The 2026 World Athletics Cross Country Championships in Tallahassee on January 10 were full of excitement. Stars like Jacob Kiplimo and Agnes Ngetich claimed the senior titles, while Ethiopia swept both team competitions. Sure, fans at Apalachee Regional Park were completely hooked till the end, cheering every stride and every lead change… but for viewers at home, the TV coverage was a major disappointment.

Just recently, Tim Adams, sports journalist for Athletics Weekly, shared his frustration on X, “Be interesting to hear what it was like on the ground in Tallahassee but the TV production quality of the World Cross Country Championships was woeful. If the sport is trying to attract new fans then that’s the first thing you have to get right. They sadly did not..”

NBC Sports, the holder of World Athletics media rights through 2029, broadcasted the event live in the U.S. on television and Peacock. It showed every race on that one-day schedule, though leaving much to be desired.

Viewers complained about bad camera angles, confusing commentary, and the graphics, which apparently were not informative enough. For a casual viewer at home, it was impossible to track the races or to feel the drama that fans in the stands were experiencing up close.

Despite the electric races and outstanding performances from the athletes, many viewers at home felt let down by a subpar final product. And athletics fans weren’t shy about saying so.

Fans slam NBC for World Athletics Cross Country Championships coverage

One fan shared their experience, commenting on X, “Seemed very much like a non-event. Strange.” Another added, “It was almost unwatchable. 3 hours of my life I’ll never get back.”

A third fan echoed the same sentiments, critiquing the camerawork at the event: “I don’t know how any director could resist a shot of the athletes coming over the hill and plunging down to the flat.”

This was especially disappointing because the 2026 World Athletics Cross Country Championships was a historic one for the U.S., returning to the country for the first time in over 30 years. The last editions held in the country were in New York in 1984 and Boston in 1992. Tallahassee presented a rare chance for American fans to watch the planet’s top cross-country runners compete in their backyard… but the broadcast flopped.

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It’s not the first time NBC has been criticized for its broadcast. Ex-analyst Dwight Stones once called the channel’s track and field coverage a “disgrace” in 2016, complaining about significant editing and not focusing on the key events. Even at the Tokyo Olympics, fans complained after live events were delayed by hours.

One fan wrote, “Yeah the drone shots would be cool if sprinkled into the broadcast but not as the main camera shot – half the time I had no idea what was going on at the front, and Hannah had an impossible job on comms,” while one comment put it plainly:, “It was terrible.”

Well, the races were definitely exciting, bad broadcast or not. Australia pulled off a big win in the mixed relay. On the women’s side, Agnes Ngetich from Kenya absolutely dominated the senior 10 km, finishing in 31:28.

And on the men’s side, Jacob Kiplimo from Uganda took the senior 10 km, marking his third straight World Cross Country title. He crossed in around 28:18, pulling away in the final lap.

Ethiopia’s Berihu Aregawi won silver, and Kenya’s Daniel Simiu Ebenyo grabbed bronze. Ethiopia also took home the men’s team title. Now, while all of that was happening on the ground, fans watching at home had some strong opinions about the broadcast.

One chimed in with constructive feedback: “I enjoyed it, but was hard to follow on TV b/c chip time updates were so bad. Next time 1. Place more chip sensors around the course & set aside part of the screen to scroll live positions of all athletes 2. Live update leading 5 team positions too Learn from xc-ski & biathlon.”

In cross‑country skiing and biathlon, the event is paced by a time system, which collects intermediate and final race splits in real-time and is injected directly into broadcast graphics. Fans can only hope NBC takes some of the feedback into consideration for the next time.