National stride

By Adrian Walker, Globe Columnist January 29, 2007

Mesele Kifle is a big figure in Boston's Ethiopian community, and especially on its sports scene.

So there was only one place for him to spend this past Saturday night -- the Reggie Lewis Track in Roxbury at the Reebok Boston Indoor Games.

To track and field insiders, the meet, which boasted highly ranked runners from around the world, is a major stop on the indoor track circuit. It was broadcast on ESPN, the ultimate sports-world validation.

It means something different, though, to a man like Kifle, the president of the Boston Ethiopian Sports Club. Kifle, 55, came to Boston decades ago to attend college and, to his surprise, never left. For him and his associates, the meet is a huge occasion of community pride and a source of a sometimes-elusive unity.

"People are divided, with different ideas about politics and religion, but sports gives us national unity," Kifle said. "When we see the runners, we have a special feeling."

The Reggie was awash in emotion during the meet. Ethiopian flags were out in abundance, as were the national colors. Those who had come out to cheer their country's finest runners had plenty to cheer about, starting with the performance of Tirunesh Diruba .

The world record holder in the women's 5,000 meters, she brought the crowd to its feet by leaving her so-called competitors in her distant wake. Among those finishing far, far behind her was her sister, Ejegayehu . The Ethiopians would get their next chance to cheer when Meseret Defar easily took first place in the women's 3,000 meters -- to the delight of a huge cheering section at the finish line.

Diruba later said she enjoys running in Boston, mainly because of the fans. "It's like running in Ethiopia," she said through a translator. "People here have lots of love for me, and I can feel that."

The love affair between the local Ethiopian community and the nation's runners dates back for years. When Fatuma Roba won three consecutive Boston Marathons in the late 1990s, it was common for her fans to jump on the course and run alongside her for moral support. They didn't keep up for long, but a tradition was born.

Kifle, not surprisingly, was usually among those who would try to run a piece of the marathon alongside Roba. "When it comes to these kinds of things, I get very emotional."

He and others said that emotion comes from the connection that it gives to home. Next to soccer, track is the country's great athletic pastime. The dominance of the country's runners gives a relatively low-profile community here something to stand up and cheer. Tickets to the Reebok Games get snatched up early, with sales spurred by word-of-mouth in convenience stores and restaurants.

Kifle didn't know he would become an American when he moved to the United States. He attended Bunker Hill Community College and Boston State College. He thought he would spend perhaps five years in the States before returning home. But while he was away, the emperor, Haile Selassie, was deposed in a military coup, changing Ethiopia utterly. He has been back to visit only a few times since, most recently just a few weeks ago. Kifle said he saw a country that was little like he remembered it.

"Everything -- the poverty is different, the unemployment is different. There is a lot of poverty," he said. "But the people are the same. Eventually, I'm going to end up there."
Kifle Alemu, 30, became a high school track star at Boston English High after moving here from Ethiopia. He and a friend were videotaping the meet at trackside. "This is special for Ethiopian people," Alemu said.

Mesele Kifle said he would probably be traveling to other meets in Washington and New York in the next couple of weeks. He is not alone among Ethiopians who like to travel the track-and-field circuit. He lives for this. "I like to see us win," he said.

Adrian Walker is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at walker@globe.com.

Record in Boston

As promised the Reebok Boston Indoor Games was a great event. With Tirunesh Dibaba shattering her 5000 M World Indoor Record by get this - five and a half seconds. Tirunesh herself was surprised by the margin. The full story is at IAAF. Running with a cold, Meseret Defar was not as lucky in breaking the 3000 M record. She ended up winning the race but had to be helped off the field. I don't know how many of you have run with a cold but it is a dangerous thing to do because the reparatory system is being taken to the extreme. Best wishes to Meseret who gave it all her best and congratulations to Tirunesh.

