News of Note: 21 December - 28 December

Yelling to take on Dibaba in Edinburgh (21 December 2009) - Briton Hayley Yelling will race against reigning Olympic champion Tirunesh Dibaba at the Bupa Great Edinburgh International Cross Country permit race on 9 January 2010.

Packed domestic season in 2010 (24 December 2009) - The Ethiopian domestic circuit will feature no fewer than 20 competitions in 2010. In addition, Ethiopians will take part in a number of international competitions around the world.

Bekele Targets 3,000 Meters World Indoor Record (25 December 2009) - Kenenisa Bekele hoping to set a fourth world indoor record next year in Birmingham, England. 3,000 meters is the distance he ran to win his only world indoor title in 2006.

Abyu renews rivalry with Gebrselassie (26 December 2009) - British marathoner Tomas Abyu, originally of Ethiopia, will race against his "hero" Haile Gebrselassie at the 2010 Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon on January 22.

2009 - End of Year Reviews - IAAF

• ROAD: Running/Race Walking (26 December 2009)
• LONG DISTANCE, Track (27 December 2009)

The revolution in the marathon - 2009 produces an unprecedented explosion in record times (28 December 2009) - 20 different male runners - from just three countries: Ethiopia, Kenya, and Morocco - ran sub-2:07 marathons in 2009.

News of Note: 14 December - 21 December

Ethiopian Running News:

Burka lines up indoor races to tune up for world title defense (15 December 2009) - Gelete Burka has indoor races lined up in Stockholm, Karlsruhe, Birmingham, and Stuttgart before she races in the 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Doha (7-9 March 2010) in defense of her title.

Tirunesh Dibaba Will Return to Reebok Boston Indoor Games (16 December 2009) - 5000 and 10,000-meter gold medalist at the 2008 Beijing Olympics will be at the Reebok Boston Indoor Games on 6 February 2010. In her 2007 appearance at the Games, she set an indoor 5000-meter world record (14:27.42).

Barros, Gobena, and Akaba Will Race at Osaka Women's Marathon (17 December 2009) - Amane Gobena, who set a sub-2:27 best in 2009 at 2:26:03, will race in the 31 January 2010 Japanese marathon, along with two other women whose sub-2:27 bests were set in 2009 - Yukiko Akaba of Japan (2:25:40) and Marisa Barros of Portugal (2:26:03).

Bekele and Dibaba announce busy starts to 2010 (21 December 2009) - Ethiopia’s Olympic 5000m and 10000m double winners Kenenisa Bekele and Tirunesh Dibaba have a number of races lined up in the early part of 2010.

Other interesting news:

'African runners are excelling because they are natural athletes' (15 December 2009) - Gebreegziabher Gebremariam talks about why be believes African runners are natural athletes.

2009 IAAF Golden League Review (16 December 2009)

Usain Bolt sets world alight again (17 December 2009) - Overview of major running news in 2009.

News of Note: 7 December - 14 December

Ethiopian Running News:

Rotich and Toroitich collect Marathon wins in Las Vegas (7 December 2009) - Kenyans won the December 6 Rock 'n Roll Las Vegas Marathon, with Ethiopians Terefe Yae and Assefa Tesfaye coming in second and third in the men's race, and Serkalem Abrha and Adanech Zekiros third and fourth in the women's race.

Beating the conditions, Manza and Cheptonui take Montferland 15Km wins (7 December 2009) - Kenyan Nicholas Manza wins with a time just two seconds shy of the course record of 42:36 set by Haile Gebrselassie in 2007. Kenyan Wilfred Murgor and Ethiopian Ayele Abshiro round out the top three finishers in the men's race.

Kebede sets record for Marathon triple (8 December 2009) - Ethiopia's Tsegaye Kebede, 22 years old and a marathon runner for only two and a half years, has achieved the fastest average for three marathons in one calendar year: 2:06:24 for 2009.

Gebrselassie and associates to establish a high altitude training camp (8 December 2009) - Haile Gebrselassie, Belay Welasha and Ethiopian-born Canadian Joseph Kibur have begun construction of a modern athletics village in Sululta, 11km north of Addis Ababa this week.

World record ratified (14 December 2009) - 30km 1:27:49 Haile Gebrselassie ETH, Berlin, GER, 20 Sep 09

Bekele lines-up once more for Edinburgh XC (14 December 2009) - Kenenisa Bekele will attempt to regain the BUPA Great Edinburgh International Cross Country title by returning to race in the IAAF XC Permit race in Holyrood Park, Edinburgh, UK on 9 January 2010.

Other running news:

Kenyans winners in 40th Dallas White Rock Marathon (14 December 2009)

Yelling’s golden comeback – European XC, WOMEN’s Races (13 December 2009)

News of Note: 30 November - 6 December

An exciting week for Ethiopian runners!

Ethiopian double at Obudu International (1 December 2009) - Ethiopia's Habtamu Fikadu and Mamitu Deska win the 5th Obudu International Mountain Race in Nigeria on November 28.

Wanjiru and Mikitenko to defend their London titles (2 December 2009) - Kenyan Sammy Wanjiru will race in a competitive men's field which includes Tsegaye Kebede of Ethiopia, who was second in London last year.

Merga plans world 15km record attack in the Netherlands (2 December 2009) - Deriba Merga will attack on his own world 15km record at the 14th Wincanton Montferland Run in the Netherlands.

Ethiopia - Gebrselassie targets record in Dubai (2 December 2009) - Haile Gebrselassie will return to Dubai in January, to defend his title and looking to break the world record at the 2010 Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon.

