# Asian Cross Country Championships

The Asian Cross Country Championships is a biennial regional cross country running competition for athletes from Asia. It is organised by the Asian Athletics Association and was first held in 1991 in Fukuoka, Japan. The competition has been held every two years since then, although the 2003 edition was postponed due to political conflicts within the region.
The championships comprises four races: separate senior races for men and for women, and two corresponding junior races for the sexes. Furthermore, in each of the four races athletes compete simultaneously for both individual medals and team medals. For the team competitions, the final positions of the best finishing runners from each country are combined and the team with the lowest points total wins.
Athletes and teams of Japan, China and Iran have historically been the most successful of the championships. However, Qatar and Bahrain have become increasingly dominant since 2005, led by a number of East African-born athletes who have transferred allegiance to the small Middle-Eastern states.
The 2011 edition, set for February in Kathmandu, was postponed after the Nepalese government did not provide the requisite funds needed to host the event. China took over the hosting rights and held the 11th edition the following year in Qingzhen.
The 2020 edition of the race, originally set for March in Hong Kong, was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

## Editions

| Edition | Year | Venue | City | Country | Events |
| 1 | 1991 | | Fukuoka | Japan | 8 |
| 2 | 1993 | | Jakarta | Indonesia | 8 |
| 3 | 1995 | Chiba International Cross Country | Chiba | Japan | 8 |
| 4 | 1997 | Chiba International Cross Country | Chiba | Japan | 8 |
| 5 | 1999 | Enghelab Sport Complex (Men) | Tehran | Iran | 4 |
| 5 | 1999 | (Women) | Hong Kong | Hong Kong | 4 |
| 6 | 2001 | | Kathmandu | Nepal | 8 |
| 7 | 2004 | | Pune | India | 8 |
| 8 | 2005 | | Guiyang | China | 8 |
| 9 | 2007 | Al Bisharat Golf Club | Amman | Jordan | 8 |
| 10 | 2009 | Al-Rafah Bahrain Hippodrome | Manama | Bahrain | 8 |
| – | 2011 | Not held | Kathmandu | Nepal | 8 |
| 11 | 2012 | | Qingzhen | China | 8 |
| 12 | 2014 | Fukuoka International Cross Country | Fukuoka | Japan | 8 |
| 13 | 2016 | | Manama | Bahrain | 8 |
| 14 | 2018 | | Guiyang | China | 8 |
| 15 | 2020 | Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic | Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic | Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic | Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic |
| 16 | 2023 | Gokarna Forest Resort | Kathmandu | Nepal | 8 |
| 17 | 2024 | Fanling Golf Park | Hong Kong | Hong Kong | |
| 18 | 2026 | | | Laos | |

## Champions

http://www.gbrathletics.com/ic/cxc.htm#AS

### Senior

| Year | Men's senior race | Men's senior race | Women's senior race | Women's senior race |
| Year | Individual | Team | Individual | Team |
| 1991 | Shozo Shimoju (JPN) | Japan (JPN) | Mun Gyong-Ae (PRK) | North Korea (PRK) |
| 1993 | Hamid Sajjadi (IRI) | India (IND) | Minori Hayakari (JPN) | Japan (JPN) |
| 1995 | Seiichi Miyajima (JPN) | Japan (JPN) | Atsumi Yashima (JPN) | Japan (JPN) |
| 1997 | Saad Shaddad Al-Asmari (KSA) | Saudi Arabia (KSA) | Chiemi Takahashi (JPN) | Japan (JPN) |
| 1999 | Ahmad Zarekar (IRI) | Japan (JPN) | Mizuki Noguchi (JPN) | Japan (JPN) |
| 2001 | Jafar Babakhani (IRI) | Sri Lanka (SRI) | Yasuyo Iwamoto (JPN) | Japan (JPN) |
| 2004 | Han Gang (CHN) | China (CHN) | Yumi Sato (JPN) | Japan (JPN) |
| 2005 | Han Gang (CHN) | Qatar (QAT) | Li Helan (CHN) | China (CHN) |
| 2007 | Ahmed Hassan Abdullah (QAT) | Qatar (QAT) | Maryam Yusuf Jamal (BHR) | Bahrain (BHR) |
| 2009 | Ahmed Hassan Abdullah (QAT) | Qatar (QAT) | Maryam Yusuf Jamal (BHR) | Japan (JPN) |
| 2012 | Alemu Bekele (BHR) | Bahrain (BHR) | Shitaye Eshete (BHR) | Bahrain (BHR) |
| 2014 | Aweke Yimer (BHR) | Bahrain (BHR) | Tejitu Chalchissa (BHR) | Bahrain (BHR) |
| 2016 | Albert Rop (BHR) | Bahrain (BHR) | Eunice Chumba (BHR) | Bahrain (BHR) |
| 2018 | Peng Jianhua (CHN) | Japan (JPN) | Li Dan (CHN) | Japan (JPN) |
| 2023 | Deepak Adhikari (NEP) | Nepal (NEP) | Yua Sarumida (JPN) | India (IND) |
| 2024 | Gulveer Singh (IND) | India (IND) | Seema (IND) | India (IND) |

