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.

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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.
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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.

Suprise Winner at the Great Run

A relative unknown Chala Dechassa won the Men's Great Ethiopian Run. While Wude Ayalew defended her title. Upto this point Chala Dechassa's only brush with fame was a surprising 3rd place finish at this years Ababe Bikila Marathon. He has a bright future.

Sileshi & Tirunesh

In what was billed ad The Big Millennium Wedding Bash Sileshi got hitched to Tirunesh over the weekend. There is a moment by moment account of the wedding from Tirunesh's website (the website is quite good). The website claims that 500,000 greeted the bride and groom at Meskel Square. What a year Tirunesh has had!

Vote!

Of course, you should vote, if eligible, in the upcoming US Presidential Election on Nov. 4. But that is not what this post is about. It is about voting for 2008 World Athlete of the Year. Last year's winners (Tyson Gay of USA and Meseret Defar of Ethiopia) didn't even make it to the list this time. However, you can vote for Haile or Kenenisa for men and Tirunesh Dibaba for women. Make sure you VOTE, although with competition from Usain Bolt and Pamela Jelimo, the Ethiopian athletes stand about the same chance of winning the vote as John McCain.

Happy Birthday- Take Two!

After 205 posts over the past 24 months, ROOCHA, the blog, today turns TWO years old! It has been a remarkable year with lots of emotional ups and downs, victories and defeats, but it has been a lot of fun writing about our beloved sport of running from a personal, national, and international perspective. Looking forward to the next 12 months as we count down to Berlin 2009. Your comments and suggestions are most welcome.

Chicago!

I have always wanted to do the Chicago Marathon. I had hoped this would be the year. It was not to be! Not even close. My long run got up to 16 miles but that was in early June before I developed all sorts of injuries. By the end of July I had no chance of running in this year’s Chicago Marathon. I am a victim of a life long aversion to stretching.

When not in shape, the Chicago Marathon is always a reminder to start training for next year. A solid winter of treadmill running and some Yoga will have me on target to run in the Cherry Blossom the first week of April. With moderate increase in mileage I should be on target for next year. I just hope that I some how learn to love stretching.

Back to the Chicago Marathon, after last years stunning come from behind stealth sprint finish victory Berhane Adere is out to win for the third straight time. She will be joined by Bezunesh Bekele and Worknesh Tola. Olympic champ Constantina Tomescu-Dita is also running. It will be interesting to see if Dita has recovered from her Olympic run. Berhane Adere perhaps preserving herself for Chicago was a DFN in Beijing so she should be well rested and ready.

The weather will be hot again. Last year the temperature was unseasonably warm in the 80's and the forecast this year if for temperatures in the mid to high 70's. In hindsight I am glad I am not running the Chicago Marathon this year.

Update:Berhane Adere was out of contention soon after the mid point. I wonder if something is wrong. She could be nearing the end of her career. Bezunesh Bekele ran a brave race. She went out to win but faded.

2:03:59

Just when everyone thinks there is nothing more Haile can do, he pulls out another magic trick out of his bag. In today's race, Haile had an unexpected company up to 35km. Winning, let alone breaking the record, was in doubt according to race commentators. Haile shook off his last challenger after 35 km and showed his heart with an all out sprint on the last stretch to dip under the 2:04 barrier.

Many Ethiopians have been pressuring Haile to retire "with dignity" for the last couple of years... he has proven them all wrong by adding three more world records in that time span. He is out-running his competition, the race clock, and may be even Father Time.

Meseret Defar Gets Revenge

Meseret Defar defeated Vivian Cheruiyot in the 5,000M at the IAAF World Athletics Final in Stuttgart avenging last week's defeat. It would have been a disaster had she lost. Glad to see her back on track.

The the Women's 1,500M featured to huge Beijing disappointements. In the battle of huge disappointers Maryam Yusuf Jamal defeated the enigmatic Gelete Burka.

Meseret Defeated Again

Meseret Defar was defeated by Vivian Cheruiyot (KEN) in the 5,000M at the Memorial Van Damme meet in Brussels. Meseret was niped at the end by Vivian Cheruiyot. Looks like Meseret is not running with a clear head and she may have lost a step. Needless to say she needs to get back on track.

Sileshi Sihine once again reminds us that he is one of the great 10,000 M runners to ever live by manhandling the field. Abebe Dinkesa a once promising runner finished
a distant 11th.

You can catch the actions at TrackShark.

Kenenisa Again

Kenenisa continued his rampage winning the 3,000 m at the Gateshead British Grand Prix in a World Leading time of 7:31.94. He has hinted that this will be his last race for the season. Despite him being in great shape and having an amazing year no world record will be set this year.

Golden League

It's back to the track for Kenenisa Bekele as he races in the Golden League meet in Zurich.

Reader Zemede has posted a link to view the race live in about 30 mins.

http://www.trackshark.com/videos/2008/goldenleague/

The race will be on at 3:35 EST 12:35 PST and 19:35 GMT.

Zemede, thanks for the link.

Update:
Kenenisa set a World Best of 12:50.18 at the 5,000M. He had overcome poor peacemaking, where he had to set the pace starting at the 5th lap. He opened up a huge gap early and kept adding to it. Look for him to go after the World Record this season.

Beijing Closure

OK. I admit I am tired of the Olympics. I am ready to move on physically and mentally.

