Instead of writing stupidities about Italian coaches (the same for Banana Bread), read the interview Hellen Obiri gave to Daily Nation of 1st April :
"Obiri said the hilly course at the landmark Moesgaard Museum grounds in Aarhus came as a surprise to the team which had only concentrated on the usual training tactics.
"We prepared well but only for a normal cross country race and not what we faced Moesgaard Museum grounds", Obiri said, "We did the normal hill work training in residential camp in Kigari, which was basically jogging and not intense hill running".
"The only problem is that our team management didn't take time to get details or even travel to Aarhus to survey the course. Our training could have been different from what we are used to doing", said Obiri.
It's not the first time Kenyan don't prepare a World Cross looking at the characteristics of the course.
In 2009, WCh were in Amman, and I knew the course because in 2008 on the same corse they organised the Asian Cross Country Championships. So, I was there with the Qatari Team, and I knew there was a continuous hill of about 400m, so it was absolutely necessary to have training on the hill (both uphill and downhill) at high speed, not only jogging like in the traditional Kenyan system.
That year, Moses Mosop destroyed anybody in Kenyan Trials, and was practically unbeatable, but during the training camp lost the shape, because of the poor training. That was the first year WITHOUT any Kenyan male on the podium (Gebremariam won, Kipsiro was second and Zersenay Tadese third).
Two are the main problems during the Kenyan residential camps :
a) The type of training is always the same, without any specific adjustement depending on the course and the weather (hilly, flat, cold, warm, dry, muddy.....).
b) There is no INDIVIDUAL training, but all the athletes train in group. This provokes total changes in the values of the athletes, and normally the winners of Trials never are the best among Kenyans in the race.
Also this year, for example, in Aarhus the internal positions among Kenyans are exactly the opposite of the result of Trials: Amos Kirui (1st in trials, 5th Kenyan in Aarhus in 38th position)
Evans Keitany (2nd - 6th - 45th)
Rodgers Chumo (3rd - 4th - 21st)
Richard Yator (4th - 3rd - 13th)
Geoffrey Kamworor (5th - 1st - 3rd)
Rhonex Kipruto (6th - 2nd - 6th)
The winners of Trials are already in good shape, while the followers has still to work hard for reaching their best shape (look at Kamworor this year). This mean that the type of training MUST be different.
I had personally winners of Trials several times (twice John Korir, twice Moses Mosop, this year Samwel Chebolei Masai with juniors, and Florence Kiplagat and Irene Cheptai in the women race), and NEVER, after the residential training camp, they were the best in the kenyan team again. And, about Florence and Irene, they had some minor injury, and for that reason joined the camp during the last 10 days only..... it's not a case that both won gold medal !