1979 IAAF World Cross Country Championships – Senior women's race

Senior women's race at the 1979 IAAF World Cross Country Championships
Senior women's race at the 1979 IAAF World Cross Country Championships
Organisers	IAAF
Edition	7th
Date	25 March
Host city	Limerick, Munster, Ireland
Venue	Greenpark Racecourse
Events	1
Distances	5.04 km – Senior women
Participation	100 athletes from ; 19 nations
	← 1978 Glasgow 1980 Paris → ;

The Senior women's race at the 1979 IAAF World Cross Country Championships was held in Limerick, Ireland, at the Greenpark Racecourse on 25 March 1979. A report on the event was given in the Glasgow Herald.^[1]

Complete results,^[2] medallists, ^[3] and the results of British athletes^[4] were published.

Race results[]

Senior women's race (5.04 km)[]

Individual[]

Rank	Athlete	Country	Time
	Grete Waitz	Norway	16:48
	Raisa Smekhnova	Soviet Union	17:14
	Ellison Goodall	United States	17:18
4	Ellen Wessinghage	West Germany	17:23
5	Svetlana Ulmasova	Soviet Union	17:25
6	Mary Purcell	Ireland	17:26
7	Jan Merrill	United States	17:33
8	Julie Shea	United States	17:41
9	Ann Ford	England	17:42
10	Cristina Tomasini	Italy	17:46
11	Margaret Groos	United States	17:47
12	Giana Romanova	Soviet Union	17:48
13	Debbie Scott	Canada	17:48
14	Anne Audain	New Zealand	17:49
15	Penny Yule	England	17:50
16	Sabine Ladurner	Italy	17:57
17	Paula Fudge	England	17:58
18	Dorthe Rasmussen	Denmark	18:02
19		United States	18:02
20	Heather Thomson	New Zealand	18:05
21		Belgium	18:06
22	Joëlle De Brouwer	France	18:08
23	Ingrid Kristiansen	Norway	18:10
24	Véronique Renties	France	18:11
25		Spain	18:12
26		West Germany	18:14
27	Regina Joyce	England	18:15
28	Charlotte Teske	West Germany	18:16
29		Soviet Union	18:17
30		Ireland	18:18
31	Carla Beurskens	Netherlands	18:23
32	Glynis Penny	England	18:24
33		Spain	18:26
34	Mary O'Connor	New Zealand	18:27
35		Denmark	18:28
36	Julie Brown	United States	18:31
37		Denmark	18:31
38		Canada	18:32
39	Lorraine Moller	New Zealand	18:34
40		Australia	18:35
41		Norway	18:38
42	Ruth Smeeth	England	18:39
43		West Germany	18:41
44		Scotland	18:43
45		Canada	18:44
46		France	18:45
47	Magda Ilands	Belgium	18:46
48		Ireland	18:47
49		France	18:48
50		Spain	18:49
51		Australia	18:50
52		Ireland	18:51
53		Soviet Union	18:52
54	Zehava Shmueli	Israel	18:53
55		Ireland	18:54
56	Barbara Moore	New Zealand	18:55
57	Fiona McQueen	Scotland	18:56
58		Spain	18:56
59		Netherlands	18:58
60	Francine Peeters	Belgium	18:59
61	Margherita Gargano	Italy	19:01
62	Elena Rastello	Italy	19:02
63		Belgium	19:03
64		New Zealand	19:04
65		France	19:05
66	Maureen Crowley	Canada	19:06
67		Scotland	19:07
68		Belgium	19:08
69		Norway	19:11
70		Netherlands	19:14
71	Birgit Friedmann	West Germany	19:18
72		Belgium	19:20
73		Denmark	19:21
74		Spain	19:22
75		Canada	19:27
76		Wales	19:32
77		Denmark	19:38
78		Spain	19:40
79		Ireland	19:43
80		Israel	19:45
81		Wales	19:46
82	Margaret Coomber	Scotland	19:49
83		Wales	19:50
84		Wales	19:52
85		Norway	19:53
86		Wales	19:54
87		France	20:06
88		Northern Ireland	20:11
89		Northern Ireland	20:12
90	Lynn Kanuka	Canada	20:19
91		Scotland	20:20
92		Wales	20:31
93		Scotland	20:47
94		Denmark	21:11
95		Northern Ireland	21:20
96		Northern Ireland	21:21
97		Northern Ireland	21:31
98		Northern Ireland	22:19
—	Gabriella Dorio	Italy	DNF
—	Agnese Possamai	Italy	DNF

Teams[]

Rank

Team

Points

United States

Ellison Goodall	3
Jan Merrill	7
Julie Shea	8
Margaret Groos	11
()	(19)
(Julie Brown)	(36)

29

Soviet Union

Raisa Smekhnova	2
Svetlana Ulmasova	5
Giana Romanova	12
	29
()	(53)

48

England

Ann Ford	9
Penny Yule	15
Paula Fudge	17
Regina Joyce	27
(Glynis Penny)	(32)
(Ruth Smeeth)	(42)

68

4

West Germany

Ellen Wessinghage	4
	26
Charlotte Teske	28
	43
(Birgit Friedmann)	(71)

101

5

New Zealand

Anne Audain	14
Heather Thomson	20
Mary O'Connor	34
Lorraine Moller	39
(Barbara Moore)	(56)
()	(64)