Physically, over the past two weeks I have been transformed into a couch potato. Browsing the net and flipping TV channels. Now, instead of watching others run I need to get out and do my own running. Mentally, I am tired of thinking and talking about medals, federations, events etc..

Before I move one I wanted some sort of closure by listing the top five performances as well as the top five disappointments. I would have loved to go with a top ten list but we were kind of light depthwise.


Top Performances
1 - Tirunesh Dibaba, 10,000 M – Ran the 2nd fastest time ever and looked as if she could have run faster.
2 - Kenenissa Bekele, 5,000 M – He did most of the work from start to finish. What a magnificent kick and what a race.
3 - Kenenissa Bekele, 10,000 M – Made it look like a jog.
4 - Tirunesh Dibaba, 5,000 M – Great tactical race and nice close.
5 - Deriba Merga and Tsgaye Kebede, Marathon – It’s hard to pick among the two. Deriba was going for gold but collapsed. Who can fault him for going for gold? On the other hand, Tsegaye ran a very smart race but never really had a shot at gold.

Mentions
Jacob Jarsso , 3,000 M Steeeplechase - Finished 4th the Steeplechase beating a Kenyan. He wasn’t even supposed to be in the finals.
Zemzem Ahmed, 3,000 Steeplechase – Solid performance in the Women’s Steeplechase.
Gashaw Assfaw, Marathon– came in a solid seventh in the marathon.

Disappointing Performances
1 - Gete Wami and Berhane Adere, Marathon – The two did not come to run. They crashed out of the race early and it wasn’t even a very hot day and the pace wasn't fast when they crashed. What a waste!
2- Mestawat Tufa, 10,000 M– Went from a medal conteder to a DNF. Gives up easy. Exited the race when she lost contact with the lead pack. She should hire Shalene Flanigan to coach her on the art of catching runners form behind.
3 - Gelete Burka, 1,500 M– Gold favorite did not even make it to the finals. Enough said.
4 - Haile Gebreselassie, 10,000 M – Would have been better off running the marathon. At least he had a chance to medal in the marathon. I wonder what he though when Deriab was up there with the leaders? For sure Haile thinks he is better thanDeriba. What would Haile have been able to do? We will never know. With the emergence of young runners like Deriba, Tsegaye and others Haile is not a lock to make the Olympic team in 2012. Actually odds are against Haile making the team. Beijing was not a great way to go out.
5 - Nahom Mesfin and Roba Gary, 3,000 M Steeplechase – These two should have been in the steeplechase final. Instead they bombed out early.

Mentions
Mekdes Bekele, 3,000 M Steeplechase :- Should have been in the Steeplechase finals but decided to chill early.
Ejigayehu Dibaba, 10,000 M - How she has fallen! From Olympic silver to mid-pack runner. She has talent but she does not seem to care. She still makes good money though.
Mulugeta Wondimu and Deresse Mekonnen, 1,500 M – huge step back for the men’s 1,500M.
Sileshi Sihine, 10,000 M – Got slaughtered by Kenenisa once again. Disappointment is that he just sat there and got slaughtered. You would think he would get tired of losing and change something to mount a challenge. He did not bother. Does the same thing gets the same results. It looks like he as accepted being second as his fate in life.
Meseret Defar, 5,000 – Never gave us the battle we expected but gave it a good run. Should have challenged for silver harder once chance for gold was gone.


This is what I have. Your thoughts?

The Future of Roohca

We are ordinary guys. We found that we conversed about running a lot. We started this blog because we love running. We feel very lucky that people read our blog and we feel privileged that we can share our thoughts with you.

When we started this blog we just wanted to write. We never had a firm plan so this blog has exceeded our expectations. The more we blog the more we run about running. We also find more and more things to blog about. It has been a tremendous experience.

Now that we have been blogging for a while, we would like to take Roocha to the next level. We don’t exactly know what the next level is. We will need your help in determining what the next level is.

We know one thing for sure. For Roocha go get to the next level it needs to be democratized. We would like to share this blog with you if you are able and willing to contribute. You can be any type of contributor: regular contributor, occasional contributor, race report contributor, one-off contributor etc… All we ask is that you have a passion for running. To become a contributor send an email to contribute@roocha.net.

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What is missing? What should we add? What should we change? What should we stop doing? What should we keep doing? Where should we take this thing ?

If You Are Not Growing You Are Dying

With the Olympic over, the flag wavers are out declaring Ethiopia had a magnificent Olympic. Excuse me but are we watching the same Olympic? Perhaps we are living in an era of low expectations? Perhaps it’s in our nature to flag wave at every opportunity without exploring the underlying reality.

Magnificent when your only overachiever is Tsegaye Kebede, a bronze medalist? Magnificent when you don't even meet your own goal of ten medals? Sorry to burst some bubbles but the "magnificent" moments were created by two – get this - two athletes. Tirunesh Dibaba and Kenenisa Bekele! Team Ethiopia did not have a magnificent Olympic. These two athletes had a magnificent Olympic.

Tirunesh Dibaba and Kenenisa Bekele were asked to double out of desperation. They skewed the medal count and covered up the poor development, selection and preparation by the Federation. Ethiopian athletics is in decline. Just take a look at the list of Kenyan athletes that earned a medal next to the list of Ethiopians.

