Ayele Abshero battles with Leonard Komon in Elgoibar (© Josemi Rubio)
Ethiopia’s Ayele Abshero grabbed a more than convincing 13-second win at the ‘66th Cross Internacional Juan Muguerza’ which was held today (11).
Abshero, the reigning World Junior Cross Country silver medallist, defeated the last two World Cross Country senior silver medallists in the guise of Kenyans Moses Mosop (2007 silver and runner-up today) and Leonard Komon (2008 silver and third here in Elgoibar).
The 18-year-old Abshero also took revenge on his fellow Ethiopian and 2008 Edinburgh World XC conqueror Ibrahim Jeilan, and seems to be on the right path to step up one place on his 2008 runner's-up place when the 37th IAAF World Cross Country Championships take place in Amman, Jordan on 28 March 2009.
Abshero is now among the illustrious Elgoibar’s victors winners list which includes living legends such as Kenya’s Paul Tergat (1999) and Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele (2003).
The women's contest didn’t offer the men’s standard but witnessed a magnificent display from Kenya’s Florence Kiplagat who built a massive 17-second winning margin over the consistent Hungarian Aniko Kalovics.
MEN - Abshero denies Komon birthday celebrations
No less than five men had winning chances at the midway point with the leading pack including Abshero, Mosop, Komon plus last weekend’s winner in Antrim Imane Merga of Ethiopia, and Qatar’s Ahmed Abdullah. The latter two lost ground in the sixth kilometre and it became clear that, barring disaster, the podium should be compounded by Abshero, Mosop and Komon with the young Ethiopian making most of the pushing duties.
The key movement of the 10.8km contest came before the last big 2.1km loop when Abshero found another gear and built a sizeable margin over the Kenyan pair which travelled together for a few minutes.
The closing lap offered a solo run by Abshero who reached the tape some 13 seconds ahead his closest pursuer. Trailing the Ethiopian, Mosop bounced back from his below-par performance last Tuesday in San Giorgio Su Legnano (where he lost 1:10 to Komon) to hold on for second, while Komon had to settle for third 22 seconds behind the winner.
“I shouldn’t say my win today was comfortable but honestly I felt perfect throughout the event and didn’t find special difficulty in romping home first. I now plan to compete at the IAAF XC permit in Seville next Sunday (18 Jan),” Abshero commented after his effort.
Despite having beaten the crème of the world distance running over the last months, a cautious Abshero ruled out an assault on the senior World XC title as confirming that, “I turned 18 years of age last December so I’m still eligible for the Junior race in Jordan and my target is to take the gold medal there as a Junior.”
As for Komon, the reigning World XC silver medallist was disappointed after the race, explaining his troublesome birthday on Saturday: “I’m not happy since I came here to win but I left my European base in Brussels on Saturday morning and only got to the hotel after midnight so I have rested for less than five hours. Anyway I promise to be back here next year to regain my last year’s victory”.
Surprisingly, 25-year-old Britain’s Scott Overall (39th at the recent European XC Champs in Brussels and holder of a 13:28.33 5000 PB) finished as first European home in seventh after a fierce sprint finish with Ethiopia’s reigning World Junior XC champion Ibrahim Jeilan. The Briton got the better of Spain’s Mohamed Elbendir and reigning European 10,000m silver medallist Chema Martínez.
WOMEN - Kiplagat comes back successfully
The women’s 6.624km contest was chiefly a Kenyan affair.
Florence Kiplagat was tipped as the main favourite, despite her athletics career having come to a complete halt in 2008 due to her new motherhood, and the former (2006) World Junior 5000m silver medallist didn’t let anyone down.
Hungary’s Aniko Kalovics was loyal to her usual front-running tactics once again and from the gun she dictated the pace of the race. By the second kilometre only Kiplagat (5th at the 2007 Mombasa Worlds) and her fellow Kenyan Grace Momanyi managed to remain at Kalovics’s shoulder with the rest of the field way back.
Midway through the penultimate 2.1km loop, the 21-year-old Kiplagat pulled ahead effortlessly from her leading opponents, and stamped her authority with a massive 17-second margin of victory over the Hungarian, herself another 21 seconds ahead of a faltering top-ten placed from Edinburgh Worlds like Momanyi.
Emeterio Valiente for the IAAF
Results
Men (10.8km):
1. Ayele Abshero (Ethiopia) 31:18
2. Moses Mosop (Kenya) 31:31
3. Leonard Komon (Kenya) 31:40
4. Imane Merga (Ethiopia) 32:07
5. Ahmed Abdullah (Qatar) 32:09
6. Ibrahim Jeilan (Ethiopia) 32:40
7. Scott Overall (Great Britain) 32:40
8. Mohamed Elbendir (Spain) 32:48
9. Chema Martínez (Spain) 32:56
10. Miguel Ángel Barzola (Arg) 32:57
Women (6.62km):
1. Florence Kiplagat (Kenya) 21:39
2. Aniko Kalovics (Hungary) 21:56
3. Grace Momanyi (Kenya) 22:17
4. Zemzem Ahmed (Ethiopia) 22:30
5. Diana Martín (Spain) 22:49
6. Analia Rosa (Portugal) 22:55
7. Alexandra Aguilar (Spain) 22:59
8. Cristina Jordán (Spain) 23:13
9. Stacey Johnson (Great Britain) 23:25
10. Isabel Checa (Spain) 23:28