Asleep at the Wheel

Last weekend was a busy weekend for running. We have been asleep at the wheel here at Roocha.net. But while we were dozing off, roocha never stops, so others have picked up the slack and helped us out. We received the following email from Gedeonsharew who was at the Scotland Great Edinburgh Cross Country event and wached Kenenisa, in basketball shorts, destroy the field. With many thanks to Gedeonsharew and with his permission we are positing his email.

Hi guys,

Allow me to invoke my bragging rights having watched this at the venue.

www.iaaf.org/WXC07/news/Kind=2/newsId=37222.html

As cross country events go, it was an open field with just a single strip of loose rope on either side of the winding and undulating 9km route separating the runners from the spectators. It was like watching golf, as enthusiasts like me (and of course several others) were able to scurry around the middle of the winding course to catch a good view at every turn except when the runners disappear behind the hill for a short portion of the route.

I actually got so excited half way thru, me and a couple of other guys waited for the leading pack to turn the corner and then started running right along side them (on the outside of the rope of course) for a few seconds, me with my huge bandira blowing high up (in the hope of being picked up by the live BBC camera feed). It was actually more like a blur because to my horror I found the speed at which the likes of Kenenisa, Zeresenay, Kipchoge... gallop tough the muddy and hilly course, is faster than my full speed sprint and this is just midway before they start picking up real speed.

Anyway, it was truly breathtaking to see a reportedly "not fully fit" Kenenisa bursting up and down the course with unbelievable ease and energy. The man is quite small (not very thin even at his ideal weight). When you look at him up close while he is burning the course, the confident face, the jutting chest, the amazingly long strides (I couldn't stretch my strides that wide for a long jump), the way he seems to lightly bounce off the ground each time he lands a foot, the perfect rhythm, the devastating finishing speed... was exhilarating to watch. The race probably would have been wildly exciting if Zeresenay didn't run out of steam but instead held on for a sprint finish.

Zeresenay who is shorter but slightly stockier was constantly a step ahead or behind of Kenenisa throughout most of the race and actually towards the beginning of the last lap tried to lead. It was to no avail as Kenenisa easily shot past him and continued to widen his lead to the finish. Zeresenay is a bit stooped and seems to bury his head in his shoulders (as opposed to Kenenisa's front-jutting) and therefore not too stylish of runner, but definitely a strong and very talented athlete who now seems second only to Kenenisa.

Kenenisa's face and body is very fresh and young and leaves no doubt that he is not a day older than his official 24 years. Zeresenay has one of those rugged ageless faces like Haile Gebreslassie’s, and could lead you to think that he can be anywhere between 20 to 55.

The women's race was similarly exciting. Gelete Burka who has a very strong, fast and wide stride, never seemed in doubt of winning. She ran like a rocket with her head and body leaning out front in an angle. Like Kenenisa, she won very comfortably and her victory never seemed in doubt after the first few laps.

There were about twenty five Ethio types from Edinburgh/Glasgow and about a hundred or so very boisterous Eritreans mostly from London. The atmosphere among the two groups was very friendly and civilized through out. Prior to the start of the race, I almost created an incident when my bandira was blown out of my hand by the gale force wind, and of all places landed a few hundred feet away right smack in the middle of Eritrean bandirawoch held high by a group of singing and dancing Zeresenay tifozowoch (and Hailesilassie yimut it was totally unintended). I mean the bandira made a few very wide arcs above the huge field and it probably had a chance of one in a thousand to land on the Eritreans, and that is exactly what it did. Anyhow, at first, I saw some in the Eritrean crowd with a bewildered look, then a frowning and questioning look toward the small Ethiopian crowd I was with. Thankfully, a young pretty girl ran across field and delivered the flag to us to my great relief, it seems like just plain kind heartedness and/or camaraderie in a foreign land took over. Imagine how bad I would have felt if some sort of fracas broke out as a result - especially when the fact that the bandira’s air trip was accidental and not plausible. I think one of the good things is a lot of the crowd on both sides (and I think increasingly in many public gatherings in the general Diaspora) are youngish under 30s who have so much less baggage and hang-ups.