Kenya	Ethiopia
Nancy Lagat Brimin Kipruto Wilfred Bungei Pamela Jelimo Samuel Wanjiru Asbel Kiprop Eunice Jepkorir Eliud Kipchoge Janeth Jepkosgei Catherine Ndereba Micah Kogo Richard Mateelong Edwin Soi Alfred Yego	Kenenisa Bekele Tirunesh Dibaba Sileshi Sihine Meseret Defar Tsegaye Kebede

Mighty thin for a county that has twice the population of Kenya!


Obsession with sweeping...

In Ethiopia, there is a bizarre obsession with sweeping events. Winning multiple medals in any event is very hard. The best way to increase medal counts is to the expand into new events. Spending time and energy trying to sweep is more expensive than developing medal contenders in the 800 M and 1,500M. Kenyan will always have at least two medal contenders in the 10,000 and 5,000.

A sweep does not happen often. If it does, it can't happen at every Olympic. You can't design successful programs that sweep races. The odds are against sweeps. This wrong headed obsession with sweeps has made the Federation lazy. Instead of developing athletes in middle distance events the Federation dreams of multiple medals in a few events.

Ethiopia has the talent base (if developed) to compete in races 800M and further. In Beijing, Kenya for instance, contested the men’s 400M and won gold in both the Men’s and Women’s 800M while Ethiopia did not even have enough runners to fill its slot of 1,500 M Women’s runners. Take a look at how diverse Kenya’s medal haul was compared to Ethiopia’s.




There is no guarantee that the next Kenenisa Bekele and Tirunesh Dibaba will be Ethiopian. They could be Kenyan. What would we do then?

We need to stop obsessing about sweeps and double medals. Diversification is needed to increase medal counts.

Lack of breakthroughs...

Sydney was high mark for Ethiopian Athletics. Sydney was remarkable because several unknown athletes stepping up to win gold. Million Wolde surprised even himself by winning the men’s 5,000M. Gezahegn Abera and Tesfaye Tola came out of nowhere to win two medals in the marathon. Everyone had assumed Derartu was on her last legs when she won gold.

Almost every other Olympic Ethiopia participated in has had a surprise. Abebe Bikila, Mamo Wolde, Miruts Yifter, Derartu Tulu, Fatuma Roba and Meseret Defar produced unexpected results.

So who stepped up in Beijing? Tesegaye Kebded, Deriba Merga, Zemzem Ahmed and Yakob Jarso - barely. None of them had a true breakthrough.


Time to change

Kenyan athletics had been in decline since 1988. In Sydney the Kenyan Athletic Federation was stung by Ethiopia’s success and recognized something was amiss. They started changing course. They revised the selection process and modified their preparation. They kept working on it in Athens and in Beijing we saw the results of the changes. Fourteen medals!

They were smart. They did not waste time trying to reclaim the 10,000M and 5,000M medals. Instead they strengthened their 1,500 M and 800M programs while at the same time working to improve in the long distance events. Notice how Kenya had fielded some excellent talent in the 5,000 M and 10,000M. From Athens to Beijing they went from winning one gold medal to winning five gold medals and doubling their medal totals. Kenya now has a foundation on which they can continue to build. Ethiopia on the other hand seems stuck since Sydney with no medal growth.




The number of medals won can be misleading. The number of individuals that produce these medals is a good indicator of how good a country is at developing athletes. From the chart below Ethiopia actually took a step back while Kenya has made great leaps.

Grow or die

There is a mantra that says if you are not growing you are dying. The world is catching up. One just needs to look no further than the performance of Shalane Flanagan who finished 3rd in the 10,000M. She beat two Ethiopian favorites.

Had we not had Tirunesh Dibaba, Turkey would have had a double gold medalist. Turkey, Bahrain, Spain and Israel fielded Ethiopian-born runners. Look for many more Ethiopian-born runners to run for their new countries. Look for these Ethiopian-born to fight Ethiopia for medals.

Life is not getting easier.

Accountability

Now that the Ethiopian Athletics Federation failed to achieve its own goals it’s time that someone is held accountable. Responsibility must be taken and changes made.

I suspect that is not going to happen. Ethiopian Politicians, who themselves have never been held accountable and therefore clueless when it comes to accountability will spin the "success of Beijing" till we drop from dizziness. No one will be held accountable because no one wants to admit there are problems. Meanwhile the same people will continue doing the same things and we will continue getting worse as others get better.

Decline can come fast. One only needs to look at the decline of football in Ethiopia. I hope that is not in the future of athletics.

London Calling

It's all over! Next stop is London. What can we look forward to?

Men's Marathon: Who hit the wall?

So we know Deriba Merga hit the wall. Who else hit the wall?



Yonas Kifle hit the wall real bad. Martin Lel looked bad between 30km and 35km. Tsegaye Kebede was fading when he caught Deriba Merga who was fading even faster.

The chart shows that Samuel Wanjiru was unbeatable. Gashaw Asfaw finished strong but he was too far behind. A few runners increased pace over the last 10K. The only runner to run the second-half faster was 15th place finisher Ruggero Pertile of Italy.

Men's Marathon: Deriba gave it his best...

If you have not read the write up on Tsegaye Kebed at IAAF it's a must read. It's great to see someone like him succeed.