2:05:18 course record and personal best for Kebede in Fukuoka (6 December 2009) - Ethiopian Tsegaye Kebede successfully defended his title as Fukuoka Marathon champion, setting a new course record and personal best. Full results

• PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Kebede vs Mogusu? – Fukuoka Marathon preview (4 December 2009)

Temam and Tadesse take Beirut Marathon titles (6 December 2009) - Ethiopia's Mohammed Temam wins the BLOM Beirut Marathon. Kenyan Eston Ngira and Ethiopian Abraham Yilma take second and third.

• PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Beirut Marathon reflects growing passion for road running (5 December 2009)

Gebremariam out-sprints Medhin, while Cheruiyot breezes in Alcobendas (6 December 2009) - Gebregziabher Gebremariam, Ethiopia's World Cross Country champion, wins the 28th ‘Cross Internacional de la Constitución’ in Madrid.

Ethiopians Girma-Bekele and Deba win men's, women's CIM (6 December 2009) - Tesafaye Girma-Bekele and Buzunesh Deba of Ethiopia win the California International Marathon in Sacramento.

News of Note: 23 November - 30 November

Interesting happenings in the world of Ethiopian running:

Crazy about running – facts and figures from the 2009 Ethiopian Airlines Great Ethiopian Run (24 November 2009) - A number of records were broken at this year's Great Ethiopian Run, which had three times as many participants as its first year.

Haron Lagat, Alemtsehay Misganaw Win 73rd Manchester Road Race (26 November 2009) - Ethiopian Alemtsehay Misganaw wins the women's race, while Kenyan Haron Lagat takes the men's race.

Comfortable victories for Gebremariam and Masai in Soria (29 November 2009) - Reigning men's World Cross Country champion Gebre-egziabher Gebremariam wins at the Cross Internacional de Soria.

• PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Gebremariam hopes for two victories in a row in Soria (27 November 2009)
• OTHER NEWS: Ethiopia's Gebre-Egziabher will race Edinburgh Cross Country

Fekadu and Deska complete Ethiopian double in Nigerian mountain race (29 November 2009) - Ethiopians Habtamu Fekadu and Mamitu Deska win the 2009 Obudu Ranch Mountain race in Nigeria. Ethiopians Mastawet Tufa and Meselech Hileyesus took second and third in the women's race.

Kipruto holds off Kosgei by a second in Florence (29 November 2009) - Results of the 26th Florence Marathon. Kenya takes first and second in the men's race, with Ethiopian Assefa Reta Girma taking third.

• PREVIOUS NEWS: Record field of 10,000 runners the new barrier for Kosgei to clear – Florence Marathon, PREVIEW (26 November 2009)
• PREVIOUS NEWS: Ethiopian duo target success in Florence Marathon (26 November 2009)

Other interesting running news:

Altitude training may take you to new heights

He might not yet be a household name, but Wanjiru can change running forever

News of Note: 16 November - 22 November

Interesting happenings in the world of Ethiopian running:

Jelila and Regassa win 10km in Addis Ababa (22 November 2009) - Koreni Jelila and Tilahun Regassa both won in new course records at the Ethiopian Airlines 2009 Great Ethiopian Run 10km.

Previous Coverage:

• Defending champion Chala Dechasa leads list of entries for men’s race- Great Ethiopian Run PREVIEW (18 November 2009)
• G. Dibaba the favorite in women’s race –GREAT ETHIOPIAN RUN PREVIEW (19 November 2009)

Bolt and Richards are World Athletes of the Year – 2009 World Athletics Gala (22 November 2009) -Jamaican Usain Bolt and American Sanya Richards named the Male and Female World Athletes of the Year 2009.

Chane and Jelila grab shock victories in Sendafa XC (16 November 2009) - Abera Chane beat favorite Imane Merga, who finished fourth; Koreni Jelila was victorious over favorite Sule Utura, who finished third.

Former Olympic champion leads Ethiopian team in Obudu (18 November 2009) - Accomplished long distance runner Meseret Defar will run the Obudu International Mountain Race and lead the Ethiopian runners at the first African mountain running championships.


Ethiopia's Kenenisa voted for 2009 "Heroes of Running" (20 November 2009) - Kenenisa Bekele one of six inspirational individuals chosen for honor by Runner's World magazine.


Gebremariam and Augusto the victors in Oeiras (21 November 2009) - The IAAF Cross Country Permit Season opens with a victory by Ethiopian Gebregziabher Gebremariam at the Oeiras Cross Country.

Stars come out as IAAF Diamond League is launched in Monaco (22 November 2009) - Kenenisa Bekele one of 9 IAAF Diamond League Ambassadors. The IAAF Diamond League hopes to see greater frequency of competition between the big names.

Great Ethiopia Run

19 Year old Tilahun Regassa won the men's race and improved the course record by almost 30 seconds. Earlier this month Tilahun had finished 4th in the Delhi half Marathon. Deriba Merga winner of the Delhi half was a DNF in this race. Tilahun has had a great year on road races this year winning numerous races.


In the women's race, 23-year-old Koreni Jelila improved the course record by more than 40 seconds. Koreni was the suprise winner of the Sendafa Crosscountry race last week.

News of Note: 9 November - 15 November

Interesting happenings in the world of Ethiopian running:

Radcliffe comes as guest appearance to 2009 Great Ethiopian Run (10 November 2009) - British runner Paula Radcliffe makes her first trip to Ethiopia, as a guest of the 2009 Great Ethiopian Run taking place on 22 November.

