Posted: December 16, 2005

Athletics: Kipchoge Not Supporting National XC Coach

From David Monti

© 2005 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved RaceResultsWeekly.com

By Elshadai Negash

In an interview last month, Kenya’s Olympic 5000m bronze medalist Eliud Kipchoge vowed not to compete for his country at next year's IAAF World Cross Country Championships if national team coach Julius Kiruwa remains in charge of the country’s cross county coaching setup.

Speaking exclusively to RRW in Addis Ababa during a three-day visit as a guest athlete for the 2005 TOYOTA Great Ethiopian Run, Kipchoge said he was not happy with the way the coach handles the program. "He has not a good coach," said Kipchoge. "He said that I was out of shape before the World Cross Country Championships last year. But the fact was that I was in great form in Kenya. This is not good. The way he runs things makes me unhappy."

The 2003 world junior cross country champion and fifth-place finisher in last year’s race added: "If he remains in charge of the team, I will stay away. I will not interfere with his system or his work."

[Kipchoge made these comments well before yesterday's announcement by Athletics Kenya banning several prominent athlete mangers, including Jos Hermens' Global Sports Communiations, which manages Kipchoge's career.]

What started out as an impressive 2005 with victory in the View from Greater Edinburgh cross country meeting in Scotland ended in disappointment at the IAAF World Championships in Athletics for the 20-year old from Eldoret. However, the 2003 world 5000m champion says his overall performance throughout the season was "not that bad."

"Helsinki was very bad for me," said Kipchoge who was beaten to the fourth position when he was passed in the final meters by Australian Craig Mottram. "But overall my season was not that bad. On the track, I lost only twice and that is not very bad."

Due to his inconsistent showing in the 2005, Kipchoge has had to take the wrath from the Kenyan media who criticized him for being too arrogant. "I am not aware of my arrogance," he said. "I love my country and I always enjoy running for my country."

Like his predecessor and five-time world cross country champion Paul Tergat, Kipchoge has had the misfortune for being in the same running generation as Ethiopia’s two-time world and one-time Olympic 10,000m champion Kenenisa Bekele. Although he has ample respect for his archrival, Kipchoge said that he is not unbeatable.

"He is a very good athlete, but when we meet next time, the person in best form will win," he said.