Kenya, Ethiopia face off again

ETHIOPIA AND KENYA ARE SENDing formidable teams to the 36th edition of the World Cross-Country championships — to be held in Edinburgh, Scotland on March 30 — as the two countries — the most successful in the history of the competition — face off once again.

But Eritrea, which won the men’s senior title at last year’s championship in Mombasa, Kenya courtesy of Zersenay Tadese remains a threat to the two dominant countries. Kenyans, however, still consider Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele as their main threat for the men’s individual and team titles.

Gideon Ngatunyi will lead the Kenyan men’s team chase for the title while five-time double World Cross-Country champion Bekele and two-time female long-course champion Tirunesh Dibaba will lead Ethiopia.

The Kenyan national team has been training at its traditional training base in Kigari, Embu, and even the post-election violence that rocked the country in January-February and disrupted training in the high altitude camps in the North Rift did not dampen their spirits.

Ngatunyi, fourth in last year’s championships, ran a tactical race to win the senior men’s 12km race at the Kenya National Championships in Nairobi and is being touted as the perfect replacement for five time cross-country champion Paul Tergat. Since retired from cross-country, Kenya has not won the title.

The Kenya women’s team will be led by 19-year-old Grace Momanyi who caused an upset at the trials. She will be leading a team of young talent such as Linet Masai, who won the World junior title last year in Mombasa, and Doris beChangeywo.

ETHIOpia is out to prove a point in Edinburgh after a disastrous performance in Mombasa, where the country won only two individual medals and a single team title, its worst showing in the 27 years of the competition. The team will also have Sileshi Sihine and Abebe Dinkesa, who apart from beating Kenya are also a threat to Bekele.

Bekele dropped out of the men’s senior race in Mombasa at the fourth lap. Although initially doubting whether he would attain the form that has seen him win five back-to-back short and long-course titles, the 25-year old won a third 10,000m world title in Osaka, Japan early this month. So far, he has won three races this year, including setting a two-mile world indoor best time in Birmingham in February. He skipped the World Indoor Championships to prepare for Edinburgh.

Dibaba, who was beaten by Dutchwoman Lornah Kiplagat in Mombasa last year and has since been struggling to maintain her status as the golden girl of Ethiopian athletics, made an astonishing recovery to defend her 10,000m word title in Osaka last year.

She however had to cancel the rest of her 2007 racing schedule after suffering severe abdominal pains during the race. In her only outing this year, she won the 3,000m at the Boston Indoor Games in January, but injury stopped her from participating in other races. Bekele and Ngatunyi aside, the man to watch will be Tadese.