Like An Airline: A Behind-The-Scenes Look Into What It Takes To Set An Elite Marathon Field (10 November 2009) - A look at some of the variables in play leading up to the 2009 ING New York City Marathon, which had an abnormal number of withdrawals.

Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele nominated for IAAF Athlete of the Year (13 November 2009) - Ethiopian Kenenisa Bekele is one of the 5 male finalists for IAAF Male Athlete of the Year. The other finalists include Usain Bolt of Jamaica, Tyson Gay of the United States, Steven Hooker of Australia and Andreas Thorkildsen of Norway.

Men’s course record set in McDonald’s Half Marathon (14 November 2009) - Nicholas Kurgat of Kenya set the course record in the men’s division with a time of 1 hour, 6 minutes, 2 seconds. Alemtsehay Misganaw, a native of Ethiopia, won the women's division.

Basweti captures second consecutive SunTrust Marathon title (15 November 2009) - Kenyan Jynocel Basweti wins the SunTrust Richmond Marathon.

• PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Men’s champions from 2008 and 2007 highlight SunTrust Richmond Marathon field (14 November 2009) - Defending champion Jynocel Basweti of Kenya and 2007's winner Mohamed Awol of Ethiopia are favorites to win the 32nd annual SunTrust Richmond Marathon

Kenyan men, Russian women dominate field (15 November 2009) - Gilbert Koech of Kenya wins the second annual Rock 'n' Roll San Antonio Marathon.

Chane and Jelila win Sendafa cross country meeting (15 November 2009) - Abera Chane and Koreni Jelila win at the kick off of Ethiopia’s domestic cross country season.

Dibaba shatters 15Km World record in Nijmegen! (15 November 2009) - Tirunesh Dibaba broke the women's 15km world record at the Zevenheuvelenloop 15Km in Nijmegen, The Netherlands, clocking 46:28 in her first road race since 2005. Her husband Sileshi Sihine won the men's race in 42:14.

Other interesting running news:

India’s grand old marathon man completes 98th run (9 November 2009) - Ashis Roy, age 77, finished his 98th race in Harrisburg and plans to run his 100th marathon in Mumbai Jan 17, 2010.

News of Note: 2 November - 8 November

Interesting happenings in the world of Ethiopian running:

2009 ING New York City Marathon - Derartu Tulu wins the NYC Marathon, three years after the birth of her daughter.

• In second comeback, Tulu wins one for her fans (3 November 2009)
• Behind Tulu's Triumph
• A Brief Chat With Meb Keflezighi and Derartu Tulu (3 November 2009)

Gebru and Tesfaye grab 30k victories in Adama (2 November 2009) - Defense club runners Roman Gebru, a relative unknown, and Dereje Tesfaye were the winners of the second annual 30km race organized by the Ethiopian Athletics Federations (EAF) in Adama.

Gebrselassie, Dibaba, and Sihine plan road returns (3 November 2009) - Ethiopians Haile Gebrselassie, Tirunesh Dibaba, and Sileshi Sihine have planned returns to road running in November and January.

Gebrselassie Eyes World Record, $1 Million, In Dubai (5 November 2009) - Haile Gebrselassie returns to the Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon for a third attempt at a world record.

Gebremariam and G. Dibaba secure Ethiopian double in Atapuerca (8 November 2009) - Ethiopian Gebre-egziabher Gebremariam wins the men's 8.760m and Genzebe Dibaba wins the women's 4.835m at the 6th Cross Internacional de Atapuerca.

Local runners dominate Kenyan cross country opener in Machakos (8 November 2009)

Ngetich, Ozaki prevail in ‘Battle of Marathon’ – Athens Marathon report (8 November 2009) - Despite a promising lead, Ethiopian Alemayehu Ameta cracked in the last 5 kilometres to finish fourth. Josephat Kipkirui Ngetich, in only his second marathon, won with the second fastest time in the race's history. Ethiopian Eshetu Degefa came in second in the women's race.

Other interesting running news:

Caster Semenya given unconditional apology from Athletics South Africa

Are marathon times getting faster or not?

Are running records nearing their limits?

Grayson's Erassa has fastest time at cross country championships - High school senior Kirubel Erassa, an Ethiopian native, is the fastest long-distance runner in Georgia.

Derartu Tulu a Class Act

"She ran alongside me and was like, come on, come on. We can do it, we can do it," a disappointed Radcliffe told reporters.

"Even when the girls took off she kind of waited with me a bit. But that's Derartu, She's always been like that."

Tulu support fails to push Radcliffe to marathon win

News of Note: 26 October - 1 November

Interesting happenings in the world of Ethiopian running:

Feyisa Lilesa, first Ethiopian to win Dublin City Marathon (26 October 2009) - 19-year-old Feyisa Lilesa's marathon debut time was just five seconds outside the course record.

Mengistu victory highlights Ethiopian weekend performances (26 October 2009) - Ethiopian Meseret Mengistu wins the Marsellie-Cassis Half marathon in France; Ethiopia cleansweeped the podium in Morocco's Casablanca Marathon.

Ethiopians to take centre stage in New York, Seoul, and Delhi (30 October 2009) - November 1 is a big day for Ethiopian runners, as they compete in top distance running events across the globe.

• New York:

Derartu Tulu Wins as Radcliffe Struggles to Fourth (1 November 2009) - Derartu Tulu becomes the first Ethiopian woman to win the New York City Marathon.

