Cheering on Wildschutt to get elusive medal

He's going to have to run out of his skin, and he's unlikely to end the drought, but all eyes will be on Adriaan Wildschutt tomorrow as he attempts to become the first South African athlete to earn a medal at the World Cross Country Championships in Tallahassee, Florida.

- Wesley Botton

The global cross country showpiece is the only major athletics championship where South Africa has never won a medal. In our defence as a nation, it's also the toughest running world championship to earn a spot on the podium.

On the track and the road, athletes compete over specialist distances, but in cross country everyone runs one race, so in the senior men's and women's 10km contests they turn out against a range of athletes from 1 500m runners to marathon runners.

In addition, there is significant depth in each team. Unlike track championships, where countries are limited to three athletes, nations can enter six individuals in each race at the cross country spectacle.