Amorebieta, Spain - Ethiopia’s Tariku Bekele captured a thrilling victory at the ‘54th Cross Internacional Zornotza’ held Sunday (6) on an unseasonably nice afternoon for athletics with the thermometer rising the 18ºC by the time of the event. In doing so the reigning World Junior 5000m champion took revenge on his narrow defeat last year against Kenya’s Micah Kogo. On the women’s side Vivian Cheruiyot of Kenya snatched a largely expected and easy 26-second win ahead of Eritrea’s Meraf Batha. 

Bekele ends Ebuya’s momentum - Men’s race

It was 16 years ago that an Ethiopian male didn’t succeed in Amorebieta (Fita Bayissa back in 1992) and this year’s assignment for Tariku Bekele seemed anything but easy since he faced the opposition of three top Kenyans in the guise of a couple of sub-27:00 10,000m men - Micah Kogo and Moses Masai - plus this season’s unbeaten – in Cross Country - Joseph Ebuya.

Ebuya dictated most of the race’s tempo but by midway eight men still remained with chances of victory, with Spain’s Ayad Lamdassem as the only non-African between them. However, Ebuya’s front tactics started to pay dividends and before the closing 2000m loop the leading group had decreased to four: himself, Kogo, Masai and Bekele. Shortly afterwards the Ethiopian injected a much brisker pace and only Ebuya managed to stay at his shoulder as firstly Masai and later Kogo lost ground. The neck-and-neck battle between Bekele and Ebuya over the last lap was more than exciting with the Kenyan taking charge of the race for most of that time.

On paper Bekele’s track pedigree (7:29.11 PB for the 3000m event) made him the favourite in a final sprint but he probably reminded his last year’s loss, being outsprinted by Kogo, and decided to unleash a powerful burst of speed with 400m to go trying to secure the top spot. To the delight of the knowledgeable crowd Ebuya responded well but the five-metre gap Bekele built thanks to his kick was enough not to be overhauled by Ebuya who had to settle for the runner-up position, one second behind Bekele, 32:11 and 32:12 their respective times.

The remaining place on the podium went to Masai, who easily overtook a fading Kogo over the final kilometre to take a clear third, 18 seconds adrift of the winner but himself another 20 seconds clear of  the ‘defending champion’.

A delighted Bekele, who took top honours in his first outing of this Cross Country season, commented: “Last year I expected to win but I made a tactical mistake and could not win. That’s the reason why I had planned to try to break away before the final 100m and so I did it, although I have to recognise that my win was not final until reaching the finish line.” 

Cheruiyot retains in style - Women’s race

Unlike last year, when Australia’s former World Cross Country champion Benita Willis-Johnson pushed Vivian Cheruiyot until the final stages, the 24-year-old Kenyan became an overwhelming victor on this occasion over the 6700m course. The reigning World 5000m silver medallist allowed a bunch of five athletes to stay with her throughout the opening 2000m lap - the Portuguese pair of Leonor Carneiro and Marisa Barros, Morocco’s Salima Charki, Etritrea’s Meraf Batha and Spain’s Iris Fuentes-Pila.

Midway into the second lap Cheruiyot had edged into the lead, a place she didn’t relinquish as her rivals simply could not match her hot pace. By the bell (2000m left) the second fastest woman in history over 5000m had already built a handsome margin of 150m over her pursuers which she maintained effortlessly to romp home unopposed in 23:27.

The fight for the minor places on the podium witnessed a thrilling encounter between Batha and Carneiro with the 18-year-old Eritrean, who finish sixth at the Mombasa Worlds in the junior race, prevailing, but a massive 26 seconds adrift of Cheruiyot. Batha got the better of Carneiro by four seconds while 1500m specialist (PB of 4:04.25) Fuentes-Pila was the first Spaniard home in fifth just ahead of Barros but preceded by Charki.

“Winning is always wonderful and today’s is my second win in only six days in Spain,” said Cheruiyot, who won a 10km road race in Madrid last Monday, clocking 31:50. “Honestly, I expected a tougher rivalry but no one challenged me and the win was a bit straightforward in the end. I like this circuit and feel very satisfied for retaining my title here.”

Emeterio Valiente for the IAAF

Leading results -

Men (10.7Km)
 1. Tariku Bekele (Eth) 32:11
 2. Joseph Ebuya (Ken) 32:12
 3. Moses Masai (Ken) 32:29
 4. Micah Kogo (Ken) 32:49
 5. Cuthbert Nyasango (Zim) 33:26
 6. Ayad Lamdassem (Esp) 33:47
 7. Yared Asmeron (Eri) 33:54
 8. Eliseo Martín (Esp) 33:56
 9. Abdallah Habassa (Mor) 34:04
10. José Ríos (Esp) 34:15

Women (6.7Km)
 1. Vivian Cheruiyot (Ken) 23:27
 2. Meraf Batha (Eri) 23:53
 3. Leonor Carneiro (Por) 23:57
 4. Salima Charki (Mor) 24:06
 5. Iris Fuentes-Pila (Esp) 24:32
 6. Marisa Barros (Por) 24:43
 7. Azucena Díaz (Esp) 24:52
 8. Zulema Fuentes-Pila (Esp) 25:09
 9. María Sánchez (Esp) 25:26
10. Alma de las Heras (Esp) 25:30