Keflezighi and Tulu triumph in New York

Paula Radcliffe loses out in New York as Derartu Tulu triumphs

Tulu, Petrova, Daunay Post-Race Press Conference Transcript

• Delhi:

Results – Delhi Half Marathon (1 November 2009) - Top ten men’s and women’s results from the 2009 Airtel Delhi Half Marathon — IAAF Gold Label Road Race. Ethiopian Deriba Merga won the men's race, while Kenyan Mary Keitany won the women's race in 1:06:54 - a new course record. Check out Keitany sub-1:07 again, Deriba Merga defends in Delhi Half Marathon for more race details.

Previous coverage: Merga, Mergia, and Kebede lead strong Ethiopian contingent for Delhi Half Marathon (29 October 2009)

• Seoul:

Kenyans in dramatic sprint finish (1 November 2009) - Francis Larabal of Kenya wins the 11th JoongAng Seoul Marathon; Lee Sun-young wins the women's race.

Previous coverage: Molla returns to defend Seoul title (30 October 2009)


Other interesting running news:



Foundation Helps Young Ethiopian Women Runners - Girls Gotta Run Foundation provides new shoes for girls in Ethiopia who are training to be runners.



Sub-2:07 marathons reach historic point - Robert Kiprono Cheruiyot runs the 100th sub-2:07 marathon.

The Human Body Is Built for Distance

News of Note: 19 October - 25 October

Interesting happenings in the world of Ethiopian running:

Roba successfully defends in Istanbul (19 October 2009) - Results of the 31st Istanbul Eurasia Marathon. Defending champion Kasime Adilo Roba wins the men's race, while fellow Ethopian Busenesh Urgesa claimed victory in the women's division. Also check out Ethiopians sweep Eurasia Marathon honors

Wins for Ethiopians in road weekend (19 October 2009) – Ethiopian runners had a number of excellent races over the weekend, with wins in Amsterdam, Istanbul, France, Portugal, and South Korea.

Kenyan training camps running into trouble (19 October 2009) - Unlike Ethiopia's stable national club system, Kenya's unregulated training camps have been plagued by problems and threaten to tarnish the country's reputation for producing Olympic athletes.

45 Years Ago Today (21 October 2009) - On October 21, 1964, Ethiopian marathoner Abebe Bikila won his second Olympic gold medal at the Tokyo Games. Bikila, the first to win two consecutive gold medals in the marathon, set a world record time. Includes video.

A race against climate change in Ethiopia (23 October 2009) - Climate change in Ethiopia is affecting the country's elite athletes. Crop failures and increasing temperatures are proving challenging to runners in Assela.Young runners like Sisay Adugna are not letting this stop them; Adugna says, “The biggest lesson we learn from Haile [Gebrselassie] is that you cannot get anything easily in the world if you want to become a runner.”

Ethiopians in the running for the IAAF gong (23 October 2009) - Ethiopian athletes are again expected to be in the running for the IAAF World Athlete of the Year awards, with Kenenisa Bekele expected to be a contender for the best male athlete of the year.

Derartu Tulu & Dire Tune to lead Ethiopian Team at 2009 ING New York City Marathon (23 October 2009) – Rundown on Ethiopia's teams for the NYC Marathon.

Kenyans dominate Nairobi marathon (25 October 2009) - Kenyans Moses Kigen and Irene Jerotich won Sunday's seventh Stanchart Nairobi International Marathon in new course records.

Other interesting news:

Gilbert Kirwa Remains Undefeatd For His Life At Marathon and Runs Course Record 2:06:14

Yokohama Takes the Place of the Defunct Tokyo Women's Marathon

Two weeks after Birmingham, Kilel cruises 2:25:24: in Ljubljana

Plodders Have a Place, but Is It in a Marathon?

Happy Birthday- Third Time is Charm!

Today marks 3rd birthday for Roocha. It has been rather slow here in 2009, but we will find out if third time is truly charm...

You can get a more frequent update by following Roocha on Twitter here.

Open Thread: Berlin Women's Marathon

UPDATE: This turned out to be an interesting race, but I have mixed feeling about the result of the Ethiopian team. Aselefech Mergia, who first came to prominence by winning the Great Ethiopian Run in Addis few years ago, turned in an outstanding performance. Aselefech won a bravely fought bronze medal running 2:25:32 which is only 30 seconds off of her PR. Considering it is very rare to run a PR in a championship race, it is clear that Aselefech ran to her full potential.

Now as for the rest of the team, one can at best say they underachieved, keeping with the ongoing pattern in Berlin for the week. Dire Tune fell down after 25K but was able toget up and continue with the run. It is not clear if she sustained injury that impacted her performance.

However, there must be a different explanation for subpar performance of the team as a whole.The coaches and administrators need to take an honest assessment of the entire program including themselves and work to root out the cause of such a mediocre result being turned in by young and talented runners. If anyone needs convincing that there is indeed a systemic problem with the Ethiopian program, simply review the result from today’s race: among the top 15 finishers, China placed FOUR runners, Russia and Japan had three each, USA had two, and Ethiopia had one.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This race is somewhat open as leading women marathoners Paula Radcliffe of Great Britain and Irina Mikitenko of Germany are out of the competition. Ethiopia brings a group of young marathoners who have won big city marathons but with little or no championship experience. Dire Tune, past winner at Boston and Houston, leads the group that includes Bezunesh Bekele, Atsede Bayisa, Aselefech Mergia, and Robe Guta. All of them have PRs in the low 2:20 range have the ability to win the race.

Look for Dire Tune and Bezunesh Bekele to lead the charge with their determined type of racing they showed in Boston this year. Tune actually passed out at the finish line of Boston having fought hard to the end and being beat right at the line. As the Ethiopian men yesterday, I have high hopes for this young group which are the future of Ethiopian marathoning. Ethiopian women so far have not fared well in Berlin and the marathon represents one of the last two opportunities to win gold in this final day of competition in Berlin.

