Kenenisa Bekele: how soon will he totally annihilate the distance WR's?

ABEBE dinkesa is much better than wanjiru, he score 26.30 last year for 10000mr. his problem is that he is not consistant and i hope he will improve it and will defintely chalenge bekele.

apart from this he will be one of the contender for medal either silver or bronze for the long course.

I agree that Abebe Dinkesa is good enough to challenge for a medal but I don't think he is that much better than Wanjiru. The two athletes are both young and should improve over the next few years and Wanjiru training in Japan with the support and knowledge of the Japanese will be a threat in upcoming Outdoor Championships.

Abebe can pop a GREAT run anytime and then he may miss but when Wanjiru steps on the track you can be assured he is PREPARED to run and mentally strong. The thing is neither of them have the foot speed to outkick Kenenisa Bekele nor the stamina to run away from him in the 10000m. So both will be contenders among others for the silver and bronze in future champonships unless they significantly increase their finishing drives (1500-2500m from finish).

Kenya needs to put up or shut up about beating Kenny B. "Just Do It" and "Get 'Er done" already!.

Kenya: Runners to Face Stiff Challenge in Fukuoka

The Nation (Nairobi)

March 16, 2006

Posted to the web March 16, 2006

Nation Correspondent

Nairobi

The job at hand is enormous and a litmus test to Kenya's athletics prowess in Fukuoka, the host city of this year's World Cross Country Championships, officials say.

"We will either be a laughing stalk or send a strong signal to the world that we are ready to host the 2007 world cross country championships," Athletics Kenya chairman Isaiah Kiplagat told coaches at the team residential training camp in Embu.

"You have to win to show the world that we are ready to put together the most competitive championships in recent year."

Head coach Julius Kirwa said his current team was young, disciplined and will restore lost glory to the level of 1994 when Kenya won all but one title in annual championship which kicks of the athletics calendar.

Kirwa said after one week at the camp, the response has been wonderful. First, the main target is the team titles and he will do this with the minimum points.

The juniors will win overwhelmingly as they are doing distances as the seniors.

The 4km event remains the most promising, at least this is one area Kenya will ensure they deny Kenenisa Bekele a record fifth straight title.

The 12km event brings together one veteran, John Kibowen and five young runners with an aggregate 20 years age. Kibowen said his work as captain has been made easier by the enthusiasm of the youth. He was particularly impressed by three runners -Benjamin Limo, Augustine Choge and Isabella Ochichi- who delayed their travel to the Melbourne Commonwealth Games to report at the camp and enhance team spirit.

Choge, the world junior champion has graduated to the 4km category and he is already being hailed as a great athlete in the making. Last year, he broke the world junior 3000m record and competed in at least seven top class events. He won the national title and also the Commonwealth Games trials in the 5000m.

The natural team leader will be Limo who is also the reigning world champion at the 5000m, Kirwa said.

With Isaac Songok, bronze medallist last year and new comer Yusuf Songok, who is also the national secondary schools champion at the 8km, Kirwa said he has a winning combination. Choge, Songok and Biwott train together in Iten.

"If you look carefully, we have Bekele and Tirunesh Dibaba to contend with. But we are not training for them but the whole world," said Kirwa.

David Letting and John Mwithiga concurred. And as a way of avoiding burning the athletes, they have opted to be training high up on the slopes of Mount Kenya daily.

Many young runners living in Embu are also training with the team.

Embu has become the hunting ground for medal before championships and the college's management has mooted an idea of setting up a permanent camp there.

Kenny B. had us all fooled as if he wouldn't do the double again-NOT! Its offical he and Tirunesh will defend both titles. Last chance for someone else to be short course champion beside the mulit defending champion.

UPDATED: 09:28, March 20, 2006

Ethiopia's Kenenisa and Tirunesh to defend World Cross Country titles

Ethiopia said Sunday Kenenisa Bekele and Tirunesh Dibaba, both of the country's senior double gold medalists from the last edition of the World Cross, will return to defend their titles when the 34th IAAF World Cross Country Championships take place in Fukuoka, Japan, April 1-2.