The results are good. Two Ethiopians fighting for a medal albeit bronze. Given that is a young crew I would take this any day. Best of all, all three finished in the top ten. Tsegaye Kebede third, Deriba Megra fourth and Gashaw Asfaw seventh. It's a statement of the talent level of these runners. Three relative unknowns in the top 10!

Deriba is a different type of runner. It's nice to see a runner is not afraid to push. Too often, Ethiopian runners are timid. The exceptions are Kenenisa and Haile. Deriba of course is still green and this is part of his learning experience. It's a shame he did not even get a medal out of this. He will be back.

Tsegaye ran a smart race and looked good at the end. He ran within his limits and looked like he could have ran a bit more. Look for him to step it up.

Samuel Wanjiru was better prepared. As for the gold, there was no way an Ethiopian would have won it today. I don't think an Ethiopian could have run 2:06 today.

Do you see a way an Ethiopian could have won?

Open Thread:Men's Marathon Live

“I am not experienced and it will be my first time running under our national colours. But I am confident about my chances. I will be going for gold.” - Tsegaye Kebede (ETH)

Olympic Men's Marathon:Fast Race? Not!

Update: Samuel Wanjiru (KEN) ran 2:06:32. So much so for data.

Beijing 2008: Under the Weather

So far in Beijing, the Ethiopian team has won six medals from three athletes. The mass of Ethiopians gathered at Meskel Square in Addis Ababa to watch the races have been elated, and rightfully so. Olympics are serious business in Ethiopia and every medal is highly celebrated.

When we look a bit deeper into the performance of the team, it is hard to overlook the DNFs (drop outs) from Gete Wami, Berhane Adere, and Mestawot Tufa and the mediocre performances turned in by Meselech, Gelete, Ejegayehu and several of the other middle distance runners. I think a common thread to all that has gone wrong with the team is lack of proper acclimation to the humidity of Beijing.

It is noteworthy that there was a last minute decision by Ethiopian team officials to delay the travel of the athletes until it was near their competition time. Meseret Defar cited jet lag and weather as part of her difficulty in the 5000M. With only the men’s marathon remaining to be contested, there is a case study that could shed light on just how much the weather has been a factor.

In particular, watch these two athletes: Ryan Hall of USA and Deriba Merga of Ethiopia. Their lifetime record is comparable in the 2:05-2:06 range. Both ran 2:06 in London this year finishing 5th and 6th. Both are 25 years old and appear to be smart runners. Here is the big difference between Hall and Merga: Hall arrived in Beijing 2 ½ weeks ago to acclimate properly to the weather while Merga was among the last to arrive. Here is an entry from Ryan Hall’s diary:

After settling into our spacious room I headed out for an easy shakeout jog. I have never sweat so much in my entire life. By the end of the 30-minute easy run I was dripping in sweat. I was glad that I was there 2 ½ weeks early to get used to the humidity. I had practiced in warm temperatures and over dressed in practice but there was nothing I could have done to totally prepare for this level of humidity besides getting over here early to make the adjustment. Now that I have been here for nearly two weeks, I am used to the humidity and theextra sweating that comes with it.

I have read that Deriba Merga is creative in his training and racing in different parts of Ethiopia. However, it is hard to imagine he has been able to shake free of the “team camp” over the last several weeks. Merga is definitely a talented runner with some impressive results in half and full marathons. I expect him to do well if the weather is good and do poorly if the weather is bad.

Finally, watch out for Yared Asmerom of Eritrea. He is definitely a dark horse in today’s race as he has done well previously in warm weather. He definitely has the potential to be Eritrea’s first ever gold medalist.

Beijing 2008: One for the Ages

The 29th Olympic Games in Beijing is winding down and will be over in less than 24 hours. The show and the competition China has put on for the world has been amazing. For all the controversy that was expected- from politics to culture to weather- the games have gone on near flawlessly and China deserves big kudos. It has indeed been a game for the ages.

Speaking of ages, literally speaking this time, the Beijing Olympics have brought into focus what a well trained human body can achieve whether young or old. The Olympic Games are intended to be a gathering for the “youth of the world” as the opening and closing acclamations suggest. China appears to have taken this to a new level by supposedly fielding underage gymnasts that have not reached the minimum age of 16. China’s divers also look young enough to need a chaperon’s supervision outside the home. Still, it is impressive to see that skills can be so perfected at a young age and executed perfectly on the grandest of all stages.

On the other end of the age spectrum, we watched the 41 year old American Dara Torres nearly get the gold in the 50M free style- a SPRINT and not endurance event. The 38 year old Constantina Tomescu ran away from a loaded field to win the women’s marathon. In the past Ethiopia’s own Mamo Wolde won a Bronze Medal in the 1972 Munich Olympic at the age of 40!

As we near the end of the Beijing Games with the highly anticipated men’s marathon yet to be run, another ageless wonder waits to compete with no fanfare surrounding his presence. He is an Ethiopian by birth but runs for Israel. He is 53 years old (or 48 depending on who you ask). He finished the Athens Olympic Marathon in a very respectable 20th place. He is back at the Olympics as one of the oldest athletes competing in Beijing. His name is Haile Satatyin and he is an Olympian for the ages.

And then there is Seteng Ayele

This guy has been in the news.

