Bekele unconcerned about late cross-country arrival

EDINBURGH, March 29 (Reuters) - Race favourite Kenenisa Bekele has cut his arrival for the world cross country championships fine after missing his connecting flight on Friday but said it would not affect his preparation for Sunday's event.

More... Bekele, 11 times a world cross champion but beaten last year, flew in from Ethiopia but after missing his connection in London was due to arrive in Edinburgh later on Saturday.
"I was always planning to arrive late in Edinburgh so although it wasn't planned to be this late I'm comfortable arriving the day before the competition," he said in a telephone interview with race organisers on Saturday.

"I have a lot of experience of the course here and have won here on three occasions so the delay does not worry me.

"My fitness is good, I've run three times this year, twice indoors and one cross country and have won each time."

Bekele won both the long and now-discontinued short races at the world cross country championships every year from 2002 to 2006 and is a three-times world champion over 10,000 metres on the track.

Last year, however, it all went wrong as he dropped out of the world cross race in the heat of Mombasa, Kenya, and had to watch Eritrea's Zersenay Tadese take the title.
It was his only defeat by his rival in 12 races, including the Edinburgh IAAF race over a shorter version of Sunday's 12-km course, when Bekele finished a second ahead of the Eritrean, who is also in sparkling form.

IDEAL SHAPE
Asked if he feared the 2007 champion, Bekele said: "It's not a matter of fearing anyone, I run my own race but after what happened in Mombasa the whole Ethiopian team are determined to do their best to bring success to our country."

Tadese, who has a brother running alongside him in the senior race, said he was in ideal shape to defend his title.

"I'm really ready for this competition," he told a news conference. "I know the course, the weather looks fine and I'll have great support from the Eritrean people. Kenenisa is a strong athlete but I'm prepared."

Tadese also warned that Kenya would be a major threat, despite seven of their nine-man team being under 22 and five of them making their senior worlds debut.

Kenya's preparations were disrupted by weeks of violence in the country which followed the disputed re-election of president Mwai Kibaki.

"Whether they are new or old the Kenyans will be strong," Tadese said of the team gold medallists for the last two years.

Ethiopia's Tirunes Dibaba, second last year when seeking a third successive title, starts as strong favourite in the women's race, particularly as 2007 champion Lornah Kiplagat is not racing.

"Mombasa was very tough because of the weather, it was tough to even finish let alone win," she said.

"I've run only once this season indoors as I was still suffering from stomach problems but we have been training in teams in Addis, where it has been very cold, so hopefully that will help," added the 10,000 metres track world champion, who has a sister also racing on Sunday. (Editing by Clare Fallon)