Sarah & Rebecca Chelangat return 🇺🇸 USA: Led by Weini Kelati; Schweizer, Kurgat, Izzo in the mix 💥 Wild cards: Megan Keith 🇬🇧, Lauren Ryan 🇦🇺 👟 Senior Men’s Race 📈 Deepest Field Post-COVID: 145 entrants Title contenders: 🇺🇬 Jacob Kiplimo: Two-time champ, fresh off 2:02:23 marathon win 🇪🇹 Ethiopia: Berihu Aregawi + rising star Biniam Mehary 🇰🇪 Kenya: Daniel Ebenyo returns; Weldon Langat, Robert Koech support 🇫🇷 France: Jimmy Gressier headlines strong squad 🇺🇸 Team USA Outlook: Potential for medal with Graham Blanks, Nico Young, Parker Wolfe, Rocky Hansen U.S. last medaled in 2013 (silver) Also watch: 🇿🇦 Adriaan Wildschutt 🇦🇺 Ky Robinson, Morgan McDonald 🇨🇦 Mo Ahmed 🇪🇸 Thierry Ndikumwenayo (2024 Euro XC champ) __________ FOLLOW CITIUS MAG ▶ Subscribe to the podcast: https://apple.co/3Byp72I ▶ On Twitter: http://twitter.com/CitiusMag ▶ On Instagram: http://instagram.com/citiusmag ▶ On Facebook: http://facebook.com/citiusmag ▶ Support us on Patreon: https://patreon.com/citiusmag ▶ On our website: http://citiusmag.com For other inquiries, contact us: chris@citiusmag.com Thanks for watching - please like, share and comment, and subscribe