After a short stint in an Gonder prison, Ethiopian-born Israeli Seteng Ayele(akaHaile Satayin) is in Beijing. At 53 or 46 years, whatever his real age is, he has no chance to medal but you have to appreciate what he did in Osaka where he finished 19th, ahead of 4 Ethiopian runners.

Here are bits from a nice write up

“After a race, after a difficult practice, I go home in suffering. That’s why I hate the marathon. Everyone suffers, but not everyone hates it.”

Why, then, does he persist? “I have no choice. What can I do? It’s a job, it’s work.”

Is it also fun? “No, it’s just work.”

A train hurtles by as he explains, “Running for three hours isn’t easy.”

His grin becomes a grimace. “That’s why I hate it. It’s not good for the body, I keep getting injured.”

When the topic of the 2012 Olympics is broached, he begins to answer, then stops. Suddenly his voice trails off, “It’s too bad, I don’t know why I began to run. I saw the world, I did everything…but I lost badly, in terms of standard of living. It’s not easy, you know, running the marathon. I gave it my all, my body is breaking down, don’t ask about the fatigue.”

Yes indeed he has given it his all. That is all you can ask.

Update: Seteng Ayele finished 69th in 2:30:07!

Marathon Gold

Men's Marathon Preview

This is a loaded marathon field. It normally takes pedigree to win the Olympics.

The top favorites:

• Luke Kibet (KEN) - 2007 World Champion in Osaka. Recovering after being hit in the head by a stone by post-elections rioters.

• Mubarak Hassan Shami (QAT) - Kenyan-born 2nd Place finisher 2007 in Osaka.

• Tsuyoshi Ogata (JPN) - 4th in 2007 and 3rd in 2004 WC. He is hoping for "terrible conditions," which means "humid enough that you feel like you're going to die" to slow down the pace.
  
  
• Stefano Baldini (ITL) - Defending Olympic champ says bring on the heat and humidity but is nursing a thigh injury. Says he runs 8000km/year
  
  
• Samuel Kamau Wanjiru (KEN) - Trains in Japan and is the record holder in the half-marathon record holder. Winner in Fukuoka and 2nd in London.
  
  
• Viktor Röthlin (SUI) - 3rd in Osaka. Should be there with the pack. Trained in Kenya for ten years. Trains with Martin Lel.
  
  
• Jaouad Gharib (MAR) - 2005 and 2003 World Champion. Solid champ.
  
  
• Abderrahim Goumri (MAR) – 3rd in Marathon debut in London 2:05:30!
  
  
• Martin Lel (KEN) – Prolific marathon winner. 1st in London has the second fastest time of the year behind Haile.
  
  
• Yared Asmerom (ERI) – 4th in Osaka, tough runner. Good medal chances.
  
  

Some of the dark horse include:

• Abderrahime Bouramdane (MAR) – 2nd in Boston but 25th in Osaka

• Ryan Hall (USA) – 5th in London ahead of Deriba Merga.

• Julio Rey (ESP) - Has the pedigree and Spanish runner do well in hot weather. He has a PB under 2:07.
  
  
• Satoshi Osaki (JPN) – 6th in Osaka.
  
  
• Samson Ramadhani (TAN) -5th place in Athens but 25th in Osaka. Has what it takes to medal but has not run a marathon since Osaka.
  
  
• Janne Holmén (FIN) – 9th in Osaka,. Slow runner with an outside shot if it is very hot.


• José Manuel Martínez :- 10th in Osaka, 9th in Athens and 2008 Winner in Madrid.

The Ethiopians:

Having watched how Gete Wami and Berhane Adere wilted in the streets of Beijing one can conclude that the preparation for the Beijing Olympics was totally inadequate. The Ethiopian prospects are poor. Even Haile picks Martin Lel to win.

If an Ethiopian win’s a medal it’s due to individual effort. Gashaw Asfaw’s 14th place finish was the top Ethiopian performance in Osaka. He is a very smart runner. Of the three Ethiopians he has the slowest PB. While not a medal pick his experience in Osaka and Hilsenki should help him.

Deriba Merga was 2nd in Fukuoka last December and 6th in London. He is a fine Marathoner and has the talent to run with the big boys but his inexperience and weather conditions could limit him. For sure, Ethiopia’s poor preparation will hurt him. To win a medal he will have to run a smart race.

The story among the Ethiopians is the amazing Tsegaye Kebede who continues to surprise even himself. He is was the winner in Paris this year in 2:06:40 in only his second international Marathon. In Paris this year, he shaved 1 ½ minutes off his Amsterdam début of 2:08:16. Like Deriba his inexperience and poor team preparation will hurt his chances. Tsegay Kebede is a natural and if he wins a medal it’s because of his superior talent. The last Ethiopian Marathon winner was also the Paris Marathon winner.

No need to get too excited about this race. One thing I am glad to see is the new talent. Having new talent does not hurt. Who can forget Gezahenge Abera’s and Tesfaye Tola’s run in 2000.


Any thoughts?

Men's 5,000 M Final

Two defeats by Hicham El Guerrouge have thought Kenenisa Bekele what he needed to know in this race. He did not fool around. He made the field run an honest 5,000. Bernard Lagat couldn't keep up with the pace and finished a distant 9th.

Kenenisa Bekele is not known for being a great tactical racer. He usually just out muscles the field. He may just have acquired that lost art by running an excellent disciplined race.


