Tirunesh Dibaba with World Cross gold medals (© Getty Images)
MonteCarloBoth of Ethiopia’s senior double gold medallists, Kenenisa Bekele and Tirunesh Dibaba, from the last edition of the World Cross, will return to defend their titles when the 34th IAAF World Cross Country Championships take place in Fukuoka, Japan, 1 - 2 April 2006.
Bekele, 23, and Dibaba, 20, who are the IAAF World Rankings’ number one athletes for their events, with the former also being top Overall and the World Athlete of the Year for the last two seasons, have been named in the Ethiopian squad for the Championships in Japan, at both the short and long race distances.
In France last year both stormed to memorable double victories in the sun and heat of Saint-Galmier, and carried their brilliant form through to the summer. Bekele retained his World 10,000m title in Helsinki, Finland, and later smashed his World record for the distance in Brussels, Belgium, while Dibaba made her own history by taking a pair of track golds - 5000m and 10,000m - also in the Finnish capital.
With the format of the World Cross Country Championships reverting back to a one day competition in 2007, the two day festival in Fukuoka at the beginning of April offers both runners, especially four-time double champion Bekele, the chance of further enhancing their athletics legends.
IAAF