Kenenisa, 23, and Tirunesh, 20, who are the IAAF World Rankings 's number one athletes for their events, with the former also being top overall and World Athlete of the Year for the last two seasons, have been named in the Ethiopian squad for the championships in Japan, at both the short and long race distances, the Ethiopian Athletics Federation (EAF) said in a news release.

Kenenisa retained his world 10,000m title in Helsinki, Finland, and later smashed his world record for the distance in Brussels, Belgium, while Tirunesh made her own history by taking a pair of track golds, 5000m and 10,000m, also in the Finnish capital.

The two-day competition in Fukuoka will offers both runners, especially four-time double champion Kenenisa, the chance of further enhancing their athletics legends, said EAF officials.

Ethiopia produces some of the finest athletes of the world, especially middle-distance and long-distance runners.

Source: Xinhua

Ethiopians born to run cross country, and it will be difficult to take away from ethiopia.

What makes ethiopian athletes uniqiue is that they are brave when it comes to world comptetion.( imagine keneinsa, abebe, selishi, and gebremariam).

steve cram on bbc

"As for Choge, well, he is a big talent. I think he is the one who can go on and challenge Kenenisa Bekele on the track."

Mesfin

I agree with you that Augustine Choge has the talent to challenge Kenenisa Bekele; however, does he have the DRIVE and FOCUS? The task of challenge Kenenisa on a regular basis will not take place in 2006 for the Kenyan. It will be interesting to see if he stay in the sport, focused, and injury free to fully develop his true potential! Could be the next Haile vs. Paul (Kenenisa vs. Augstine) rivalary.

Shaheen to continue pursuit of the legend that is Bekele – World Cross Country Championships

Tuesday 21 March 2006

Monte-Carlo - It is the mark of the professional drive and stature of Saif Saaeed Shaheen of Qatar, that the double World champion and holder of the World record for the 3000m Steeplechase, with nothing to prove at his specialist distance, has continued to seek further challenges on the flat and cross country. Of these goals none seem to be as motivating as his goal of inflicting a major championship defeat on Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele.

Bekele, the four-time World Cross Country Championship short and long race double gold medallist, has at 23 years of age already established a running CV to challenge distance running legends such as Paavo Nurmi, Emil Zatopek, and Haile Gebrselassie. With his win over 3000m at the World Indoor Championships, Moscow, a fortnight ago, the 2004 / 2005 World Athlete of the Year now uniquely holds World titles on three different surfaces, indoor and outdoor track, and cross country.

On the weekend of 1 - 2 April 2006, the two men will meet for their latest encounter when the 34th edition of the IAAF World Cross Country Championships is held in Fukuoka, Japan, and, as occurred last year, both men have been selected to contest both the short and long distance races.

In St-Galmier last spring, Shaheen took the battle to Bekele in the World Cross short race, pouncing at the bell with what he believed would be a decisive attack, but the Qatari’s assault wilted in the 27 degree temperatures when the Ethiopian responded with ferocity some 500m later. Shaheen’s effort had been total, and in the final run into the finish he even lost out on a medal, finishing a spent fourth.

Yet there was no doubting the ambition with which Shaheen had thrown down the gauntlet to his Ethiopian rival, and when the two met again this January at the IAAF Cross Country permit meeting in Edinburgh, Scotland, it seemed that the steeplechaser’s moment had finally come.

However, despite being 10 metres adrift of Shaheen with less than 800m remaining, Bekele remained cool, and applying one of the most devastating sprints in long distance history, came back to win by four seconds.

More recently in Moscow, with both men still reasonably inexperienced at indoor running, it was Bekele’s time again to show Shaheen a clean pair of heels, the Qatari not even being given the opportunity to pounce by the World indoor and outdoor 5000m record holder. Bekele took gold having kicked with two laps to go, and Shaheen, frustrated with himself, followed someway back in silver.

