AFI to conduct selection trial for Asian Cross Country

Country’s top runners will aim for a berth in the Indian team during the 60th National Cross-Country Championships scheduled to be held on Saturday in Ranchi, Jharkhand.

The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) will select both senior and junior (U20) athletes for next month’s Asian Cross Country Championships in Japan, revealed AFI president Bahadur Singh Sagoo.

Top four runners in each of the senior (men and women) and junior (men and women) groups will be selected for the Indian team during the national cross country championships, Sagoo added.

“The AFI will select a 16-member national team, including eight in the women’s section for the 18th Asian Cross-Country Championships to be held on February 21 in Fukuoka, Japan,” the AFI president said.

Thirty-five teams, including affiliated state units, will compete in the National Cross Country Championships in Ranchi on Saturday. Overall 732 athletes, including 328 female runners have confirmed their participation in the first domestic competition of 2026 season.

The distance for the senior men and women will be 10km. The junior men will compete over a distance of 8km. The distance for U20 women’s will be 6km.

The distance for U18 boys will be 6km and U18 girls will be 4km, respectively. For U16 boys and U16 girls the distance will be 2km.

The national team also competed in the 2026 World Athletics Cross Country Championships held on January 10 in Tallahassee, Florida (USA).

In a highly competitive individual 10km Gulveer Singh was the leading Indian runner and finished 40th with a time of 30:39. The Indian mixed relay team (4x2km) finished 12th overall with a time of 24 minutes 13 seconds.

The members of the Indian mixed relay team were Ajay Saroj, Pooja, Yoonus Shah and Ankita. Each runner had to cover a distance of 2km.