Dinkesa, Ochichi Get Easy Wins in Bolzano by Bob Ramsak (c) 2005 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved December 31, 2005
BOLZANO,
Italy – Running in cold conditions, Abebe Dinkesa and Isabella Ochichi
cruised to comfortable victories at the 31st Corsa Internazionale di
San Silvestro "Boclassic" in this South Tyrolian alpine town.
Dinkesa
took the lead in the fourth lap of the eight lap 10 km race to win
convincingly in 28:38.9, more than 10 seconds ahead of Kenyan John
Cheruiyot Korir, who reached the line in 28:49.6. Five-time winner and
defending champion Sergiy Lebid, who was visibly struggling early on,
was a distant third in 29:07.0.
"I’m very happy with this win,"
said the 21-year-old Ethiopian, who also defeated Lebid in their last
meeting at the Lotto CrossCup in Brussels on December 18. "It was very
cold, but it’s also cold now Ethiopia, so it did not bother me."
Against
a stunning backdrop provided by the jagged Dolomites, Wilson Busienei
of Uganda and Gabrielle de Nard of Italy set the early pace, leading a
relatively tight nine-man pack for the first three laps that wind
through the city’s narrow cobblestone streets. After Abderhaim Goumri
of Morocco briefly forged to the front at the midway point to claim a
500 euro premium, Dinkesa and Korir broke from the pack, with the
Ethiopian gradually building a lead that would soon prove
insurmountable. Encouraged by the boisterous crowd assembled in the
central St. Walther Square, Lebid regrouped in the last lap to hold off
Goumri’s challenge.
After the race, Lebid, who is fluent in
Italian, thanked the large crowd for their support. "Thank you,
Bolzano," the six-time European cross country champion said, sharing a
wide smile. "But I’m sorry I was only third." Lebid’s pre-race build-up
was apparently slowed in recent weeks by bad weather in his native
Ukraine.
Dinkesa said he will now head back to Addis Ababa for a
training stint with the national team, after which he hopes to qualify
for the upcoming World Cross Country Championships. Dinkesa indicated
that he might contest the Cross Internacional in Seville, Spain on Jan.
15. Dinkesa wouldn’t say which racing surface was his favorite, but did
say that he was looking forward to next summer’s track season. "I want
to make very good results in the 5000 and 10,000," he said. This year,
he produced 12:55.58 and 26:30.74 personal bests on the track, and
finished seventh in the latter at the world championships.
Both
Dinkesa and Korir were late additions to the field, filling the void
left by Olympic marathon champion Stefano Baldini and American Dathan
Ritzenhein who were forced to withdraw last week due to injury.
Ochichi’s
win in the women’s 5 km was just as dominating. Indeed, by the time she
built a five-second lead over Hungary’s Aniko Kalics midway through the
third of four laps, it appeared that her strongest challenge this
weekend would be the several flight cancellations that delayed her
arrival here until just a few hours before the race.
Kalovics
took the early lead, with Ochichi a step behind, and fellow-Kenyan
Susan Chepkemei and Briton Jo Pavey in contention for most of the first
lap. Ochichi moved to the front for good less than two kilometers into
the race. She built a three second lead on Kalovics by the end of the
first lap, and extended it to more than eight by the end of the third,
before finishing in 15:53.6, nearly 11 seconds ahead of the Hungarian
(16:04.5).
"It was very cold," Ochichi, the reigning Olympic
silver medallist at 5000 meters, said. "But I felt very strong. So now
I hope I’m on the right track training for cross country."
Pavey
was a distant third in 16:11.3 while Chepkemei, running in her first
race since finishing runner-up at the ING New York City Marathon last
month, was never a factor beyond the first lap, and finished fourth
(16:13.0).
