# 2003 IAAF World Cross Country Championships – Women's short race

The Women's short race at the 2003 IAAF World Cross Country Championships was held at the L'Institut Équestre National in Avenches near Lausanne, Switzerland, on March 30, 2003. Reports of the event were given in The New York Times, in the Herald, and for the IAAF.
Complete results for individuals, for teams, medallists, and the results of British athletes who took part were published.

## Race results
### Women's short race (4.03 km)
#### Individual

| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time |
| | Edith Masai | Kenya | 12:43 |
| | Worknesh Kidane | Ethiopia | 12:44 |
| | Jane Wanjiku | Kenya | 12:46 |
| 4 | Isabella Ochichi | Kenya | 12:48 |
| 5 | Benita Johnson | Australia | 12:48 |
| 6 | Merima Denboba | Ethiopia | 12:52 |
| 7 | Tirunesh Dibaba | Ethiopia | 12:54 |
| 8 | Alla Zhilyayeva | Russia | 12:56 |
| 9 | Ejagayehu Dibaba | Ethiopia | 12:59 |
| 10 | Eyerusalem Kuma | Ethiopia | 12:59 |
| 11 | Prisca Ngetich | Kenya | 13:04 |
| 12 | Émilie Mondor | Canada | 13:07 |
| 13 | Zhor El Kamch | Morocco | 13:11 |
| 14 | Olga Romanova | Russia | 13:12 |
| 15 | Una English | Ireland | 13:18 |
| 16 | Anália Rosa | Portugal | 13:18 |
| 17 | Bouchra Chaâbi | Morocco | 13:19 |
| 18 | Liz Yelling | United Kingdom | 13:21 |
| 19 | Sonja Stolić | Yugoslavia | 13:25 |
| 20 | Margaret Maury | France | 13:26 |
| 21 | Zahra Ouaziz | Morocco | 13:27 |
| 22 | Viola Kibiwott | Kenya | 13:28 |
| 23 | Mónica Rosa | Portugal | 13:29 |
| 24 | Amaia Piedra | Spain | 13:30 |
| 25 | Zulema Fuentes-Pila | Spain | 13:30 |
| 26 | Anna Thompson | Australia | 13:31 |
| 27 | Rosanna Martin | Italy | 13:32 |
| 28 | Bezunesh Bekele | Ethiopia | 13:33 |
| 29 | Adélia Elias | Portugal | 13:34 |
| 30 | Anastasiya Zubova | Russia | 13:35 |
| 31 | Helen Clitheroe | United Kingdom | 13:36 |
| 32 | Kylie Risk | Australia | 13:40 |
| 33 | Nadia Al-Jaffaini | Bahrain | 13:41 |
| 34 | Viktoriya Klimina | Russia | 13:41 |
| 35 | Hayley Tullett | United Kingdom | 13:42 |
| 36 | Maria Martins | France | 13:43 |
| 37 | Carmen Douma | Canada | 13:43 |
| 38 | Sarah Toland | United States | 13:44 |
| 39 | Anita Weyermann | Switzerland | 13:44 |
| 40 | Jo Pavey | United Kingdom | 13:44 |
| 41 | Anne Keenan-Buckley | Ireland | 13:45 |
| 42 | Mariya Pantyukhova | Russia | 13:46 |
| 43 | Tatyana Borisova | Kyrgyzstan | 13:47 |
| 44 | Ouafa Frekech | Morocco | 13:47 |
| 45 | Hayley McGregor | Australia | 13:47 |
| 46 | Silvia Weissteiner | Italy | 13:48 |
| 47 | Fernanda Miranda | Portugal | 13:48 |
| 48 | Hana Chaouach | Tunisia | 13:49 |
| 49 | Cristina Petite | Spain | 13:49 |
| 50 | Catherine Chikwakwa | Malawi | 13:50 |
| 51 | Vincenza Sicari | Italy | 13:50 |
| 52 | Iris Fuentes-Pila | Spain | 13:50 |
| 53 | Heather Sagan | United States | 13:52 |
| 54 | Kathy Butler | United Kingdom | 13:53 |
| 55 | Ann Marie Brooks | United States | 13:54 |
| 56 | Sarah Dupré | Canada | 13:55 |
| 57 | Andrea Etter | Switzerland | 13:57 |
| 58 | Rocío Martínez | Spain | 13:59 |
| 59 | Seloua Ouaziz | Morocco | 14:01 |
| 60 | Melissa Moon | New Zealand | 14:01 |
| 61 | Kim Smith | New Zealand | 14:02 |
| 62 | Sarah Dillabaugh | Canada | 14:03 |
| 63 | Nasria Azaïdj | Algeria | 14:04 |
| 64 | Sonia Bejarano | Spain | 14:04 |
| 65 | Christine Bardelle | France | 14:07 |
| 66 | Clarisse Cruz | Portugal | 14:08 |
| 67 | Elisabete Lopes | Portugal | 14:09 |
| 68 | Susana Rebolledo | Chile | 14:09 |
| 69 | Collette Liss | United States | 14:11 |
| 70 | Eloise Poppett | Australia | 14:14 |
| 71 | Valerie Vaughan | Ireland | 14:16 |
| 72 | Angela Rinicella | Italy | 14:18 |
| 73 | Cristiana Artuso | Italy | 14:19 |
| 74 | Christina Carruzzo | Switzerland | 14:19 |
| 75 | Kumi Tanabe | Japan | 14:22 |
| 76 | Molly Austin | United States | 14:26 |
| 77 | Mieke Geens | Belgium | 14:28 |
| 78 | Breda Dennehy | Ireland | 14:29 |
| 79 | Freya Murray | United Kingdom | 14:30 |
| 80 | Margaret Butler | Canada | 14:30 |
| 81 | Monique Zimmer | Switzerland | 14:34 |
| 82 | Anja Buysse | Belgium | 14:34 |
| 83 | Liesbeth van de Velde | Belgium | 14:35 |
| 84 | Niamh Beirne | Ireland | 14:37 |
| 85 | Rachel Penney | New Zealand | 14:42 |
| 86 | Bouchra M'Darra | France | 14:46 |
| 87 | Susan Michelsson | Australia | 14:47 |
| 88 | Sonia Barry | New Zealand | 14:48 |
| 89 | Maria McCambridge | Ireland | 14:49 |
| 90 | Yekaterina Priladnykh | Russia | 14:53 |
| 91 | Renata Bucher | Switzerland | 15:24 |
| 92 | Nathalie De Vos | Belgium | 15:27 |
| 93 | Zamira Amirova | Uzbekistan | 15:30 |
| 94 | Nigiste Neguse | Eritrea | 15:41 |
| 95 | Doaa Adel | Egypt | 15:59 |
| 96 | Yyldyz Durdiyeva | Turkmenistan | 16:36 |
| 97 | Anna Sidorova | Uzbekistan | 17:11 |
| — | Elodie Olivares | France | DNF |
| — | Asmae Leghzaoui | Morocco | DQ$^†$ |
| — | Laurence Duquenoy | France | DNS |
| — | Patrizia Tisi | Italy | DNS |
| — | Miwako Yamanaka | Japan | DNS |
| — | Helena Javornik | Slovenia | DNS |
$^†$: Asmae Leghzaoui from Morocco finished 12th in 13:05 min, but was disqualified.

