Kenyans Attempt Another Sweep

Published in Athletics Weekly, March 17

IAAF World Cross Country Championships preview - Punta Umbria, March 20

ETHIOPIAN athletes won 20 of the 30 individual titles between 2004 and 2009 but the balance of power is firmly back with Kenya, whose athletes took a clean sweep of the individual titles in Bydgoszcz last year. Despite the absence of reigning champions Joseph Ebuya and Emily Chebet who were both non-finishers at their domestic trials, their team still boasts an array of talent and they will be determined to prove their ascendancy as the world's leading powerhouse at cross-country.

Men's senior race

RECENT editions have been dominated by the more track-minded exponents but this year might prove to be an exception to the trend as marathon specialist Geoffrey Mutai, who won the Kenyan Trials by 44 seconds, must start as the athlete to beat.

The 29-year-old established himself as one of the world's best marathoners as he finished second in Rotterdam last year, lowering his PB from 2:07:01 to 2:04:55 to move to equal fifth on the world all-time lists and this was backed up with a runner-up finish in Berlin in 2:05:10. To show his all-round pedigree, Mutai also won the Kenyan 10,000m title last year and took a bronze medal at the African Championships on home-soil.

Continuing their emergence from the junior ranks, Mathew Kisorio and Vincent Chepkok will be vying for medals having both taken individual silverware in the junior division.

As well as Ebuya's absence, a controversial exclusion from their roster is former silver medallist Leonard Komon who was stripped of his berth after defying orders from his federation by competing in the World's Best 10km road-race in San Juan.

Up-and-coming Ethiopian Yenew Alamiraw didn't compete at his trials but the 20-year-old will be looking to cap his breakthrough season with an international medal. Alamiraw came to prominence in Stuttgart last month winning the 3000m in 7:27.80 to move to third on the world all-time lists. Will he translate this form to the cross-country?

Likewise, Imane Merga's cross-country record isn't as proven as his track credentials but he will be a medal threat if he can translate the form he showed on the Diamond League circuit last year.

Sub-2:06 marathoner Feyisa Lelisa and former African junior champion Abera Kuma are also on the Ethiopian team.

Having taken silver in 2009 and bronze in 2010, Moses Kipsiro from Uganda is another logical contender although he's admitted his training has been disrupted since winning two gold medals at the Commonwealth Games.

Eritrea won individual and team silver last year and even though former champion Zersenay Tadese looks set to give this one a miss, Teklemariam Medhin and Samuel Tsegay will be in the leading ranks again.

The Spaniards aren't really producing the same calibre of runners these days but their squad includes Ayad Lamdassem, third in Edinburgh in January, former European steeplechase champion Antonio David Jimenez and European 1500m champion Arturo Casado who are capable of challenging for a top-five finish in the team race.

Women's senior race

TO exemplify the strength of the Kenyan Trials, among those who failed to qualify for the team were Great South Run winner Grace Momanyi, Commonwealth bronze medallist Iness Chenonge, New York Marathon champion Edna Kiplagat as well as the reigning champion Chebet who was a non-finisher.

Defeating stern opposition in the trial race at Uhuru Gardens in Nairobi was world 10,000m champion Linet Masai and the 21-year-old is chasing her first world senior cross-country title after a bronze in 2008 and silver in 2009 and 2010.

Masai produced a comfortable win at a snow-laden Holyrood Park in January although she was upset by world 5000m champion Vivian Cheruiyot in Seville which remains her only loss this winter.

Twice a finisher in the top five, Lineth Chepkirui is another medal contender. The 23-year-old was the in-form athlete on the US road-racing circuit last year with seven wins from nine appearances and she also finished second at the Philadelphia half-marathon in a PB of 67:47.

World 5000m silver medallist Sylvia Kibet, 2006 world junior champion Pauline Korikwiang and former silver medallist Priscah Jepleting comprise the Kenyan squad.

Admittedly without the depth of their Kenyan rivals, the Ethiopians still have gold medal prospects through world 10,000m silver medallist Meselech Melkamu. The 25-year-old has amassed four individual bronze medals in the senior category and she warmed up with a convincing win at her national trials.

Genzebe Dibaba compiled a laudable career in the junior ranks and the Ethiopian will be making her debut in the senior division. She finished second to Masai in Edinburgh and was fifth at the trials.

The American team includes Olympic 10,000m bronze medallist Shalane Flanagan and US 5000m record-holder Molly Huddle, who look a safe bet for the team bronze medal.

European 1500m champion Nuria Fernandez and world-class marathoner Alessandra Aguilar will be the fore of the home nation's team.

AFD's Charlotte Purdue has been making a comfortable transition into the senior ranks and the European junior cross-country champion has ambitions of being the first European past the post. Fifteenth in 2007, Hatti Dean is another key member of the British team.

Men's junior race

ISAIAH KOECH would have been a title contender if he opted for the senior race but the 17-year-old, who will have ample opportunities to make an impact against senior opposition in upcoming seasons, is aiming for the gold medal in the junior race instead.

The world youth 3000m champion had a startling indoor debut in Düsseldorf where he set a world junior 5000m record of 12:53.29 for fourth on the world indoor all-time lists which was followed by an African junior 3000m record of 7:37.50 in Gent. Six days after these triumphs, Koech eased to victory in the trial race.

Except for Koech, the junior squad lacks substantial international experience but given reigning champion Caleb Ndiku failed to qualify for the team, we can gather the rest of the Kenyan team is still of a very high calibre. Justin Cheruiyot and Philemon Yator comprised the podium at the trials.

We also know very little about the Ethiopian juniors although the trial race was won by Tesfaye Chernet.

Women's junior race

ETHIOPIAN and Kenyan athletes have won the past fifteen editions of the junior race and this year shouldn't be any exception to the norm.

While their male counterparts haven't appeared on the international circuit yet, the Ethiopian women's junior team has much more experience. Their squad includes Emebet Antenah, who holds a 5000m PB of 14:44.90, and world youth bronze medallist Genet Yalew.

The Kenyan team includes trials winner Janet Kisa, world junior 1500m bronze medallist Nancy Chepkwemoi and world youth 3000m champion Purity Rionoripo, who was given a wild-card into the Kenyan team after falling in a mid-race mêlée at the trials.

Emelia Gorecka finished 23^rd on her debut in a British vest last year and the vastly improving 17-year-old must be aiming for a top-20 finish.