AUSTRALIA'S leading cross country runners will be using Mount Panorama as motivation to prove themselves against the world's best next year.
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Bathurst is set to host the 44th edition of the World Athletics Cross Country Championships on March 20, 2021. It is the first time Australia has hosted the event in 25 years and those in green and gold want to capitalise on their home advantage.
"Having only ever had one winner of the event, when Benita Willis blitzed the world back in 2004, the Australian team will need to overcome history, but I know they are excited to race in front of a large, parochial home crowd who will spur them on," Rob de Castella, head of delegation for the Australian team, said.
"The team will also be inspired to etch their names into the sporting folklore of Bathurst's Mount Panorama alongside other Australian sporting greats."
African nations have dominated the World Athletics Cross Country Championships in recent years with Ethiopia and Kenya having won every women's team medal since 1995. Only once in 40 years has the men's team medal gone to anyone else.
But the Australians will not be the only ones looking to end that dominance, with 550 elite runners from more than 60 countries likely to compete in Bathurst.
A technical and challenging championship course awaits participants with constant changes in terrain, elevation and direction breaking up a runner's rhythm.
The course starts with a challenging uphill section and incorporates unique features such as the billabong and a run through a vineyard and its stunning autumn foliage. The senior races will comprise five loops of the two kilometre course.
The World Championship event weekend also includes mass participation races, highlighted by a golden ticket event where amateur athletes will race for the chance to compete against the world's best in the Senior World Championship event.
Mount Panorama will stage the Australian cross country club challenge as well, an event that will pit clubs from across the country against one another.
