Bekele
and Radcliffe triumph in Italy
AFP
5 January 2002 – San Giorgio Su Legnano,
Italy - Ethiopia's Kenesisa Bekele and
Britain's Paula Radcliffe respectively
won the men's and women's versions of
the Campaccio cross-country race
Saturday, a traditional date in the new
year Italian sporting calendar.
Bekele won near Milan with something to spare in the men's race over 12km, a time of 34min 51sec seeing him home ahead of second-placed Kenyan Richard Limo (35:07) and Ukraine's Sergei Lebid (35:16).
Radcliffe posted a winning time of 21:03 over a 6km course to see off Kenya's Margaret Okayo (21:12) and Italy's Nives Curti. Radcliffe's next major rendezvous will be the defence of her title at the World Cross Country Championships in Dublin (23-24 March) prior to making her marathon debut at the London Marathon on 14 April.
Men (12km)
1. Kenenisa Bekele (ETH) in 34:51, 2. Richard Limo (KEN) 35:07, 3. Sergei Lebid (UKR) 35:16, 4. Pius Muli (KEN) 35:29, 5. Michele Gamba (ITA) 35:32
Women (6km)
1. Paula Radcliffe (GBR) 21:03, 2. Margaret Okayo (KEN) 21:12, 3. Nives Curti (ITA) 21:20, 4. Anja Smolders (BEL) 21:28, 5. Rosanna Martin (ITA) 21:31.