Other runners to watch are Kara Goucher of USA, Chunxiu Zhou of China, and Yoka Shibui of Japan.

My picks: 1- Bezunesh Bekele 2- Dire Tune 3- Chunxiu Zhou

Open Thread: Berlin Men's Marathon

UPDATE: Kenya 1-2-5 with Kiru, Mutai, Cheruiyot. Ethiopia 3-4 with Tsegaye Kebede and Yemane Tsegay. Good showing for Ethiopia. I really like the young Ethiopian marathoners who are disciplined enough to back off a hot pace and remain composed to work their way back to the front. Great work from both Tsegaye and Yemane. It looks like Deriba Merga blew up and dropped out.


The Ethiopian coach (Shambel Zelalem Desta, whom I met briefly in January 2007) says this year’s team, both men and women, is Ethiopia’s strongest ever and is talking of medal sweeps in both races. In my brief meeting of Shambel Zelalem, the man seemed completely normal but talk of medal sweep in any chmpionship marathon is simply insane! Digging a bit deeper into resumes of the five Ethiopians in the men’s race, it is easy to see that only Tsegaye Kebede and Deriba Merga have solid credentials. The other three only show 2-3 races under their belt with a 2:07-2:08 PR range. One must have an extraordinary day to jump from such credential to a World Championship medal. But then again, coach knows his runners best so I will wait to be proven wrong.

As for Deriba and Tsegaye, I give Tsegaye a very good chance of winning the race while Deriba, as always, is hard to prdict and could excel (Boston) or crash (Beijing). Besides, Deriba has already too many races this year and fatigue could be a factor.

Others to watch closely are Abderrahim Goumri of Morocco (he is due to win a race any day now), four time Boston champion Robert Cheruiyot, and my favorite dark horse Eritrean Yared Asmerom.

My picks: 1- Tsegaye Kebede 2- Robert Cheruiyot 3- Daniel Rono

Your picks? Discuss here.

P.S. IAAF Preview of men’s marathon is found here.

You can get a more frequent update by following Roocha on Twitter here.

Team Ethiopia in Berlin- Day 7

The only event for Team Ethiopia on day 7 was women’s 1500M semi-final and it had a very successful outcome. Get used to this name because you will be hearing it a lot: KALKIDAN GEZAHEGNE. As expected, Gelete Burka and Maryam Jamal (the Ethiopian-turned-Bahraini, formerly Zenebech Tola) advanced to the final comfortably. But the real story in this event belongs to Kalkidan Gezahegne.

Kalkidan is an 18 year old teenage sensation who bravely fought her way to getting an automatic qualifying spot in Sunday’s final. Her biography shows that she only began international competition in 2008 and that same year won the silver medal in the 1500M at the World Junior Championships. A mere one year later she has chopped 8 seconds away from her personal best, and now competing as a senior, earned a spot in the final of a World Championship race. Ladies and gentlemen, this is overachievement by any standard!

Whatever Kalkidan does in the final race will be icing on the cake since she has already performed way above any reasonable expectaion. In my first blog at the beginning of these championships, I wrote that “the results from Berlin will be more indicative of the future of Ethiopian athletics than its current status.” Kalkidan Gezahegne along with Imane Merga and Wude Ayalew are the new revelation for Ethiopian Athletics.

You can get a more frequent update by following Roocha on Twitter here.

Team Ethiopia in Berlin- Day 5, 6

Women’s 5000M
Day 5 started with women’s 5000M qualification. Speculation of Tirunesh possibly competing in the 5000M as well as Mesert Defar’s withdrawal due to illness proved unfounded. The qualifying round for this event is almost unnecessary because 15 out of the 22 women would advance to the final.

All the Ethiopians have comfortably advanced to Saturday’s final. Sentayehu Ejigu looked very good winning the first heat with tired looking Meselech Melkamu also advancing with a third place finish. I am not sure what to expect from Sentayehu in the final. She has had some good races this year but her personal best is from five years ago. Meseret Defar won the second heat kicking strong in the final 100M as if it was the final. Perhaps she was exorcising the demons from the 10000M race, but it was unnecessary expenditure of energy. Genzebe Dibaba also advanced to the finals from the same heat as well as Alemitu Bekele who runs for Turkey (kudos for keeping your name).

Men’s 5000M
In my opinion, this was the low point for Team Ethiopia at the Berlin World Championships so far. The pain felt by the loss of the women 10000M race was enhanced by the outcome of the men’s 5000M race. At the end of the two heats, Kenenisa was the only Ethiopian to advance to Sunday’s final. Bekana Daba finished 6th in the second heat while Ali Abdosh finished 13th in the first heat.

I could not fathom the concept of only one Ethiopian in a global 5000M championship race: USA advanced three runners, Kenya and Morocco had two each, but Ethiopia had only one, as did Spain and Great Britain! This was rectified at the end of day yesterday when Ali Abdosh was reinstated back in the final based on appeal filed. Apparently, Ali was spiked early on in the qualifying race causing him to lose a shoe and fell some 200M back in his attempt to recover his shoe. Big kudos go to Ali for finishing the race and for making the appeal possible. There is a lesson in there for athletes who take a DNF at the slightest unraveling of their race plan.

Sunday’s final should be quite interesting. Bernard Lagat was unhappy about finishing third in the 1500M final and vowed “revenge” in the 5000M. Lagat went further to promise his fans “I will run strong and win it for us.” Will Lagat beat Kenenisa or will Kenenisa get the first ever 5000/10000 double in world championship history? Will Eliud Kipchoge beat them both?

