# 1997 IAAF World Cross Country Championships

The 1997 IAAF World Cross Country Championships took place on 23 March 1997. The races were held at the Parco del Valentino in Torino, Italy. A report of the event was given in The New York Times, in the Herald, and for the IAAF.
Complete results for senior men, junior men, senior women, junior women, medallists, and the results of British athletes who took part were published.

## Medallists

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| Individual |||||||
| Senior men (12.333 km) | Paul Tergat Kenya | 35:11 | Salah Hissou Morocco | 35:13 | Tom Nyariki Kenya | 35:20 |
| Junior men (8.511 km) | Elijah Korir Kenya | 24:21 | Million Wolde Ethiopia | 24:28 | Paul Kosgei Kenya | 24:29 |
| Senior women (6.6 km) | Derartu Tulu Ethiopia | 20:53 | Paula Radcliffe United Kingdom | 20:55 | Gete Wami Ethiopia | 21:00 |
| Junior women (4.689 km) | Rose Kosgei Kenya | 14:58 | Prisca Ngetich Kenya | 14:59 | Ayelech Worku Ethiopia | 15:02 |
| Team |||||||
| Senior men | Kenya | 51 | Morocco | 70 | Ethiopia | 125 |
| Junior men | Kenya | 13 | Ethiopia | 31 | Morocco | 74 |
| Senior women | Ethiopia | 24 | Kenya | 34 | Ireland | 64 |
| Junior women | Kenya | 15 | Japan | 38 | Ethiopia | 39 |

## Race results
### Senior men's race (12.333 km)

$^†$: Athlete marked in the results list as nonscorer.
* Note: Athletes in parentheses did not score for the team result

### Junior men's race (8.511 km)

* Note: Athletes in parentheses did not score for the team result

### Senior women's race (6.6 km)

* Note: Athletes in parentheses did not score for the team result

### Junior women's race (4.689 km)

* Note: Athletes in parentheses did not score for the team result

## Medal table (unofficial)

| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | Kenya | 6 | 2 | 2 | 10 |
| 2 | Ethiopia | 2 | 2 | 4 | 8 |
| 3 | Morocco | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 4 | Great Britain | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 4 | Japan | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 6 | Ireland | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals (6 entries) | Totals (6 entries) | 8 | 8 | 8 | 24 |
* Note: Totals include both individual and team medals, with medals in the team competition counting as one medal.

## Participation

An unofficial count yields the participation of 725 athletes from 72 countries. This is in agreement with the official numbers as published. Although announced, athletes from Sierra Leone did not show.
* Algeria (23)
* Andorra (1)
* Angola (2)
* Argentina (3)
* Australia (17)
* Belarus (5)
* Belgium (14)
* Botswana (3)
* Brazil (19)
* Bulgaria (2)
* Burundi (1)
* Cameroon (6)
* Canada (23)
* Central African Republic (1)
* Chile (4)
* China (9)
* Colombia (10)
* Congo (2)
* Côte d'Ivoire (2)
* Croatia (4)
* Czech Republic (5)
* Equatorial Guinea (1)
* Estonia (7)
* Ethiopia (27)
* Finland (16)
* France (27)
* Germany (5)
* Hong Kong (1)
* Hungary (20)
* India (18)
* Ireland (10)
* Israel (3)
* Italy (27)
* Jamaica (3)
* Japan (22)
* Kazakhstan (2)
* Kenya (28)
* Kyrgyzstan (3)
* Lesotho (10)
* Lithuania (2)
* Malta (8)
* Mauritius (12)
* Mexico (18)
* Morocco (21)
* Namibia (10)
* Netherlands (13)
* New Zealand (11)
* Palestine (3)
* Poland (2)
* Portugal (17)
* Romania (13)
* Russia (12)
* Rwanda (6)
* San Marino (1)
* Seychelles (4)
* Slovakia (2)
* Slovenia (4)
* South Africa (27)
* Spain (26)
* Sweden (2)
* Switzerland (9)
* Tajikistan (3)
* Tanzania (7)
* Turkey (19)
* Turkmenistan (5)
* Uganda (4)
* Ukraine (3)
* United Kingdom (27)
* United States (27)
* Yemen (11)
* Yugoslavia (5)
* Zimbabwe (5)