Two keys to the victory were:

- The Ethiopians pushed the pace early and kept increasing the pace winnowing the field down.

- Kenenisa accelerated with 400 to go rather than later in the last lap as he normally does. This took the sprint out of Soi.

Lot's of kudos to Tariku Bekele and Abreham Cherkos who did the early work. Despite the pacing work, Abreham Cherkos finished 5th. The future is bright for this budding 19 year-old.

Open Thread: Men's 5000M Fianl Live

Will Kenenisa achieve what Haile was not able to- winning the 5000-10000 double? WIll Kenenisa match Tirunesh and give Ethiopia the double-double? WILL KENENISA BECOME THE FIRST ETHIOPIAN WITH THREE OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALS??

Beijing 2008: Chasing Greatness

Haile Gebrselassie is widely considered the greatest distance runner in history. Two Olympic Gold Medals, four World Championship Gold Medals, 20+ World Records, and great acumen in racing are chief reasons among many why he has been given such title. Haile has accomplished so much in the last 15 years that it has been difficult to imagine anyone ever outshining him.

For all that Haile has accomplished, there are some things Haile was not able to do, and for anyone that aspires to beat Haile in the race for the title of “the Greatest Ever,” there are opportunities to build resume even more impressive than Haile’s. Today’s 5000M race presents one such opportunity for Kenenisa Bekele. Haile was never able to achieve the revered 5000-10000 double at the Olympics. In the 100+ year history of the modern Olympics, five men and one woman runner have achieved this distinction, the latest coming from Tirunesh Dibaba yesterday.

Kenenisa has the opportunity today to distinguish himself further by achieving something that has eluded even the great Haile. And there is more. If Kenenisa was to win the 5000, he will have earned something that puts him head and shoulders above all the great Ethiopian runners of the past, including Abebe Bikila: OWNING THREE OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALS!

Maybe it was an Ethiopian sweep after all

Three Ethiopian-born runners on the podium.

Let there be Peace

Women's 5,000 M Final- What a race

This was a super-ridiculous slow pace. Tirunesh won it in 15:41.40. For perspective, the NCAA Division I Champion won in 15:15.08. It’s crazy to run at this speed at this level. At this pace all bets are off. It's anyone's game.

The slow pace was dangerous as Meseret Defar tripped and almost crashed. The slow pace also opened the hole Elvan Abeylegesse exploited.

Nonetheless, this was a thrilling race to watch. Meseret Defar and Tirunsh Dibaba played cat and mouse until Tirunesh had had enough and pushed the pace with about 3 laps to go. Later Elvan injected pace but most of the pack covered. During the last lap Tirunesh broke early for gold but Meseret was sitting behind her. It looked as if Meseret was about to explode in a sprint. Instead with 2,40 to go she dropped off a bit. That is when Tirunesh exploded in a sprint and opened a huge gap and kept going. Meseret gave it all she had but did not have the stuff to match Tirunesh. She faded and Elvan Abeylegesse caught her around the bend.

Ladies and gentlemen Tirunesh has made history. She is the double gold medalist. No one could have beat her today.

Hat's of for Meseret's effort. It looked as if something was not right with her. Had she been going for silver it would have been a cake walk. Tirunesh is a champion. Meseret can’t be disappointed with her effort.

Elvan Abeylegesse ran a hard and smart race to maximize results from opportunities. She is in great shape.

Meselech Melkamu disappointed finishing 8th but she was in the mix with 300 to go.

The surprise was that the Kenyans were so passive and ended up getting slaughtered. Even more surprising was that the Russian Liliya Shobukhova did not push the pace or that Gulnara Samitova-Galkina who slowed the pace early was not in the mix at the end. But nether had a chance.

Look for the 10,000 M World Record to fall. At 22, Tirunesh is already among the greatest long distance runner of all times. If she keeps this up she will surpass Haile.

Open Thread: Women's 5,000 M Final Live

We are in for a treat. The race starts at 8:40 am EST. If anyone knows of a working live stream please post the link it in the comments area.

Women's 5000 Final Preview

The big question is if it is possible to beat Tirunesh Dibaba or Meseret Defar? Are there any holes that can be exploited? Opposing coach do not have many options. These women are faster than the rest of the pack so a fast race will work to their advantage. Both runners have magnificent speed at the end so a slow race will also work to their advantage. So what chance is there? Almost none, but a couple of tiny cracks exist.


Since Tirunesh and Meseret are desperate to win, each will be preserving their energy for the last lap. Neither will want to do the work of leading the pack. One exploit a 1,500 M runner can carryout (with a lot of luck) is to hope for and work to keep the pace very slow, around 15:00 minutes. This runner then would turn the race into a 1,500 M race by springing a surprise sprint. To pull this off the runner would need explosive speed. None of the runners in the finals have explosive speed over 1,500 M. If it’s a ridiculously slow race, look for Gulnara Samitova-Galkina of Russia to try to take advantage. This is a nearly impossible task for her to pull off since she does not have the explosive speed required to open a sudden gap. In addition, the slow pace will be against the interest of several kick-deficient runners who will work to keep the pace moving.