#### Teams

| Rank | Team | Points |
| | Kenya Edith Masai1 Jane Wanjiku3 Isabella Ochichi4 Prisca Ngetich10 (Viola Kibiwott)(n/s) | 18 |
| | Ethiopia Worknesh Kidane2 Merima Denboba6 Tirunesh Dibaba7 Ejagayehu Dibaba9 (Eyerusalem Kuma)(n/s) (Bezunesh Bekele)(n/s) | 24 |
| | Russia Alla Zhilyayeva8 Olga Romanova13 Anastasiya Zubova26 Viktoriya Klimina29 (Mariya Pantyukhova)(n/s) (Yekaterina Priladnykh)(n/s) | 76 |
| 4 | Morocco Zhor El Kamch12 Bouchra Chaâbi16 Zahra Ouaziz19 Ouafa Frekech37 (Seloua Ouaziz)(n/s) | 84 |
| 5 | Australia Benita Johnson5 Anna Thompson23 Kylie Risk28 Hayley McGregor38 (Eloise Poppett)(n/s) (Susan Michelsson)(n/s) | 94 |
| 6 | Portugal Anália Rosa15 Mónica Rosa20 Adélia Elias25 Fernanda Miranda40 (Clarisse Cruz)(n/s) (Elisabete Lopes)(n/s) | 100 |
| 7 | United Kingdom Liz Yelling17 Helen Clitheroe27 Hayley Tullett30 Jo Pavey35 (Kathy Butler)(n/s) (Freya Murray)(n/s) | 109 |
| 8 | Spain Amaia Piedra21 Zulema Fuentes-Pila22 Cristina Petite41 Iris Fuentes-Pila43 (Rocío Martínez)(n/s) (Sonia Bejarano)(n/s) | 127 |
| 9 | Canada Émilie Mondor11 Carmen Douma32 Sarah Dupré46 Sarah Dillabaugh50 (Margaret Butler)(n/s) | 139 |
| 10 | Italy Rosanna Martin24 Silvia Weissteiner39 Vincenza Sicari42 Angela Rinicella54 (Cristiana Artuso)(n/s) | 159 |
| 11 | Ireland Una English14 Anne Keenan-Buckley36 Valerie Vaughan53 Breda Dennehy57 (Niamh Beirne)(n/s) (Maria McCambridge)(n/s) | 160 |
| 12 | France Margaret Maury18 Maria Martins31 Christine Bardelle51 Bouchra M'Darra62 (Elodie Olivares)(DNF) | 162 |
| 13 | United States Sarah Toland33 Heather Sagan44 Ann Marie Brooks45 Collette Liss52 (Molly Austin)(n/s) | 174 |
| 14 | Switzerland Anita Weyermann34 Andrea Etter47 Christina Carruzzo55 Monique Zimmer58 (Renata Bucher)(n/s) | 194 |
| 15 | New Zealand Melissa Moon48 Kim Smith49 Rachel Penney61 Sonia Barry63 | 221 |
| 16 | Belgium Mieke Geens56 Anja Buysse59 Liesbeth van de Velde60 Nathalie De Vos64 | 239 |
* Note: Athletes in parentheses did not score for the team result (n/s: nonscorer)

## Participation

According to an unofficial count, 99 athletes from 28 countries participated in the Women's short race. The announced athlete from Slovenia did not show.
* Algeria (1)
* Australia (6)
* Bahrain (1)
* Belgium (4)
* Canada (5)
* Chile (1)
* Egypt (1)
* Eritrea (1)
* Ethiopia (6)
* France (5)
* Ireland (6)
* Italy (5)
* Japan (1)
* Kenya (5)
* Kyrgyzstan (1)
* Malawi (1)
* Morocco (6)
* New Zealand (4)
* Portugal (6)
* Russia (6)
* Spain (6)
* Switzerland (5)
* Tunisia (1)
* Turkmenistan (1)
* United Kingdom (6)
* United States (5)
* Uzbekistan (2)
* Yugoslavia (1)