### Junior

| Year | Men's junior race | Men's junior race | Women's junior race | Women's junior race |
| Year | Individual | Team | Individual | Team |
| 1991 | Yasuyuki Watanabe (JPN) | Japan (JPN) | Qu Yunxia (CHN) | China (CHN) |
| 1993 | Awad Saleh Nasser (YEM) | Yemen (YEM) | Noriko Wada (JPN) | Japan (JPN) |
| 1995 | Tadayuki Ojima (JPN) | Japan (JPN) | Chiemi Takahashi (JPN) | Japan (JPN) |
| 1997 | Mohamed Al-Shinan (KSA) | Japan (JPN) | Kumiko Hiyama (JPN) | Japan (JPN) |
| 1999 | Zhong Haibo (CHN) | Japan (JPN) | Kaori Yoshida (JPN) | Japan (JPN) |
| 2001 | Tomohiro Uemura (JPN) | Japan (JPN) | Mika Okunaga (JPN) | Japan (JPN) |
| 2004 | Satoru Kitamura (JPN) | Japan (JPN) | Bao Guiying (CHN) | Japan (JPN) |
| 2005 | Lin Xiangqian (CHN) | China (CHN) | Zhu Yanmei (CHN) | China (CHN) |
| 2007 | Thamer Kamal Ali (QAT) | Qatar (QAT) | Monica Raut (IND) | India (IND) |
| 2009 | Alemu Bekele (BHR) | Bahrain (BHR) | Shitaye Eshete (BHR) | Bahrain (BHR) |
| 2012 | Shota Baba (JPN) | Japan (JPN) | Miyuki Uehara (JPN) | Japan (JPN) |
| 2014 | Kazuto Kawabata (JPN) | Japan (JPN) | Yuka Kobayashi (JPN) | Japan (JPN) |
| 2016 | Ali Abdi (BHR) | Bahrain (BHR) | Dalila Abdulkadir (BHR) | Bahrain (BHR) |
| 2018 | Suolang Cairen (CHN) | Japan (JPN) | Yuna Wada (JPN) | Japan (JPN) |
| 2023 | Samir Eghbalighahyazi (IRI) | India (IND) | Srushti Shridhar Redekar (IND) | India (IND) |
| 2024 | Vinod Singh (IND) | India (IND) | Li Yuan (CHN) | India (IND) |

## All time medal table

As 2018
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | Japan | 53 | 45 | 30 | 128 |
| 2 | Bahrain | 23 | 14 | 9 | 46 |
| 3 | China | 16 | 23 | 12 | 51 |
| 4 | India | 7 | 15 | 13 | 35 |
| 5 | Qatar | 6 | 2 | 5 | 13 |
| 6 | Iran | 4 | 7 | 16 | 27 |
| 7 | Saudi Arabia | 3 | 1 | 2 | 6 |
| 7 | Yemen | 3 | 1 | 2 | 6 |
| 9 | Nepal | 2 | 4 | 3 | 9 |
| 10 | North Korea | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| 11 | Sri Lanka | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| 12 | South Korea | 0 | 1 | 5 | 6 |
| 13 | Jordan | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 14 | Pakistan | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 15 | United Arab Emirates | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 16 | Singapore | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 16 | Vietnam | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 18 | Hong Kong | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 18 | Indonesia | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 18 | Thailand | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals (20 entries) | Totals (20 entries) | 120 | 118 | 111 | 349 |