The other risk is if Vivian Cheruiyot of Kenya is allowed to linger near the end. It is possible that she can make a sudden move while the two favorites play cat and mouse. Vivian Cheruiyot is the silver medalist in Osaka and has excellent all around skills. She is the third fastest runner and has great closing speed. If Tirunesh and Meseret are not careful they may give her an opportunity. For Vivian Cheruiyot to beat either one of these fine runners it will require a large amount of hubris and neglect on the part of the Ethiopian runners.

Only two women have ever run faster than faster than 14:22. There is a 10 second gap between the two and the rest of the field. Tirunesh Dibaba (14:11.2) and Meseret Defar (14:12.9) have run their personal best this year. Obviously, Tirunesh Dibaba and Meseret Defar are in a league of their own. One can view the 5,000 M final as two races. One race is between Tirunesh and Meseret and the other race is for the bronze.

Let’s start with the race for the bronze medal.

The lack of diversity in representation in the 5,000 is surprising. Ethiopia, Kenya and USA have three runners each. Turkey and Russia have two each while China and Canada each have one finalist. The Chinese and Canadian have little chance of keeping up with the rest and in all likelihood will have little if any impact on the outcome of the race. For the most part you can view the battle for the bronze medal as a battle between teams. Here is the run down of the team outlooks.


Kenya
Two Kenyans (Priscah Cherono and Vivian Cheruiyot) have very good closing kicks. The Kenyans probably would love a slow race where they can out kick the field with the exception of Meseret and Tirunesh of course. In a slow race they could even take a shot at sliver if either Tirunesh or Meseret sputters at the end. However, they will find themselves in trouble if they go for gold in a race that is too fast for them. Just on talent, Kenya should be favored to win the bronze. In Osaka Kenya took 2-3-4 behind Meseret Defar.

Turkey
In the 10,000 M last Friday, Elvan Abeylegesse found herself between a rock and a hard place. There was not much she could do against Tirunesh. This time she is in between two rocks and a hard place. There is not much she can do. Four years removed from her best 5,000 time of 14:24.7 (which is 12 seconds slower than Mesert’s time of this year) she would have found herself between two rocks and a hard place even at her peak in 2004.

Since Alemitu Bekele does not look to challenge in a fast race Turkey may use her as a rabbit during the first half. Once Alemitu is consumed Elvan will keep pushing in an attempt to drop most of the runners. Elvan’s only hope for a medal is to be part of a lead pack of three with Meseret and Tirunesh. If she is able to do that she then gets the bronze without having to sprint at the end. Unfortunate for her, the mind may be willing but the body may not be able to do this. Four runners are faster than Elvan at the 5,000. Meseret, Tirunesh, Vivian Cheruiyot (KEN) and Liliya Shobukhova (RUS). It may turn out that Elvan my not be able to reduce the pack to less than five runners. She may do all the work and be left in the dust. Still, having run under 30 minutes in the 10,000 she should be considered a serious thereat.

While Elvan has no need for a slow race, Alemitu Bekele may benefit from a slow. Alemitu's times are not good but have been getting better. Alemitu also has decent sprint speed. If the pace is slow, look for her to try to sneak in for a medal.

USA
The three runners will not pay a whole lot of attention to what the other runners are doing. They will run at their pace. They are realistic and will be working for the bronze. If the race is slower than their pace look for them lead. They are good at pacing themselves so you will not see these runners lead early only to crash and burn late. Shalane Flanagan ran an outstanding run in the 10,000 M where at the end she caught two Kenyan runners that were spent while trying to capture an improbable gold. The Kenyans looked helpless as she passed them by. Smart running makes the US a legitimate contender for the bronze. Shalane Flanagan must have gotten a confidence boost from the 10,000 as her racing tactics have been affirmed with results. This makes her dangerous.

Russia
Liliya Shobukhova would like a fast race. Her only chance at a medal is by dropping the Kenyan runners before it gets down to a sprint. Look for her to set a fast pace. The combination of Liliya and Elvan could produce a scorching pace.

On the other hand Olympic 3,000 Steeplechase champ Gulnara Samitova-Galkina would prefer a very slow race (14:55 +). She has good 1,500 M speed and can compete with the Kenyans if it comes down to a 1,5000. She has chance to medal if the Kenyans fall apart after going for gold.


Team Meselech Melkamu
Meselech is a long shot to medal. In all likelihood she will finish anywhere from 4th to 7th. There are six runners that have better times at this event. Two Kenyans, one Russian and even Elvan have better closing speed than Meselech. Meselech has had a good 2008 and it seems like her career is back on track. She has a chance to medal is if she somehow keeps up with the other two Ethiopians as they make a break from the pack. To do that she will need to run the race of her life.


Don’t look for a sweep. If Ethiopia was unable to sweep the Men’s 10,000 a sweep hear is very unlikely. The favorites for bronze have got to be the Kenyans.


As for the big race (Meseret vs. Tirunesh), both are in top form. Both have something to prove. Both will not cave in. It’s an epic battle of wills. An analysis of their past head-to-head races reveals no favorite - it only shows that they are evenly matched. It’s hard to pick one over the other. It’s hard to not pick both to win it.

But here is my prediction (and this is a wild guess)

If it’s a slow race 14:52 or slower look for Mesert Defar to win at the tape.
If it’s a fast race, faster tan 14:33 look for Tirunesh Dibaba to win by a whisker.


