With a strong history of amazing competition and groundbreaking performances, here are 25 statistics leading up to this weekend's IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Poland.

-----

The average age of Team USA’s men’s senior team is 26 years old

The average age of Team USA’s women’s senior team is 27.8 years old

10 of the 12 Team USA senior men and women members are under 30 years old #futureofthesport

The USA hosted the World Cross Country Championships in 1984 (NYC) and 1992 (Boston)

Craig Virgin is the only American senior male to win a world cross country title, doing so twice (1980 & 1981)

Alberto Salazar was the last American senior male to medal, placing second in 1982

Kenenisa Bekele (Ethiopia) has won the most senior men’s titles (long-course) with six (6)

Bekele also won five (5) straight short-course titles during the nine years the race was held

Kenyans Paul Tergat and John Ngugi each won five (5) senior men’s titles

A Kenyan or Ethiopian man has won 23 of the past 31 senior men’s long course titles

In 2001, the USA senior men medaled, placing third. This was the last time a U.S. senior men’s team finished top three.

The American senior men finished second in the team race five (5) times between 1978-1984.

Julie Brown was the first American woman to win a senior women’s title, taking home the gold in 1975.

Lynn Jennings is the only American woman to win multiple world cross country titles, winning back-to-back-back titles from 1990-1992.

Deena Kastor finished runner-up twice in the senior women’s race, taking home silver in 2002 and 2003.

2002 was a good year for the U.S. senior women’s squad, as Deena Kastor and Colleen de Reuck finished second and third and the team finished second.

The American senior women finished third in each of the past two World Cross Country Championships (2010 and 2011).

The USA senior women won the World Cross Country Championship team title four times from 1983-1987.

Since their last team gold in 1987, the USA senior women’s team has finished second two (2) times and third five (5) times.

Since 1982, no USA junior men’s or women’s squad has finished top three.

Since 1982, Dathan Ritzenhein (3rd in 2001) is the only American junior competitor to finish top three.

Kenya has won every junior men’s team title but one since 1988.

In the past ten women’s junior races, Ethiopia and Kenya have each won team titles five (5) times.

Greta Weitz (Norway) won five (5) women’s senior titles between 1978-1983, the most of any woman.

Total All-Time World XC Championship Medal Count: Kenya (286), Ethiopia (234), United States (62)