Kwizera led a huge group that included his colleague Celestine Ndikumana, Italy's Illiass Aouani, Spain's Nassim Hassaous, Kenya's Peter Njeru, and Uruguay's 1500m specialist Santiago Catrofe, among many others.
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Burundi’s Rodrigue Kwizera clinched the Cross Internacional Zornotza, the first Spanish Gold meeting of this season’s World Athletics Cross Country Tour, while Spain’s Isabel Barreiro was a surprise winner of the women’s event on October 23, 2022.
Kwizera led a huge group that included his colleague Celestine Ndikumana, Italy’s Illiass Aouani, Spain’s Nassim Hassaous, Kenya’s Peter Njeru, and Uruguay’s 1500m specialist Santiago Catrofe, among many others. The race began at a steady pace, just inside 3:00 per kilometer. After three consecutive 2 km laps in 6:04, 6:05, and 6:03, the lead pack arrived at the bell together. However, on the last circle, Kwizera picked up the pace and none of his competitors were able to keep up. He gained an 11-second lead over the course of those last six minutes to win in 25:45. Aouani came in second, easily beating Catofe and Hassaous.
The women’s 6.7km race was initially led by Clementine Mukandanga of Rwanda, who was pursued by Cavaline Nahimana of Burundi, Aimee Pratt of Britain, and Barreiro. Mukandanga began to lose pace after just a km of 3:16 considering the challenging course with ups and downs as Nahimana took charge of the race, closely followed by Barreiro and Pratt. After a 7:02 2km lap, Nahimana maintained her lead with Barreiro at her side, but Pratt was caught by Rosala Tárraga of Spain. By halfway, the leading pair had opened up an advantage over Tárraga, while Pratt began to fall more behind. On the penultimate 2-kilometer loop, which was completed in another 7:02 split, the leading trio widened their gap.
In an exciting final lap, Barreiro, the 5000m runner, came to the front for the first time, much to the surprise of the spectators. However, Nihamana recovered and regained the lead. With almost 700 metres to go, the Spaniard Barreiro launched a stunning drive to overtake the Burundian. As a result of which, Barreiro finished first in 23:06, 14 seconds faster than Nahimana, while Espejo, who had split from Tárraga in the last mile, came in third.
1. Rodrigue Kwizera (BDI) – 25:45
2. Illiass Aouani (ITA) – 25:56
3. Santiago Catrofe (URU) – 26:01
4. Nassim Hassaous (ESP) – 26:12
5. Celestine Ndikumana (BDI) – 26:23
6. Yahya Aouina (MAR) – 26:27
1. Isabel Barreiro (ESP) 23:06
2. Cavaline Nahimana (BDI) 23:20
3. Cristina Espejo (ESP) 23:46
4. Rosalía Tárraga (ESP) 23:54
5. Cristina Ruiz (ESP) 24:07
6. Ángela Viciosa (ESP) 24:11
