Previews11 Jan 2008


Matelong, Weissteiner aim for cross country success - Vallagarina PREVIEW

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Richard Matelong winning the 2007 Kenyan Police Cross Country title (© Omulo Okoth)

The Vallagarina Cross Country race near Rovereto, which celebrates its 31st edition on Sunday 13 January, will return to the traditional race programme after playing host the Italian Cross Country Championships last year.

The Vallagarina race will also count as the second leg of the 2008 FIDAL Cross Country Grand Prix. Some of the best Italian cross country and distance running specialists will face a strong international opposition in one of the most prestigious Italian cross country races.

Matelong top of the field

The headliners in this year’s race will be Kenyans Richard Matelong, World bronze medallist in the 3000m Steeplechase in Osaka and Thomas Pkemei Longosiwa, who ran 7:32.79 over the 3000m distance in Rieti and holds an impressive 5000m PB 12:51.95 set in Brussels during the 2007 summer track season.

Wilson Businei of Uganda, who competes for the local team Quercia Rovereto, starts as the biggest favourite in the men’s 8.6km race. Businei, who won three gold medals at the 2005 Universiade in Izmir at 5000m,10,000m and in the Half-Marathon and finished fourth at the World Road Running Championships in Debrecen 2006, was sixth at last weekend’s Campaccio and seventh at the World class New Year’s Eve Boclassic 10km road race in Bolzano.

The emerging cross country team from Eritrea has been invited to compete in the Vallagarina race. The best known name from this African country will be Adhanom Abraha who finished seventh in the Campaccio.

The most prominent European runner is Portugal’s Paulo Guerra, who won four continental cross country titles in 1994, 1995, 1999 and 2000.

Italian experienced cross country runners Gabriele De Nard, a former fourth placer at the European Cross Country Championships in 2001, former European junior cross country bronze medallist Stefano Scaini and last year’s national cross country champion Giuliano Battocletti, who won the traditional Ciaspolada race last week, will carry the major Italian hopes.

Weissteiner and Romagnolo lead local charge

Local favourite Silvia Weissteiner, a surprising European indoor bronze medallist in the 3000m in Birmingham and World Championships finalist in the 5000m in Osaka last year, is the top Italian name in the women’s field.

Weistteiner’s progress has been hampered by a bout of flu which forced her to miss the European Cross Country Championships in Toro and some days of training in mid-December. Last week the distance runner from Vipiteno in the the Northern Italian region of Alto Adige, finished sixth in the Campaccio, the Italian cross country kick-off of the 2008 season.

Another Italian distance runner who did very well during the 2007 track season and will run on Sunday will be national 3000m Steeplechase record holder Elena Romagnolo who ran her career best of 9:41.11 at the European Cup First League in Milan last June.

Romagnolo finished third in this year’s Campaccio beating Weissteiner and is on the top on the FIDAL Grand Prix leaderboard.

Catherine Kurui from Kenya, fourth in the Campaccio and Amselet Tewelde from Eritrea, will lead the African challenge. 

Diego Sampaolo for the IAAF   

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