The World Athletics Cross Country Tour is an annual series of cross country running competitions which are recognised by the World Athletics (formerly known as the IAAF). Athletes accumulate points in the series' cross country meets during the season, which typically begins in September and finishes in March, with top three performances counting towards the standings. The inaugural season was 2021–22. The Tour replaced the IAAF Cross Country Permit series, which was first held in 1999.
Starting with the 2023 World Athletics Championships, the Cross Country Tour and the cross country rankings form part of the qualification pathway for the 10,000 metres event at championships and Olympics. The top eight men and top eight women in the cross country rankings, who are not already qualified via entry standard or world 10,000 m ranking, are automatically qualified.
The Cross Country Tour is divided into three levels – Gold, Silver and Bronze.
Editions
+World Athletics Cross Country Tour editions Season Start date End date Meets Gold Silver Bronze 1 2021–22 22 15 3 4 2 2022–23 24 17 5 2 3 2023–24 26 13 7 6 4 2024–25 28 16 8 4
Gold standard meetings
+Gold standard meetings # Meeting City Country 2021–22 2022–23 1Cardiff Cross ChallengeCardiffUnited Kingdom 1 1 2Cross Internacional ZornotzaAmorebieta-EtxanoSpain 2 3 3Cross Internacional de SoriaSoriaSpain 3 4 4Cross de AtapuercaAtapuercaSpain 4 5 5Cross Internacional de ItálicaSevilleSpain 5 6 6Cross Internacional de la ConstituciónAlcobendasSpain 6 7 7Cross ChampsWalnut, CA /Austin, TXUnited States 7 8 8Cross Internacional de Venta de BañosVenta de BañosSpain 8 9 9CampaccioSan Giorgio su LegnanoItaly 9 10 10Juan Muguerza Cross-CountryElgoibarSpain 10 11 11Cinque MuliniSan Vittore OlonaItaly 11 12 12Sirikwa Cross Country ClassicEldoretKenya 12 16 13Cross Cup de HannutHannutBelgium 13 13 14Almond Blossom Cross CountryAlbufeiraPortugal 14 17 15Gran Premio Cáceres Campo a TravésSerradilla /CalzadillaSpain 15 15 16Cross Country Bydgoszcz na StartBydgoszczPoland 2 17Botswana Cross-Country ChallengeGaboroneBotswana 14 18Cross international Le Maine Libre-Allonnes-SartheAllonnesFrance 19Festival du Cross-CountryCarhaixFrance 20The Great Chepsaita Cross CountryEldoretKenya The number in the table represents the order in which the meeting took place.
Winners Men 2021–22 3840 pts 3780 pts 3760 pts2022–23 3720 pts colspan=2 colspan=2
Women 2021–22 3820 pts 3780 pts 3780 pts2022–23 3720 pts colspan=2 3620 pts
References