MONTE CARLO – Monaco – The 2000 IAAF Cross Challenge moves to its fourth-leg venue in Portugal on Sunday, 6 February, when the athletes will be able to get the feel of the course that will host the IAAF World Cross Country Championships on 18-19 March this year. Whilst the current leader of the IAAF Cross Challenge standings, Patrick Ivuti (KEN), has chosen to miss this race, the spectators at this Sunday’s 24th edition of the “Almond Blossom Cross Country” will be able to watch Ethiopia’s Assefa Mezgebu – currently ranked second in the Challenge standings nine points behind Ivuti – battle it out with joint-third-placed Charles Kamathi of Kenya and local favourite Portugal’s Eduardo Henriques. It remains to be seen whether any of these three, though, will be able to resist the challenge of five-time World Cross Country champion Paul Tergat, who returns to Europe determined to wipe out the memory of his recent defeat at the Cross Italica in Seville, on 16 January. Tergat had said before that race that he was tired and not on his best form and he succumbed to the closing kick of Kamathi, who has his own ambitions of spoiling Tergat’s unbroken run at the Championships and, as a result, being able to compete on the lucrative European circuit this coming summer. Among the women competing in Portugal on Sunday, the reigning world champion Gete Wami starts clear favourite, though she will be tested by Kenya’s Leah Malot, who had a great showing in last weekend’s cross permit meeting in Tourcoing. Once again, though, Wami’s strongest challenge is likely to come from Kenya’s Jackline Maranga. Morocco’s Zahra Ouaziz is amongst the entrants after a noted absence from the circuit so far this season and Wami will also face one of her greatest rivals from the track, as Seville 10,000m bronze medallist and world marathon best holder, Tegla Loroupe of Kenya makes a rare appearance on the cross country circuit. Interviews, reports and results from the 24th Almond Blossom cross country will be available on the IAAF web site, www.iaaf.org, over the weekend. For more information, contact: Giorgio Reineri, IAAF Press Officer, at giorgio@iaaf.org International Amateur Athletics Federation