The 2024 cross-country championship took place on the picturesque Moran Hill in Pyongyang.
This year's cross-country championship brought together dozens of players from nine units including the April 25 Sports Team, the Amnokgang Sports Club and the Kigwancha Sports Club. It took place in the form of six players from each team running 10km and 5km distances one after another in relays.
Though it is an event held almost every year in this season, the recent contest was held with heightened enthusiasm of the players encouraged by the amazing successes achieved in the FIFA U-20 and U-17 Women's World Cups, the 2024 Asian Table-Tennis Championships and other international games this year.
As the signal gun was fired and players started, deafening cheers went up from the crowds all through the course. Many people who went up Moran Hill to enjoy themselves on Sunday joined the cheer squads.
Cross-country race is a physically exhausting sport among field and track events as players have to run along the course on mountain slopes. Therefore, it is important for them to have a good grasp of the running distance and keep control of physical strength and speed in each section.
The April 25 Sports Team seemed to lead others in section 1(10km distance), but it was the player of the Ministry of Commerce Sports Club who received the baton first. But in section 2 (5km distance) the players of the Pyongyang Sports Club passed the baton first and in section 3 (10km distance) the Amnokgang Sports Club gained the upper hand. As the first and second players ran with a margin of about 50 seconds in the third section, experts and players believed that the winner of the event was definitely decided from the third section. But beyond their expectation the player of the Ministry of Commerce Sports Club passed the baton first in section 4 (5km distance) and those of the April 25 Sports Team ran ahead of others in sections 5 (10km distance) and 6 (5km distance) to breast the finishing tape.
In the women's event, the players of the April 25 Sports Team led others all the way through except section 2 (5km distance) in which the Kigwancha Sports Club player took the lead.
“Many players were satisfied with going ahead of others, rather than renewing the records, in the event in the past as winners were decided by their places. In order to overcome this shortcoming and improve the level of this sport, the athletics association of the DPRK set standard records and decided to rank with the teams that reach them. This measure will be a positive influence on the development of the sport,” said Han Ho Il, an official of the Ministry of Physical Culture and Sports.