The small Edinburgh/Glasgow Habesha community who seem to have a loose network had organized a dinner and dance party afterwards to honor the athletes and also to have a belated Habesha Gena party. We had a great party well into the wee hours.

Gedeonsharew

If you enjoy Gedeonsharew's report drop him an appriciation comment.

More on Tariku

Additional articles have rolled off the press regarding tomorrow's R 'n' R Arizona Marathon. They do make mention of Tariku and it almost sounds like he is considered as the favorite to win. I did get the chance to speak to Tariku several times from Arizona, and earlier this evening I have passed good wishes for the race. Incidentally, I am quite impressed with the organizers of the race as they seem to be taking good care of the athletes. In particular, Mr. Mike Long, who is the elite athlete coordinator, has been very helpful in establishing contact with Tariku.

If anyone in the Phoenix area can provide updates from local news outlets as the race progresses, it will be greatly appreciated. Please send e-mail to roocha2@gmail.com.

The race will be televised at a later date as follows:

The 2007 P.F. Chang’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Arizona Marathon & ½ Marathon will be televised locally on FOX Channel 10, and nationally on FOX Sports Net. Times and dates are subject to change so please check your local listings.
National Broadcast on Fox Sports: January 27th at 6:00pm MST*
Local Broadcast on Fox Channel 10: Sunday, January 28th at 3:00 pm MST

When You See a Mess

When you see a mess you know a mess and here is a mess.

Last November, claiming that it was acting on evidence that surfaced in the criminal case of convicted East German coach Thomas Springstein, Germany's Athletics Federation (DLV) filed a complaint against Hermens and Spanish doctor Miguel Angel Peraita.

Last month, denying wrongdoing and claiming damage to his reputation, Jos Hermens the agent for 39 Ethiopian athletes including Haile Gebreslassie’s and Kenenisa Bekele, filed a slander suit against the German Athletics Federation (DVL) President Clemens Prokop.

The central figure in this mess is the former East German coach Thomas Springstein who was sentenced to 16 months in prison last year for giving a banned substance to minors he had been coaching. Hermens is the former manager of two German athletes coached by this convict. It appears that Jos Hermens name surfaced in the court documents during this trial. The two athletes are former 800m Olympic champion Nils Schumann and former world 400m relay champion Grit Breuer. The more controversial of the two is 34 year-old Grit Breuer, a former East German athlete and girlfriend of the convicted coach Springstein. She was the 200M World Indoor Championship in 1991 and a medalist at the Olympics and World Championships in the 4x100m relay. In 1992 she received a two year ban for taking a performance-enhancing substance and got in trouble again in 2004 for skipping a drug test. She faced a lifetime ban for a skipped drug test but managed to get cleared on a technicality.

The DVL accuses Hermens of sending three athletes to Dr. Peraita. Hermens said he recommended Peraita to the German athletes because he believed some of the Spanish doctor's methods, which included homeopathy, were revolutionary.

Last summer cycling experience a huge doping scandal that damaged the credibility of the sport. OnJuly, 1 2006The Washington post reported :

The Tour de France, the legendary three-week bicycle race that is one of Europe's most popular sporting events, was rocked by a major drug scandal on Friday -- the day before the race was scheduled to begin -- that forced several of the top competitors to withdraw, including favorites Jan Ullrich of Germany and Ivan Basso of Italy.

Cycling analysts described the burgeoning doping scandal -- which centers on a sports doctor in Madrid who allegedly helped dozens of riders with performance-enhancing blood doping -- as the worst to ever hit the sport. They said that it could claim more Tour riders before the race is finished July 23 -- or even before it starts Saturday morning in the French Alsatian city of Strasbourg. Johan Bruyneel, coach of the Discovery Channel team that was headed by seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong until his retirement last year, said the ongoing Spanish drug probe "is probably the biggest doping scandal in cycling and maybe even in sports ever.