107

6

Norway

Grete Waitz	1
Ingrid Christensen	23
	41
	69
()	(85)

134

7

Ireland

Mary Purcell	6
	30
	48
	52
()	(55)
()	(79)

136

8

France

Joëlle De Brouwer	22
Véronique Renties	24
	46
	49
()	(65)
()	(87)

141

9

Italy

Cristina Tomasini	10
Sabine Ladurner	16
Margherita Gargano	61
Elena Rastello	62
(Gabriella Dorio)	(DNF)
(Agnese Possamai)	(DNF)

149

10

Canada

Debbie Scott	13
Jean Cameron	38
	45
Maureen Crowley	66
()	(75)
(Lynn Kanuka)	(90)

162

11

Denmark

Dorthe Rasmussen	18
	35
	37
	73
()	(77)
()	(94)

163

12

Spain

	25
	33
	50
	58
()	(74)
()	(78)

166

13

Belgium

	21
Magda Ilands	47
Francine Peeters	60
	63
()	(68)
()	(72)

191

14

Scotland

	44
Fiona McQueen	57
	67
Margaret Coomber	82
()	(91)
()	(93)

250

15

Wales

	76
	81
	83
	84
()	(86)
()	(92)

324

16

Northern Ireland

	88
	89
	95
	96
()	(97)
()	(98)

368

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

Participation[]

An unofficial count yields the participation of 100 athletes from 19 countries in the Senior women's race. This is in agreement with the official numbers as published.^[4]

Australia (2)
Belgium (6)
Canada (6)
Denmark (6)
England (6)
France (6)
Ireland (6)

Israel (2)
Italy (6)
Netherlands (3)
New Zealand (6)
Northern Ireland (6)
Norway (5)

Scotland (6)
Soviet Union (5)
Spain (6)
United States (6)
Wales (6)
West Germany (5)

References[]

^ Marshall, Ron (26 March 1979), Majestic triumph for Ireland's 'King John' - John Treacy, the 21-year-old holder of the world cross-country title, set alight the hearts of 25,000 impassioned Irish spectators yesterday afternoon here at Limerick Racecourse where he retained the championship in majestic fashion, covering the 12,000 metres in 37 min, 20sec..., Glasgow Herald, p. 18, retrieved 25 December 2021
^ Magnusson, Tomas (8 February 2007), IAAF World Cross Country Championships - 5.0km CC Women -Limerick Green Park Date: Sunday, March 25, 1979, Athchamps (archived), archived from the original on 16 October 2007, retrieved 18 October 2013CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
^ IAAF WORLD CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS, Athletics Weekly, retrieved 9 October 2013
^ ^a ^b 36th IAAF WORLD CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS - EDINBURGH 2008 - FACTS & FIGURES - GREAT BRITAIN & NORTHERN IRELAND AT THE INTERNATIONAL CROSS COUNTRY & WORLD CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS (PDF), IAAF, p. 2ff, archived from the original (PDF) on 27 September 2013, retrieved 9 October 2013

[herald_01-1] Marshall, Ron (26 March 1979), Majestic triumph for Ireland's 'King John' - John Treacy, the 21-year-old holder of the world cross-country title, set alight the hearts of 25,000 impassioned Irish spectators yesterday afternoon here at Limerick Racecourse where he retained the championship in majestic fashion, covering the 12,000 metres in 37 min, 20sec..., Glasgow Herald, p. 18, retrieved 25 December 2021

[archive_03-2] Magnusson, Tomas (8 February 2007), IAAF World Cross Country Championships - 5.0km CC Women -Limerick Green Park Date: Sunday, March 25, 1979, Athchamps (archived), archived from the original on 16 October 2007, retrieved 18 October 2013CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)

[gbr_01-3] IAAF WORLD CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS, Athletics Weekly, retrieved 9 October 2013

[iaaf_01-4] 36th IAAF WORLD CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS - EDINBURGH 2008 - FACTS & FIGURES - GREAT BRITAIN & NORTHERN IRELAND AT THE INTERNATIONAL CROSS COUNTRY & WORLD CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS (PDF), IAAF, p. 2ff, archived from the original (PDF) on 27 September 2013, retrieved 9 October 2013

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

v t World Championships organised by World Athletics
Outdoor	1983 1987 1991 1993 1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015 2017 2019 2022 2023
Indoor	1985 1987 1989 1991 1993 1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2022 2023
Continental Cup*	1977 1979 1981 1985 1989 1992 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018
U20	1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2021 2022
U18	1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015 2017
Cross Country	1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2013 2015 2017 2019 2023
Race Walking	1961 1963 1965 1967 1970 1973 1975 1977 1979 1981 1983 1985 1987 1989 1991 1993 1995 1997 1999 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018
Women's Road Race	1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991
Marathon	1985 1987 1989 1991 1993 1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011
Half Marathon	1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 2022
Road Relay	1986 1992 1994 1996 1998
Relays*	2014 2015 2017 2019 2021

v t International cross country running championships
World	IAAF World Cross Country Championships FISU World University Cross Country Championships CISM World Military Cross Country Championships
Continental	Asia Africa Europe North America, Central America and Caribbean Oceania South America
Regional	Americas Arab Balkans Central American and Caribbean Central American Nordic Commonwealth Mountain and Ultradistance
See also: Modern pentathlon • International Cross Country Championships (1903–1972)