Lost shoe can't stop Bekele being crowned king of Holyrood

KENENISA Bekele lost a shoe for the first time yesterday, but won the IAAF World Cross Country Championship for the sixth.

Having equalled the five victories of Paul Ngugi and Paul Tergat two years ago, the Ethiopian is now the only man to win six long-course titles, and at the age of 25 is already established as one of the greatest distant athletes of all time.

Even such talented opponents as Eritrea's Zersenay Tadese could not profit from the momentary mishap five minutes into the 12-kilometre race around Edinburgh's Holyrood Park. Had it happened later, Bekele might just have been in trouble. Instead, despite losing a score or more of places as he stood still in the middle of the course and put his shoe back on, he quickly composed himself.

Bekele then steadily got back into contention before emphasising his dominance on the last lap. Outpaced by Leonard Komon of Kenya on the run-in, Tadese, the defending champion, had to settle for third place.

Bekele had been part of the leading pack when his left shoe caught a Kenyan opponent. "My shoe was about halfway off, but I had to stop, undo it, and then put it back on," he said. "It's the first time it has happened to me.

"It was very tough. In a group, you cannot control your legs. Maybe somebody might touch the back of your legs and your shoe comes off." He added that he did not know which Kenyan he had come into contact with, and it was clear from replays that the incident was not deliberate.

"I knew it would make the rest of the race tough, but it was near the beginning," the eventual winner went on. "I wasn't tired and I was able to recover.

"I began to think a great deal. I knew if I tried to catch up immediately I would lose focus, so I controlled my pace."

Bekele added that being a little further back than usual helped him in that he was shielded from the wind, and that feeling must have helped him keep his composure. There are so many examples in athletics of competitors suffering a rush of blood to the head after a fall and trying to get back in touch with the leaders too quickly, but Bekele has far too much belief in his own abilities to fall prey to such moments of panic.

With three laps remaining out of the six, Bekele was back up to third, having steadily made his way through the field. It was then just a matter of biding his time before striking for home, and he did it not long after the bell.

Komon and Tadese did their best to get back on terms, but the Ethiopian was able to slow down and begin his celebrations as he approached the line, crossing in 34 minutes 38 seconds. Komon was three seconds slower, with Tadese third in 34:43.

With another Kenyan, Joseph Ebuya, in fourth, Komon and his compatriots did enough to win the team race. Ethiopia were second, with Qatar third and Eritrea fourth.

Great Britain & Northern Ireland were 11th, with Thomas Humphries their first runner home in 63rd place. Andrew Lemoncello, the only Scot in either of the men's races, was fourth Briton home, 79th overall.

"I got a stitch on the last lap and there was nothing I could do," Lemoncello said. "I just closed my eyes and tried to get through it.

"I'm disappointed, but it was a fantastic experience. The crowd out there was awesome. It's the best experience I've had running at home."

With free admission to the park, and spectators spread all over the course, an accurate estimate of the attendance was hard to come by. At around the 10,000 mark, though, the crowd was of a respectable size, especially given the unwelcoming weather.

Komon, who was competing in the senior event for the first time, found conditions particularly tough. "It was hard to breathe because of the cold and the wind," he said. "It was like I was choking on my breathing – I was struggling to breath."

Having grown up in St Andrews, by contrast, Lemoncello is used to such conditions, and may find them of benefit later on in his career, when the Commonwealth Games come to Glasgow in six years' time. The Fifer has so far specialised in the 3,000m steeplechase on the track, but now has his sights set on competing in the marathon, with the Glasgow Games of 2014 being the target for longer-term success over the 26 miles.

Bekele, on the other hand, has the more immediate aim of this summer's Olympic Games in Beijing, although he has yet to decide which track event he will compete in.

"I really can't say this far ahead that I'll attempt both (the 5,000m and 10,000m], because it's not easy and the weather is difficult," he said. "I'll just focus on one event."

In the junior men's race, Ethiopians came in first and second. Ibrahim Jeilan won in a time of 22:38 for the 8km event, with his compatriot Ayele Abshero second in 22:40. Lucas Rotich of Kenya took the bronze medal, two seconds adrift of Abshero.

With Kenyans also finishing fifth, sixth and seventh, Rotich led his fellow-countrymen to victory over Ethiopia in the team race. Uganda, whose four counting athletes were fourth, eighth, 12th and 13th, came third.

Britain's junior men were ninth overall, with David Forrester some way ahead of his team-mates. Forrester finished 24th in 24:14, all of 31 places ahead of the second-placed Briton.

Dibaba sisters make it a day to remember for Ethiopians with double gold

ONE nation enjoyed a clean sweep at the 36th IAAF World Cross Country Championships yesterday in Edinburgh, and in the case of the women's events both titles went to the one family.

First Genzebe Dibaba won the junior race to ensure Ethiopia got off to an excellent start, and then Tirunesh Dibaba, her elder sister, regained the senior crown she lost last year.

With just over a lap to go, it looked like Dibaba senior would miss out again, as, while she was struggling for form, her team-mate Gelete Burka took the lead with a surprising injection of pace.

But Burka had gone too soon, and was overtaken by Dibaba and two others on the ascent of Haggis Knowe, the steepest section of the Holyrood Park course.

Dibaba still had some work to do, with Mestawet Tufa, also of Ethiopia, and Linet Masai, of Kenya, still in contention.

But she put in a devastating burst of speed coming off the knowe into the home straight, and crossed the finishing line in 25 minutes ten seconds – five seconds ahead of Tufa, who took silver three clear of Masai.

"I felt a stitch in the middle of the race and that's when I fell back," the 22-year-old said after leading her country to a seventh successive women's team title. "But it slowly went away and wasn't as bad as before."

At last year's world athletics championships in Osaka, Japan, Dibaba had displayed similar resilience when she recovered from stomach pain to win the 10,000 metres.

She added of her sister Genzebe's win in the junior race: "When she was competing I was warming up and was watching her. I was more anxious for her than myself and happier for her gold than my own."

It was a cold and showery afternoon in the capital – not the sort of weather in which one would expect African athletes to revel. Dibaba, however, explained that she felt far happier with the Scottish conditions than she had been a year earlier with the extreme heat of Mombasa in Kenya.

The Kenyan women were second in the team race, with Australia third. Great Britain, led by the sisters-in-law Liz and Hayley Yelling, were in contention for a medal at one stage, but finished up in sixth. Liz Yelling was 15th in 26:13, with Hayley 21st in 26:39.

Laura Kenney, who declared for Scotland last week, was the third Briton home, 38th overall. "I really enjoyed it," she said. "I thought the support was amazing."

Kenney explained she had been thinking of committing to Scotland for the past 18 months. While such allegiance is irrelevant in events like this, in which one team represents GB & Northern Ireland, when it comes to the Commonwealth Games the Scottish selectors will be glad they can call on the services of the European under-23 5,000m track champion.

Britain's junior women fared better as a team, coming in just out of the medals in fourth. Charlotte Purdue led the way in 16th, a place ahead of Laura Park.

Ahead of them, Ethiopia had a decisive victory, as their athletes finished first, third, fifth, seventh, ninth and 11th in a remarkable display of consistent team running. Kenyans placed second, fourth, sixth, eighth and 12th, while four top-20 finishes ensured Japan took the bronze.

Genzebe Dibaba's winning time for the 6km course was just a second under 20 minutes, with her team-mate Emebt Etea third in 20min 06sec. Those two were separated by the leading Kenyan, Irine Cheptai, who crossed the line in 20:04.