According to this Spiegel Magazine, for years Spain has been considered a paradise for athletes open to doping. That piece of doping paradise was not limited to cyclist. Dr. Miguel Angel Peraita and the East German convict were a part of this paradise.

The first reports about compliant doctors and well-equipped laboratories began making the rounds in the track and field world in the late 1990s. The suspicion that a network had developed in this environment was confirmed last year when the police staged a spectacular coup against the drug cartel. In a series of raids on the Spanish mainland, as well as on the Canary and Balearic Islands, police secured 10 tons of illegal doping products.

Since the trial of former sprint trainer Thomas Springstein in Germany, anti-doping activists there, like Heidelberg cell biologist Werner Franke, have openly referred to the so-called "Spanish connection." In March, a court in Magdeburg gave the eastern German track and field coach a 16-month suspended sentence for supplying drugs to minors. The investigation had revealed that Springstein was regularly in contact with Miguel Angel Peraita, a Madrid physician.

During a search of Springstein's home, the police seized a folder containing faxes and email printouts. In some emails, Springstein, whose screen name was "Top.speed," inquired about advances in genetic doping. In others, he asked Peraita (screen name "Top Doc") for his views on the respective advantages of testosterone creams and insulin injections.

Germany's National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) in Bonn now has portions of this incriminating file at its disposal and is trying to uncover links between Fuentes and Peraita, whose medical practice is located on Madrid's Calle Fernández de la Hoz -- just a few steps from Fuentes's apartment and Merino Batres's blood laboratory.

About sending athletes to Dr. Peraita, Jos Hermens said:

I was maybe a little dumb, I should have asked more questions about what Peraita exactly does.

It may have been dumb mistake but it’s something you just wish Hermens never did. The stink surrounding these German athletes is seriously threatening his livelihood and reputation. The most confusing thing is why would such a well respected agent send the East German convict's girlfriend (Grit Breuer) who herself was a cheat to Dr. Peraita the doper. This is the wrong crowd for him to have anything to do with. All this does not look good but the fact of the mater remains that the evidence against him is still slim.

The current evidence isn't enough to press doping charges against high-profile agent Jos Hermens and a Spanish doctor, the investigating district attorney said Wednesday.

But Rudolf Jaspers said his Magdeburg office will investigate the allegations of trafficking in banned substances brought against Miguel Angel Peraita and Hermens, whose clients include long-distance greats Haile Gebreslassie and Kenenisa Bekele.
The German Athletics Federation, which filed a criminal complaint Monday, bases its doping allegations on court documents from the trial of Thomas Springstein, a German coach sentenced to four months for providing a banned substance to a minor.

"We have hints in the e-mails between Springstein and Peraita, but nothing that specifies amounts or where they (drugs) were transported," Jaspers told the Associated Press. "That will not be enough to build a case." Jaspers said his office may appeal to Spanish and Dutch authorities for help in the investigation. It's also not clear if any wrongdoing falls under German jurisdiction.

Unfortunately, the problem is not legal but a problem of preception. Joe Hermes is an agent who is regarded as the best of the best in the business. It’s unfortunate when such an incident hoovers around a good guy like him.

Hermens does much more than negotiate financial deals for these athletes. "Jos had done everything for me, not only in running," says Gebrselassie, the two-time Olympic 10,000m champion. "He is doing everything. For example my brother was in [the] hospital in Holland. Jos is looking after him."

"I never see him as [a] manager," says Gebrselassie. "Always he looks like a brother or a father and son."

And there is more...

For his athlete family, he is willing to assist wherever necessary in their lives. Occasionally his duties include such diverse tasks as shipping farm implements from Europe to Africa on behalf of enterprising athletes.

In September 2004, Hermens even sought out the best doctors for Gebrselassie and his friend, 2000 Olympic marathon champion Gezehegne Abera, in Helsinki. Abera is not even one of his clients. Hermens wanted, however, to ensure he was also in capable medical hands.