“That was not very intelligent of me,” said Shaheen. “I knew exactly when Kenenisa would start his kick and I planned to be close to him at that time. But I wasn’t.”

Speed, tactics, and endurance, will they at last come together for Shaheen at this year’s World Cross Country? And even if they do, what’s to guarantee that Bekele won’t still retain the edge? The questions and scenarios are many, and with plenty of other star performers from Ethiopia, Qatar, Eritrea, Kenya, Tanzania…also in the mix we are set for a vintage pair of men’s races in Fukuoka.

Chris Turner for the IAAF

with each race he runs his target gets so much bigger. The guys like shaheen and all the Kenyans probably run every workout with the idea of trying to get closer and closer to beating Kenenisa. Not to mention some of the kenenisa's teamates are probably trying to close the gap as well.

I hope this time diffrent country share the medals, however, in both short and long course snior chalenge the gold belong to ethiopian tirunesh and kenenisa

Kenenisa Bekle have shown he is ready for the challenge to defend both of his titles; however, can the same be said for Tirunesh Dibaba. If she is fully recovered from her ailment that troubled her last month then she will be okay, but Tirunesh needs to be 100% just to medal against her strong Ethiopian teammates and other notables in the long and short course.

Mesfin wrote:

I hope this time diffrent country share the medals, however, in both short and long course snior chalenge the gold belong to ethiopian tirunesh and kenenisa

Watch out for Meseret!!

wrong information, meseret will not compete in cross country

How different would it be if long race was before the short race?

courtousy of ethiopian great run web site.

once agian, challenge for kenenisa come from ethiopian, not from others

Sihine targets happy return to cross country

By Elshadai Negash

22 March 2006- Ethiopia’s Olympic and world 10000m silver medalist Sileshi Sihine believes that he can challenge the very best cross country has to offer when he doubles over the short and long races at the 34th IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Fukuoka, Japan.

The 23-year old, who missed last year’s edition of the championships in St. Etienne/ St. Galmier, France due to injury, returns to mud action in the Japanese south coastal city with a view of challenging for medals.

“I have trained well and getting ready to peak in Fukuoka,” says Sihine. “There will be lots of challengers, but I hope to do well.”

Sihine’s 2006 season has been a mix of inconsistent results with defeats in the Sevilla Cross Country International, Ethiopia’s world cross trails and the two-mile race in the Boston Indoor Grand Prix in the US. His solitary win of the year came in the DN Galan Stockholm Indoor Grand Prix in Sweden where he took a comfortable win over the 3000m.

“I did manage an organized training regimen this year,” he says. “But since the trails, I have put in long hours and feel in confident mood to double.”

Hi

if the contenders are really fit it doesn't matter which race is first. Kenenisa Bekele and Tirunesh Dibaba both won the double and one of them had to have the long course before the short. The men and women run opposite course length on the same day.

Mesfin

Kenenisa Bekele would have to have a FEW mistakes/tactical errors or an injury during race to lose; however, its cross country and anything can happen but I don't expect any different outcome then previous.

Hi vipam,

This year Kenyan are with high caliber and it will not be un easy for kenenisa and other ethiopians

Mesfin wrote:

Hi vipam,

This year Kenyan are with high caliber and it will not be un easy for kenenisa and other ethiopians

It seems this young guy Choge is the real thing. From the reports I've seen it seems he handled Mottram quite comfortably; in photos he looks very relaxed. I know Shaheen is there but I doubt he's in 12:50 shape (as Choge seems to be). But what about his training partner Isaac Songok who beat Choge just a few weeks ago at Kenya Trials?!! I just have the feeling Choge might be ready, if not to beat the big man but at least put up a pretty good challenge to Kenny B...

I will say this and of course many will doubt it, Augustine has the TALENT/potential to challenge Kenenisa Bekele. At the time he is missing something to be a serious challenger or even a consistnent one but when and IF he finds it-Paul Tergat vs. Haile Gebrsellasie all over again.