Men’s 1500M
If the men’s 5000M qualifying was the lowest point so far, men’s 1500M final has to be the highest. Ethiopia did not win this race, and in fact has not ever won this race in any World Championship. Then again, Ethiopia has never won the 5000M in any World Championship either, so winning is not the point here, at least from my perspective. The point is the tactical brilliance and the raw talent Deresse Mekonnen displayed to execute his plan to near perfection. The 1500M is a very tough physical (and mental) race where the slightest mistake in tactic or lapse in concentration could be the difference between a gold medal and fourth place. Deresse’s plan to stay out of trouble for the first three laps, then take the lead at the bell and push like there is no tomorrow was so on target that it delivered him a silver medal while the Kenyan pre-race favorite Kiprop finished fourth.

Now, to be fair, Deresse did not just appear out of nowhere on to the Berlin podium. He is the reigning World Indoor Champion in 1500M. He also won the Dream Mile in Oslo few weeks ago setting a new Ethiopian national record. However, an indoor race is very different from outdoor, and a meet in Oslo is a far cry from a World Championship final race. This time all the big guns were present having done their best preparation to claim the title. And Deresse beat all of them but one. Ethiopia was so written off in the 1500M that Deresse was not even mentioned in IAAF preview of the 1500M race.

Deresse’s performance hints at an untapped potential and possible bright future for Ethiopia in middle distance races. Kenya, Morocco, and Algeria have been there for decades. Is it time Ethiopia claims some territory? Success in middle distance races has been a developing theme for Ethiopian runners this season and Deresse’s race to the silver medal in Berlin may represent a defining moment for Ethiopian athletics- if it is understood by those who call the shots. We can no longer rely on superstars and must branch out and “diversify” to other distances where we see evidence of talent to compete with Kenya at the same level.

The message is simple: stop the bleeding (i.e. coach of the Bahraini gold medal winner is a transplanted Ethiopian) and start diversifying (i.e. take results such as silver in the 1500M and develop more runners.) After all, isn’t that how this whole thing started in the marathon and 10000M back in the 1960’s??

You can get a more frequent update by following Roocha on Twitter here.

Team Ethiopia in Berlin- Day 2-3-4…

I hope the 2013 World Champs will be hosted in the Americas (2011 already given to Daegu, South Korea, so too late for that). Besides may be getting a chance to watch the action in person, the TV schedule will be much easier to deal with. The past few days have been challenging to watch the events on tape delay at night, while staying away from hearing the results during the day. Of course, as it has been obvious here, that left no time for writing blog updates…

Anyway, luckily or unluckily, there was not overwhelming amount of action from Team Ethiopia to write home about.

Men’s 3000M Steeplechase
On day 2 (Sunday), the men’s 3000M Steeplechase qualifying round saw Yacob Jarso and Roba Gary advance to the final which was run on Day 4 (Tuesday). In the finals, status quo was kept with Kenya taking the title and three of the top four places, with Yacob and Roba in 5th and 6th place, respectively. Yacob posted a personal best (by small margin), and Roba also came close to his PB indicating both performed close to their top form. What is notable is the Kenyan winner finished 12 seconds ahead of the Ethiopians- a good 75-80 meter margin. Both Yacob and Roba said they had sufficient endurance to stay with the winner all the way but lacked the hurdling techniques. Yacob went even further to say that he is “now thinking of switching events if the coaches do not help us with [jumping] technique."

Women’s 3000M Steeplechase
On day 3 (Monday), it was the women’s turn for the 3000M Steeplechase. Both Sofia Assefa and Zemzem Ahmed had qualified comfortably from the heats on day 1. Since the 3000M SC is still a relatively young event, there was hope for a good showing for both ladies who had posted good times this season. However, the final in Berlin failed far below expectation as the Ethiopians finished in 10th and 13th place, both more than 10 seconds off their season best time. Unlike the men, lack of technique can not be the culprit for the poor performance. This was one event where Ethiopian Athletics had an opportunity to show progress into a new territory but it simply did not happen.

Men’s 10000M
With the exception of Edmonton in 2001, Ethiopia (well, Haile and Kenenisa) have owned this event since 1993. There was not much doubt that Kenenisa would get his 4th world title to match Haile from the 1990’s. The only question was in what fashion and who would claim the bottom two spots on the podium.

Sure enough Kenenisa won but I was impressed by how Eritrea’s Zersenay Tadese pushed the pace all the way to the last lap when Kenenisa simply sprinted by. With Sileshi Sihine out with injury, Kenenisa had to run alone as Abebe Dinkesa dropped out of the race and the World Cross Country Champion Gebre Gebremariam could only finish 10th. Similar to Wude Ayalew in the women’s 10000M, the bright spot for Ethiopia was 20 year old Imane Merga who finished in fourth place. He ran a personal best to go along with the 3000M and 5000M personal best he set earlier this year. But at this time, there is no heir-apparent to Kenenisa, who took over from Haile in 2003.

One final item to note: Kenenisa won the 10000M in a convincing fashion while setting a world championship record. His dominance in the 10000M is no less than Usain Bolt’s in the 100M. This was my own initial observation (on Twitter) after watching the race on Tuesday. I was pleased to read today a piece in the New York Times expressing the same sentiment, and in a much more articulate fashion. Read the article here.

You can get a more frequent update by following Roocha on Twitter here.