Good luck to both. Either way Ethiopia wins. Women’s running has come a long way.



Runners World Preview of the 5,000 M Final

Women's 1,500 M - Huge Disappointment!

In what must be the biggest disappointment, Gelete Burka fails to qualify for the finals. What is stunning is that she was never close to qualifying. She finished 5th more than 2 seconds behind the last qualifier in her heat. Her time of 4:15.77 is very slow for someone that has run under 4:00. Gelete was picked by some to win the gold. I never bought that. She was way too inconsistent. Her focus on the 5,000 M did not help her. She has a history of choking in the big races. This time she took it to a diffrent level.

The fact that this embarrassing defeat happened at this stage (after she has been established) will have a huge physiological impact. Confidence is the material champions are made of. She probably will never realize her potential. Gelete will continue make money on the track circuit (you don't have to win to make money) but she most likely will never win an Olympic medal. She will never be a champion. What a waste of talent.

Meskerem Assefa, was a token entry and come in 11th. That is not a suprise. You reap what you sow.

We can conclude that the 1,500 has been a huge disappointment. Some changes have to be made. the sooner the better. To have success in the 1,500 M it must be taken seriously.

Women's 1,500 M Heats Preview

Unlike the men, two qualification heats (heats and semi-finals), the women have to pass though just one qualification heat. Ethiopia had entered four runners (three runners and an alternate) but just two will be running in the heats.Gelete Burka and Meskerem Assefa. The other two entries were steeplechase runners, Mekdes Bekele and Zemzem Ahmed. These two had never ran the 1,500 internationally. It's hard to understand why the were entered in the first place.

I find it astounding that Ethiopia is unable to field three runners in this event. When it comes to the 1,500 M the Federation seems completely lost. It always confuses it with other races. This is not the 5, 000 and this is not the Steeplechase! This is the 1,500 M!

Ethiopia has an abundance of talent at this distance. Case and point, Maryam Yusuf Jamal who now runs for Bahrain. Maryam Yusuf Jamal who claims to have been mismanaged while running for Ethiopia is the prohibitive favorite in this race. Talented Gelete Burka has also been mismanaged by being entered in one too many 5,000 M races and a slew of cross-country races. While one can never question Meseret Defar’s results in the 5,000 M, my suspicion is that she probably would have been as good or better at the 1,500 M. Others include Kutre Dulecha (Bronze in 1999 World Championships and now a marathon runner) and Mestawot Tadesse who has disappeared. And finally, who can forget the immortal Alem Techale, 2003 World Junior champion. She would have be 21 and in her prime. The country is loaded with talent. The Federation needs to learn how to harness the abundant talent. The 1,500 M must be taken seriously. In addition an 800 M program goes hand in hand with a 1,500 M and should be part of any 1,500 M program development. Ethiopia needs to stop trying to sweep races and instead it should expand event participation.

The women have a trail that that can follow. It was blazed by Kutre Dulecha who was a silver medalist in the 1999 World Championships. She went on to finish 4th in Sydney in 2000. Unlike Gelete, Kurte was never entered into 5000M events. Gelete is one of the finest athletes in the 1,500 and she should easily qualify. Gelete is considered a medal contender. Meskerem Assefa was 12th in her heat in Athens four years ago. Her times are not great. She will find it will be hard for her to advance, but she can always surprise us.

Look for Gelete in the finals.

Men's 5,000 M Heats

Anyone watch this? I was not able to do so.

All three easily qualified. So did Alemayehu Bezabeh of Spain. From looking at the results it looks like the Ethiopians were laying low, all three finishing 3rd. I am surprised that Kenenisa Bekele finished third. It's something he hates doing even in heats.

Rashid Ramzi winner of the 1,500 in Beijing did not run in his heat. He would have been one of the favorites.

The loud-mouth Australian Craig Mottram did not make it to the finals.

Mohammed Farah Britain's great hope also failed to qualify.

Finally, my sentimental favorite, Soe Min Thu finished dead last in a time of 15:50.56. Two minutes and 13 seconds after the finisher and a minute and half after the guy in front of him. This is the Olympics. If you are here you finish. Some names come to mind Gete Wami, Berhane Adere and Mestewat Tufa... Enough said.

From Homeless in Madrid to Olympics in Beijing

The story of twenty one year-old (he guesses his age) Alemayehu Bezabeh Desta is heartbreaking yet elating. Like most of us he left Ethiopia to make something of himself. In his case he wanted to do it by running. It was not that easy.

He had no papers and struggled to survive For a while he slept in Bravo Murillo, in Madrid and ate at mission soup kitchens for the homeless. A priest at the mission helped him apply for political asylum. The priest also contacted an African refugee assistance group called Karibu.

Karibu put him in contact with another Ethiopian who living in Madrid. The other athlete, Fekadu Bekele, introduced him to his club. The club in Madrid is called Bikila, like in Abebe Bikila. The club was amazed at his talent level and he has progressed quickly. In July of this year he was granted Spanish citizenship. He had to run a race to qualify for the Olympics which he easily did. His talent level is such that he is already threatening the Spanish record.

This in short is the story of Alemayehu Bezabeh Desta. From the streets of Madrid to the the Olympics in just months. He says he would like to repay Spain with a medal. He is in the 5,000 Heat with Tariku Bekele.