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From David Monti
© 2007 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved RaceResultsWeekly.com
By Bob Ramsak
MOMBASA, Kenya – From the moment the starter’s gun sounded under the mid afternoon’s stifling hot sun and extremely humid conditions, it became evident that the 35th IAAF World Cross Country Championships would be unlike any other. Even prior to Lornah Kiplagat’s commanding victory, and well before a well-beaten Kenenisa Bekele stepped off the course some 800 meters before the finish, it became abundantly clear that the most arduous conditions in the history of these championships would play an overwhelming role in the first-ever global championships held in Kenya.
Men’s race – Big Win for Tadesse as Bekele Drops Out
When he built a sizeable lead some 20 minutes into the race, Bekele appeared to have already set his cruise control towards a record sixth straight world cross country title. But his auto pilot couldn’t quite gauge the weekend’s most unpredictable and daunting variable – the stifling conditions that were clearly on everyone’s mind as race day approached.
Less than five minutes after he was apparently dropped by the mighty Ethiopian, Eritrea’s Zersenay Tadesse, the world road running champion, not only managed to make up the gap, but took an additional step forward as he pummeled past Bekele to produce what will certainly be remembered as the biggest upset of these championships.
Surprising onlookers who were already prepped for yet for another Bekele victory, Tadesse confidently strode by the five-time defending champion with just under a lap to go. Left in the Eritrean’s powerful wake, a wholly unlikely image of Bekele emerged, one of a runner broken, with simply nothing in reserve to fight back. Unable to summon his trademark sprint, Bekele appeared drained and confused as he watched Tadesse pull away before finally succumbing to the conditions –by this time, still 33 C, with 73% humidity-- some two minutes before Tadesse reached the finish, to end his cross country race win streak at 27. As two medics carrying a stretcher approached, Bekele motioned them away. Later it was confirmed by an Ethiopian team official that he had struggled with stomach pains since the middle part of the race and was finally forced to give up.
While Bekele’s dramatic departure from the race was a shock, it shouldn’t belittle the powerful performance displayed by Tadesse, the Olympic 10,000m bronze medallist, who was clearly prepared for everything these championships would throw at him, be it the heat or the opposition.
“I feel happy and proud for all Eritreans,” said the 25-year-old, who has single-handedly led an athletics renaissance in his country while spending much of the past three years chasing Bekele’s shadow. “I’m very happy and have no words to express my feelings.”
Tadesse, who trains part of the year in Spain, said that preparation there last year helped him for the conditions here. “I trained quite a bit in heat similar to this,” he said. Tadesse said he didn’t feel surprised when he caught up and passed Bekele, and didn’t realize that he had dropped out. “I just didn’t see him,” said Tadesse, who was fourth last year and the silver medallist the year before.
The deep and largely inexperienced Kenyan squad performed admirably, but none would emerge as a solid threat for the individual win. Only national champion Moses Mosop was up to the challenge, and held on for second, reaching the finish in 36:13, 23 seconds behind Tadesse. Another 24 seconds back was Bernard Kipyego, to claim the bronze.
Behind Tadesse, the hosts took spots two through six for a 28 point total, nearly 80 points ahead of runner-up Morocco to easily defend their team title, and a staggering 20th long course team crown overall. Mosop held on valiantly to take Uganda, led by Martin Toroitich’s ninth place, was third (185 points), to claim their first medal at a World Cross Country championship. The heat took a particularly hard toll on Ethiopia; besides the defending champion, four others didn’t finish, resulting in no score in the team battle, and no team medal for only the second time since 1992.
Briton Mo Farah, the European champion, was the first non-African, finishing an unanticipated tenth. Underscoring the difficult conditions, 29 of the 134 starters did not finish the race.
Kiplagat From Start to Finish
After a surprise runner-up finish a year ago, Lornah Kiplagat wanted to give her pursuit of a global cross country title one more try. Determined from the outset, she fought back all challengers as well as the abysmal conditions en route to a rout in the women’s race, defeating defending champion Tirunesh Dibaba by 24 seconds in 26:23 over the eight kilometer course.