Team Ethiopia in Berlin- Day 1

The one bit of downside to having a dynasty is that the ending is always painful. End of a dynasty pretty much describes fate of Team Ethiopia on Day 1 in Berlin, and perhaps the entire meet. Please forgive my grumpy attitude but Roocha has always questioned the viability of an entire national athletic program resting on a shoulder of superstars you can count on half of one hand, especially when a large talent pool is available to develop.

Starting from the 1999 World Championships in Seville, Spain, Ethiopia has won ALL the gold medals in the Women’s 10000M race… until yesterday. The house built by the likes of Derartu Tulu, Gete Wami, Berhane Adere, and Tirunesh Dibaba had no keeper in Berlin and it was ransacked! Now the winner, Kenya’s Linet Masai, is deserving of the victory and currently is one of my favorite Kenyan runners. She strides beautifully and came very close to winning the World Cross-Country Champs back in March. But still, having watched yesterday’s race twice, I still can not figure out what happened to our Ethiopian ladies. The pace was slow enough that Meseret Defar should not have ran out of gas in the last 30 meters, but she clearly did by her own admission. Meselech Melkamu was so focused on beating Meseret that she was caught thinking victory over Meseret to be equivalent to victory over all. Meselech claims in the post-race press conference that she is personally pleased with her result but it is a bit hard to believe.

I am very, very disappointed. For myself personally, I am pleased because this is my first time running this event at the world championships, so I'm happy I got a medal. But I would have been happy if Meseret (Defar) had got the gold. I was expecting her to win. I never saw the Kenyan."

Wude Ayalew is the only runner in my opinion that achieved her full potential. She was happy to carry the flag in celebration while the others looked very hesitant.

In other events of the day, two of the three entrants in women’s 3000M Steeplechase have advanced to the next round. Sofia Assefa finished third in heat 1 while Zemzem Ahmed won heat 3. Zemzem’s heat was much slower than Sofia’s so she should have plenty energy in the final on Monday.

In men’s 1500M, Deresse Mekonnen posted the fastest qualifying time of all the heats advancing to the second round. Henok Legesse has also made it to the next round while Mekonnen Gebremedhin failed to advance. Deresse worked a bit hard for a first round race but I hope he has enough to continue on. A gold medal from him will go a long way to ease the pain of the loss in the women’s 10000M.

----------------------------------------------------------------

You can get a more frequent update by following Roocha on Twitter here.

Open Thread: Berlin Women's 10000M

With Tirunesh Dibaba, two time defending World Champion and reigining Olympic Champion, out of the race, the question is who will take the most advantage of Tirunesh's absence. Meseret Defar will be interested to put her stake down on a new territory, but Meselech Melkamu with her recent second all-time fastest 10000M outing will be looking to step up to the top podium also. The Kenyans led by Linet Masai will be there as well as Elvan Abeylegesse the Olympic silver medalist.

My bet will be on Meseret Defar as she has a score to settle from Beijing last year. A loss of the gold to another country will be a bitter pill for Ethiopians on first day of competition. Any thoughts?

Beijing to Berlin

One year ago today, all the attention of the world was focused on Beijing Olympics, and Track & Field took center stage with Women’s 10000M final. Who can forget the riveting performance Tirunesh Dibaba turned in that day while dueling Elvan Abeylegesse and the hot weather of Beijing!!

Well, we are a year of time and a continent of a distance removed from that superhuman perofrmance by Tirunesh, but we meet back in Berlin to write another chapter in the history of Track & Field. The 12th IAAF World Chamionships in Athletics have already gotten underway this morning in Berlin and in a short time (1:25PM EDT) the women 10000M final will be contested once again. As hard as it may sound, this time the two time defending champ Tirunesh will not be in the race due to a recent injury. It is not hard to imagine the outcome of the women’s 10000M will set the tone for the rest of competition Team Ethiopia will be participating in for the rest of the week.

Now, speaking of Team Ethiopia, it is no accident that I started the piece by talking about Tirunesh rather than the whole team: the tri-color of Ethiopian athletics stands and falls with the three superstars of Kenenisa Bekele, Tirunesh Dibaba and Meseret Defar. Losing anyone of these three is a huge blow and the results from Berlin will be more indicative of the future of Ethiopian athletics than its current status. Is there anyone waiting in the wings to take the proverbial baton and run with it?

Ethiopian runners are entered in 1500M, 3000M Steeplechase, 5000M, 10000M, and Marathon for both men and women. Given that we have historically had locks on women’s 5000M and Men’s 10000M, what I am looking for this time is noteable performances in the other events, particularly the 1500M and 3000M SC. The revelation of the season so far has been the improved performance of Ethiopians in middle distance races with national records set in men’s 1500M and women’s 800M. Can Deresse Mekonnen and Mekonnen Gebremedhin deliver in the 1500M in a big meet? Will Zemzem Ahmed and Sofia Assefa make a breakthrough in the women 3000M SC?

Surely, there will be other interesting story lines to watch including:

-whether Meselech Melkamu can maintain her early summer form (African 10000M record) and upset the staus quo of Tirunesh and Meseret

-whether Tsegaye Kebede can bring back the gold in men’s marathon

-whether Dire Tune can bring first women’s marathon gold (in a major meet) since Fatuma Roba

One final piece of item to note is how the former Ethiopians Elvan Abeylegesse and Maryam Jamal fare in Berlin. Should they win gold (for Turkey or Bahrain) at the expense of an Ethiopian runner in second place, the discussion of why they switched nationality will certainly be revived.
-------------------------------------------------------------------

You can get a more frequent update by following Roocha on Twitter here.
You can find US TV Schedule for the World Champs here.
Universal Sports is providing live internet stream of the meet here.

