World Cross Country Championships rocked by visa rejections - US denies visas for 14 Ethiopian athletes

[muriel_volestrangler]

Two of the longest medal streaks in the history of the World Athletics Cross Country Championships will come to an end this weekend after visa problems prevented Ethiopia from entering full teams in the under-20 races for the 2026 edition, scheduled for Saturday in Tallahassee, Fla.

Ethiopia first entered a U20 men’s team at the World Cross Country Championships (World XC) in 1982, where they won the gold medal. Ethiopia has medalled in the U20 men’s race in every subsequent edition — 36 in total, the longest active streak for any country in any event at World XC. Ethiopia had planned on sending a full team of six in 2026, but only one of its U20 men, Ayele Sewnet, had his visa approved by the US Embassy in Ethiopia, according to Amensisa Kebede, the general secretary of the Ethiopian Athletics Federation. Four runners are required to score, meaning Ethiopia’s medal streak will end.

Kebede told LetsRun.com that the U20 team was not the only group to experience visa problems. The Ethiopian U20 women have also medalled in every edition of World XC in which they have participated — 27 straight since 1990, including golds at the last five editions — but will only send three athletes to Tallahassee and will be unable to record a team score. Seventeen-year-old Marta Alemayo, the defending gold medalist from the 2024 championships in Serbia, had her visa approved and will compete on Saturday.

Kebede said at least 14 athletes had their US visa applications rejected and that some coaches and team officials also experienced problems. The majority of rejected applications were from U20 athletes (six men and four women), but Kebede said four senior athletes also had their applications rejected, including two members of Ethiopia’s 4 x 2k mixed relay.

https://www.letsrun.com/news/2026/01/world-cross-country-champs-rocked-by-visa-rejections-us-denies-visas-for-14-ethiopian-athletes/

This is the equivalent of banning the USA from Olympic basketball. It's just a mockery of the sport. There seems no point in any sport scheduling world championships in the USA from now on, if they can't guarantee a bigoted admin won't be in power by the time the event is held.