News14 Mar 2008


Bekele and Dibaba lead Ethiopia’s strong team of 27 for Edinburgh

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Kenenisa Bekele signals his tenth World Cross Country gold (© Getty Images)

Addis Ababa, EthiopiaFivetime double World cross country champion Kenenisa Bekele and two-time female long course champion Tirunesh Dibaba will lead Ethiopia’s strong team for the 36th IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Edinburgh, Scotland (30 March 2008).

But Bekele and Dibaba are not the only strong favourites in this team hoping to heal the wounds of a disastrous outing last year in Mombasa where the country was reduced to two individual medals and a single team title, its worst showing in its twenty-seven-year competition history.

Senior men - Bekele returns for revenge

The peak of the selections is the return of Bekele to the World cross country just over a year to the day he dropped out at the end of the fourth lap in Mombasa. Although initially doubting whether he would ever return to the form that has seen him win five back-to-back short and long course titles, the 25-year-old returned to his old all-conquering self to win a third world 10,000m title in Osaka.

Bekele has carried the same rich vein of form this year winning all his three races including a two-mile World indoor best in Birmingham in February. The Olympic 10,000m champion is also fresh and ready after skipping the trials and the World Indoor Championships to concentrate on the challenge in the Scottish capital.

Bekele will be joined in Edinburgh by double world 10,000m silver medallist Sileshi Sihine who has recovered from the injury that saw him drop out of an indoor 3000m in Stuttgart earlier this month. Bekele’s biggest challenge is expected to come from Abebe Dinkessa who looked impressive when winning the trials a month ago, while Gebregziabher Gebremariam’s presence will add experience to the star-studded line-up.

Senior women - Dibaba vs Burka vs Melkamu

Former World cross country double champion Tirunesh Dibaba makes a protracted return to competition and will have every reason to regain her title in a venue that has not always proven kind to her.

The 22-year-old was handily beaten by Dutchwoman Lornah Kiplagat in Mombasa last year and has since then struggled to maintain her status as the golden girl of Ethiopian athletics. Although she made an astonishing recovery to defend her World 10,000m title in Osaka last year, Dibaba cancelled the rest of her 2007 racing plans after aggravating abdominal pains in the Japanese coastal city.

In her only outing this year, she won the 3000m at the Boston Indoor Games in January, but a recurrence of the same injury has wiped out her racing plans this term.

A fully-fit Dibaba will go into any cross country race as the favourite, but her recent injury nightmares should open the door for her Ethiopian rivals to pounce in Edinburgh.

Waiting in the wings are Gelete Burka, who last Sunday broke the African indoor 1500m record when winning bronze in the World Indoor Championships, and Meselech Melkamu, who won bronze in last year’s race and silver over the 3000m in Valencia.

Burka, who finished fourth last year and collapsed at the finish line after a gruelling race, won the trials in her first ever 8km senior women’s race on home soil. In contrast, Melkamu looked capable of handling the Mombasa conditions last year after giving Dibaba a tough race in the battle for silver and will hope to improve on her successive bronze medals from the last two editions.

Junior men - Can this be Jeylan’s year?

This is a question that has been asked of the World junior 10,000m champion in the past two years. Without pear in the Ethiopian trials and reportedly in top shape going to Fukuoka (2006) and Mombasa (2007), the 18-year-old has failed to convince his doubters over the mud contrary to his prolific form on the track.

The Muger Cement sports club athlete finished fifth two years ago, but dropped out mid-race last year, but after his third successive domestic title, he believes his time has finally come to be crowned World junior cross country champion.

“This will be my last junior year and I want to finish well,” he said after winning this year’s trials a month ago.

It will be some feat considering that the last Ethiopian junior champion was Meba Tadesse, who won the title in 2004.

Junior Women - Can Etea be a symbol of victory?

Emebet Etea was the image of Ethiopia’s failed campaign in Mombasa last year. The 18-year-old ran nearly two of the three laps in the junior women’s 6km last year, but then stood at a trance with her pupils dilated before collapsing to the ground in one of the most horrifying images replayed again and again on Ethiopian national television.

She looked to have gotten over her nightmare after decisively winning the trials this year and is eager to become the symbol of victory in Edinburgh this year. “With the help of God, I want to win this year. If that is not possible, maybe I can try for a medal.”

Joining her will be Genzebe Dibaba, younger sister of Tirunesh Dibaba who finished fifth last year, while Tigist Mamuye, Emebet Bacha, and Bitew Yehunegne will be competing for Ethiopian colours for the first time in their careers ironically in their first ever flights outside Ethiopia.

Elshadai Negash for the IAAF

Ethiopian team for Edinburgh

6km Junior Women
1. Emebet Etea (Defence)
2. Genzebe Dibaba (Muger Cement)
3. Tigist Mamuye (Defence)
4. Bitew Yehunegne (Amhara region)
5. Bethlehem Moges (Defence)
6. Emebet Bacha (Ethiopian Banks)

8km Junior Men
1. Ibrahim Jeylan (Muger Cement)
2. Ayele Abshiro (Ethiopian Banks)
3. Hunegnaw Mesfin (Ethiopian Banks)
4. Dejen Gebremeskel (Ethiopian Banks)
5. Feyissa Lelisa (Defence)
6. Emane Merga (Defence)

8km Senior Women
1. Tirunesh Dibaba (Prisons Police)
2. Meselech Melkamu (EEPCO)
3. Gelete Burka (Prisons Police)
4. Koreni Jelila (Defence)
5. Mestawet Tufa (Omedla)
6. Asselefech Mergia (Omedla)

12km Senior Men
1. Kenenisa Bekele (Muger Cement)
2. Sileshi Sihine (Prisons Police)
3. Abebe Dinkessa (Prisons Police)
4. Demesew Tsega (St. George)
5. Gebregziabher Gebremariam (Ethiopian Banks)
6. Habtamu Fekadu (Defence)
7. Zenbaba Yegezu (St. George)
8. Dereje Regassa (Defence)
9. Tadesse Tola (Prisons Police) 

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