1981 IAAF World Cross Country Championships
# 1981 IAAF World Cross Country Championships

The 1981 IAAF World Cross Country Championships was held in Madrid, Spain, at the Hipódromo de la Zarzuela on March 28, 1981. A report on the event was given in the Glasgow Herald.

Complete results for men, junior men, women, medallists, and the results of British athletes were published.

## Medallists

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Individual |||||||
| Senior men (12 km) | Craig Virgin United States | 35:05 | Mohammed Kedir Ethiopia | 35:07 | Fernando Mamede Portugal | 35:09 |
| Junior men (7.25 km) | Mohammed Chouri Tunisia | 22:04 | Yevgeniy Zherebin Soviet Union | 22:06 | Keith Brantly United States | 22:07 |
| Senior women (4.41 km) | Grete Waitz Norway | 14:07 | Jan Merrill United States | 14:22 | Yelena Sipatova Soviet Union | 14:22 |
| Team |||||||
| Senior men | Ethiopia | 81 | United States | 114 | Kenya | 220 |
| Junior men | United States | 23 | England | 61 | Canada | 66 |
| Senior women | Soviet Union | 24 | United States | 36 | Italy | 89 |

## Race results

### Senior men's race (12 km)

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

### Junior men's race (7.25 km)

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

### Senior women's race (4.41 km)

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

## Medal table (unofficial)

| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | United States (USA) | 2 | 3 | 1 | 6 |
| 2 | Soviet Union (URS) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 3 | Ethiopia (ETH) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 4 | Norway (NOR) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 4 | Tunisia (TUN) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 6 | England (ENG) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 7 | Canada (CAN) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 7 | Italy (ITA) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 7 | Kenya (KEN) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 7 | Portugal (POR) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals (10 entries) | Totals (10 entries) | 6 | 6 | 6 | 18 |

* 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 460 athletes from 39 countries. This is in agreement with the official numbers as published.

* Algeria (15)
* Angola (14)
* Australia (15)
* Austria (6)
* Belgium (21)
* Canada (21)
* Czechoslovakia (2)
* Denmark (16)
* England (21)
* Ethiopia (8)
* Finland (13)
* France (20)
* Greece (8)
* Guinea (2)
* Ireland (21)
* Israel (3)
* Italy (20)
* Kenya (9)
* Lebanon (1)
* Luxembourg (1)
* Morocco (5)
* Netherlands (14)
* New Zealand (15)
* Northern Ireland (10)
* Norway (6)
* Poland (7)
* Portugal (21)
* Romania (1)
* Saudi Arabia (14)
* Scotland (20)
* Soviet Union (19)
* Spain (21)
* Sweden (1)
* Switzerland (6)
* Tunisia (13)
* Turkey (1)
* United States (21)
* Wales (20)
* West Germany (8)