“Anything for me today less than second, meant I was loser,” the 32-year-old Kenyan-born Dutchwoman said, after becoming the first European to win the title since Paul Radcliffe’s victory in 2002. Producing a near gun-to-tape victory, losing was never part of the equation for Kiplagat today.
With a comfortable four second lead midway through the race, she powered on through the heat and humidity, extending her lead to more than 20 seconds by the time the bell sounded for the final lap. Trailing from a distance, Dibaba and compatriots Meselech Melkamu and Gelete Burka never gave chase, content with the podium positions they had all but secured.
“I think it was a bit about experience today,” said Kiplagat, who, like Tadesse, also raced to victory at last October’s World Road Running Championships. “The only game plan I had today was to believe I could handle the heat, I've trained so hard I didn't want to let it go.” Kiplagat also suggested that this would be her last appearance at the World Cross Country Championships.
“The heat is what did the most damage,” said Dibaba, who was chasing her third successive title. “I knew that this was all I could do. I just couldn’t withstand the heat.”
Dibaba did however claim another gold medal, leading the Ethiopian squad to its sixth successive team title, their 19 points edging Kenya (26), while Morocco was a distant third with 99.
Perhaps because she crossed the line carrying a Dutch flag, Kiplagat’s reception by the vociferous crowd wasn’t quite as welcoming as she had hoped. During the victory ceremony, a loud chorus of boos echoed throughout the venue.
Kenyan Romp in the Junior Races
Kenya’s overall dominance of the proceedings began with the day’s opening event with their podium sweep in the junior women’s race, won by Linet Barasa in her first international race, a feat later outdone by the men’s junior team who swept the top-four spots.
While their dominance was clear, the brutal conditions that may come to define these championships became evident from the outset, taking a particularly strong toll in the women’s junior contest.
After misjudging the finish by some five minutes –and taking a pair of Ethiopian chasers with her-- defending champion Pauline Korikwiang forged on briefly before dropping to the ground from heat exhaustion. Succumbing to the conditions, 20 of the 87 starters didn’t finish. Among the busiest volunteers on hand throughout the day were the ambulance drivers; in all 27 athletes were hospitalized.
Barasa was the clear winner, covering the 6 km course in 20:52, seven seconds clear of mercy Kosgei who reached the line 11 seconds ahead of Veronica Wanjiru, to complete Kenya’s second consecutive podium sweep and their fifth overall since junior competition began in 1989. Kosgei moved up a notch from her bronze medal performance of a year ago, while Wanjiru, a two-time defending silver medallist, couldn’t quite live up to her own pedigree.
Meraf Bahta, sixth overall, led Eritrea to the runner-up spot in the team competition, the first medal ever for the small nation at a World Country Championship. Sule Utura and Genzebe Dibaba, the 16-year-old younger sister of Tirunesh and Eyagayou, finished fifth and sixth respectively, to lead Ethiopia to the bronze.
While the women proved a mighty force, the men were unstoppable en route to their ninth straight men’s junior title, and 19th in the last 20 years.
This year it was 17-year-old Asbel Kiprop, who took top honors, continuing the frenzied celebration by the throng of more than 30,000 than lined every conceivable part of the course. Kiprop covered the 8 km course in 24:07, five seconds ahead of Vincent Chepkok, this year’s national junior champion and another 17-year-old. Matthew Kisorio was 15 seconds back to take the bronze over Leonard Komon, the silver medallist last year.
Following the perfect 10-point tally by the Kenyans, Eritrea was a distant second with 44 points to move up a notch from last year’s finish, with Ethiopia, the silver medalists the past eight straight years, finishing third with 54 points.
A crowd estimated at well over 30,000 packed the venue at the Mombasa Golf Club, beautifully set alongside the Indian Ocean, and for the most part, they left content. But organizationally, from the press tribune location where a significant number of broadcasters and reporters spent much of the afternoon working fully exposed to the sun, to the sorry state of security and crowd control on the infield where spectators were allowed to mill around dangerously close to injured athletes, the proceedings at times bordered on the chaotic.
The 36th edition of the championships will be held in Edinburgh, Scotland, in March 2008.
Photos: Canada’s Amanda Truelove being treated after failing to finish the junior race; a view of the opening ceremony. Photos by Bob Ramsak.
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