In Addis

I happen to be in Addis and I am finding it quite a challenge to blog. Now I am feeling like there is nothing like having broadband at home. Second there is nothing like having reliable electric service. Right now power is on on alternating days. On the days you are supposed to have power you may or may not have power. Any help with blogging on this site will be much appreciated.

There was a neat program on the radio in the taxi this morning that talked about the day's events and there were some spontaneous conversations and disappointment that Tirunesh is not running. There is a little bit of excitement but more excitement about the up coming Premier League soccer opening this weekend.

I will try to post when I have good Internet access and if I happen to have electricity.

As for today's event's...

I think the Women's 10,000 will be very interesting. Meseret vs Elvan? Am I over looking Meselech?

Roocha on Twitter

Long time no post. It's been a bit difficult trying to find the time to write a regular blog, but micro-blogging has come to the rescue. Roocha, the blog, will be revived this coming week, in time for the World Championships from Berlin. In the meantime, Roocha has been up on Twitter for several weeks so please follow by clicking here.

There are several tweets there today including the following:

• Distance Running Training Camp in #Ethiopia. Nice video production. http://bit.ly/3ipQyW

• Gelete Burka of #Ethiopia vs. Maryam Yusuf Jamal Ethiopian-turned-Bahraini in Women's 1500M Preview: http://tinyurl.com/kswcvz

• No respect? Deresse Mekonnen of #Ethiopia, winner in Oslo with new Ethiopian record of 3:48 doesn't even get a mention in the 1500M preview!

• #Ethiopia ranks 9th in all time World Championship Medals: 16 gold, 14 silver, 11 bronze. http://berlin.iaaf.org/hist...

Hello Victory!

There are some post you never wish you made. I wish I had not dismissed Gebre-egziabher Gebremariam's recent success so quickly. But again his performance of the last few years was so disappointing for a guy with so much talent. Gebre-egziabher Gebremariam ran a very very smart race. For a change it was fun watching him. I am happy to see him finally win a title that he has always been capable of winning.

Here is my take on Amman. Overall it was a good showing for Ethiopia. Some people stepped up. Most noteable is Genzebe Dibaba who is showing that she is the real thing. Ayele Abshiro also showed guts. Meselech Melkamu lived up to her billing. Gebre-egziabher Gebremariam and Habtamu Fikadu did so in a big way. Actually the senior men's team as a whole stepped up in a big way.

How is it that the most disappointing bunch, the senior men, transformed themselves into winners? I think the fact that Kenenisa (the alpha male) was not around turned these guys from submissive types to contenders. With the exception of Dino Sefer and Tadesse Tola all of the runners were in contention into the last lap. It looked like most of these guys thought they could win and so gave it there best.

As for Gebre-egziabher Gebremariam he has to maintain the form he has rediscovered.

Livin' on a prayer

Here we are again. Another year another world cross championship. This may also be another year of excuses by the Ethiopian Athletics Federation. We have commented on the danger of EAF's overeliance on a handful of superstars rather than an organic approach to developing runners is dangerous in the long term. With Kenenisa and Tirunesh out with injury the EAF's approach will be tested at the World XC- Championship in Amman.

The men's team is lead by a retread, Gebre-egziabher Gebremariam who has never showed the incredible fortitude and desire he once teased us with his spectacular 2002 performance in the Junior XC Championship race. That had to be on of the great performances. Quite frankly, over the past few years Gebre-egziabher Gebremariam has been one of the most annoying runners to watch and I was hoping I would never have to see him run again. He has a chance to redeem himself but don't keep your hopes up.

Tariku Bekele is out. Good for him. He did not have much of a chance. Although very talented the self-confidence of a champion has eluded him. That wasn't about to change this year.

I like Tadesse Tola. A guy guy with a big heart. He earned a spot in my heart with his performance in Momabssa.The year of that shameful performance, the year Kenenisa and the rest of the Ethiopians melted in the heat, the year full of EAF excuses. Tadesse Tola was the highest Ethiopian finisher coming in 7th . I think that was his first international race. This kid does not like excuses. I have a feeling he will do good.

The dark horse is Habtamu Fekadu who finished 9th at last year's race. The 9th place finish made him the second Ethiopian finisher behind Kenny. He may well be the top guy on this team.

The women always seem to do a lot better than the men. They also seem to have a lot better depth. Missing Tirunesh will hurt. Gelete Burka choked big time in Beijing. She finished 6th last year's XC and can in the top 3 if she runs a good race. Meselech Melkamu was also a disappointment in Beijing but can place in the top 3 if she has a very good day. They all need luck.

Ethiopian runners are deferential to the pack leader. Maybe the absence of Tirunish and Kenenisa will confuse the pack and there will be a fight for dominance which may produce a star or two. That though could just be a wish. But I am Ethiopian and I can wish.

All in all if the women have a good day they have a chance of winning the team title. But the men are living on a prayer.

Deriba ain't so bad

I am getting to like this guy. Some may ridicule him for his collapses but one thing Deriba has going for him is that he runs his own race. Deriba is fun to follow because he does not settle for safe. He set an ambitious goal of 2:05 at the Houston Marathon. He was off his goal by more than 2 minutes but nonetheless set a course record.

Deriba is different. While others were afraid of the heat in Beijing, this guy went for gold and gave it everything. Haile tried to play it safe and avoided the marathon all together instead he gave us a half-hearted 10,000M and looked silly. Gete and Berhane made a mockery of the women's marathon. Deriba is all heart! He may be the breath of fresh air Ethiopian running needs - the un-Haile. A risk taker not afraid to make mistakes. Everyone can’t be and shouldn’t try be like Haile.