Cristina Ruiz will compete for the first time in the absolute Cross Country World Championship, which will be held this Saturday in Bathurst (Australia). The Burgos athlete earned in her own right to be in the expedition of the Spanish team by winning the silver medal in the Ortuella National Absolute and faces this new challenge without any pressure, knowing that the runners of African origin play in another league.
The simple fact of being in an event of such a high level is already an achievement for Ruiz, whose main objective will be to surpass herself and leave Australia with good feelings, those that let us know that she has squeezed the most.
The woman from Burgos has been in the town of Bathurst for several days, in the state of New South Wales, about 200 kilometers from Sydney. In the height of summer, temperatures in this inland Australian city could reach 34º, one more obstacle that the participants will have to fight against. And it is that few shadows will find themselves in a two-kilometre circuit that they will go around several times and that will begin with a straight ‘chopping’ upwards, then it will pass through an area with several curves, it will cross some vineyards and it will face a descent on the way to the line of goal. Of course, before they will have to overcome a ‘zigzag’ zone with unevenness. Undoubtedly, a demanding circuit that will make a dent and that, together with the heat, will force the athletes to hydrate well so as not to get scared.
Cristina Ruiz, who already competed in a U20 World Cup six years ago in Kampala (Uganda), will debut in the absolute category, in which she will be accompanied by the Spanish Naima Ait Alibou, Laura Luengo, Carolina Robles and Irene Sánchez-Escribano .
Escribano, two-time Spanish cross-country champion, was 25th in the last World Cup in Denmark, and Carolina Robles is the current Spanish champion in the 3,000m hurdles. For her part, Ait Alibou will add her second international cap with the national team and Laura Luengo arrives in Australia after starring in an exciting cross-country campaign.
