(photo: Ben True at 2012 US olympic 5K trials) BYDGOSZCZ, Poland--In one of the most surprising performances in recent memory, Team USA, led by the sixth place finish of Ben True (Hanover, N.H.) earned a hard fought team silver medal in the senior men's 12-kilometer race at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships at Myslecinek Park. The senior women’s team placed fourth with the junior men fourth and the junior women sixth.

After all the threats of rain, Lisbon woke up to bright sunshine, but the main problem was the strong wind that faced athletes today (24) in the second half of EDP Lisbon Half Marathon, an IAAF Gold Label Road Race.

With Kenya’s 2011 gold and silver medallists Vivian Cheruiyot and Linet Masai opting to focus on the summer season, and Ethiopia’s four-time winner and Olympic 10,000m champion Tirunesh Dibaba withdrawing through injury, the senior women’s race at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland this Sunday (24) could be viewed as an open affair.

Two years ago, when Imane Merga won at the last IAAF World Cross country Championships, it was a slight surprise to many people as the Ethiopian had a reputation for competing well on the track but rarely winning.