I believe Joe Hermes is innocent. The problem here is that every news article that covers this issue also mentions our record shattering athletes Haile Gebreslassie’s and Kenenisa Bekele. This places two of the hardest working athletes under a cloud of suspicion without an ounce of evidence. Anytime an athlete dominates there are suspicions and it is the athlete’s responsibility to stay clear of anything that may create a controversy. Lance Armstrong’s career has been dogged with doping allegations without any evidence and his legacy is somewhat tarnished based just perception. I personally have always been suspicious of Paula Radcliff and I have no evidence for that. Therefore, I can’t blame anyone for being suspicious of Ethiopian athletes given how dominant they have been. We may think our athletes are special but not everyone thinks like we do. The good news is that Ethiopian athletics has been one of the cleanest in the world of sports. It is unfortunate that Jos Hermen’s second tier German athletes could tarnish the hard earned reputation of our heroes and for that matter the reputation of our country.

This is something you would hope have never happened. This is a mess. There will be no winners.

Watch Out for Tariku

NOT Tariku Bekele, Kennenisa’s younger brother, who has recently stepped up to the major league of running, not that Tariku… watch out for Tariku Aboset! Who in the world is Tariku Aboset? I will tell you in a minute, but first…

One of the most enjoyable things about running for me is to talk to other runners about it. I find that runners are always (well, almost always) happy and positive people. Runners are pleasant to talk to and there is no end to conversations that runners can have when they become acquainted to one another.

Being the introvert person that I am, I very rarely engage into conversation with total strangers whenever I fly. I like to keep to myself- curious thing for someone writing an open blog. Anyway, on one occasion when I was flying from Washington to Atlanta, I was somehow having a small talk with the passenger next to me even before the plane pushed back from the gate. The conversation quickly switched to the topic of running, which we both were very interested in, and we talked about running all the way until the plane landed in Atlanta.

Conversations with runners are always pleasant before and after races. Even during races, conversations that last many miles are often struck up with total strangers. Conversations about running are even more enjoyable when it is with someone I already know.

So it was the case in 2001, when I last visited Ethiopia, that I met some of my relatives that I had not met previously. It was Tariku Aboset and one of his brothers. I had heard over the years that Tariku was a pretty good runner who trained very diligently. But no one could tell me exactly how good Tariku’s running talent was. So when I finally met Tariku, we spent sometime talking about running. I had a million and one question about training and running in Ethiopia. At the time, Tariku already had some exposure to Ethiopian elite athletes so I was able to hear about how they trained and prepared for some of the major races. He also told me his time for 10K but I didn’t know what to make of it. The fact that Addis Ababa is 9000ft above sea level makes it a difficult place to run. So it was impossible to gauge how good a runner someone is solely based on his time run at altitude in Addis. Is a 30min 10K in Addis equivalent to a 27 min 10K at sea level?

Anyway, I was impressed with Tariku’s talent and dedication to his training, but considering all the running talent that Ethiopia has, I felt it would be a long shot to rise to the top and race internationally. Upon returning to the US, I did some research and contacted some people to see if I can find any way to offer him some help. None of the leads I had were promising and my mind slowly drifted away and went back to my regular routine. I still kept hearing that Tariku was training hard with very little resources he had.

Fast forward to January 10, 2007. I was reading through an article about the upcoming P. F. Chang’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Arizona Marathon scheduled for this coming Sunday January 14. The article talked about how the winners from the last two years (both Ethiopians) will be running again this year. It then went on to say that the past champions will be facing a newcomer who has been keeping pace with Haile Gebrselassie in training and is expected to be a “powerful contender” at the marathon on Sunday. I was not prepared for the sentence that followed:

“Tariku Aboset, 24, from Ethiopia is the newcomer and though his marathon prowess is yet to be proven on a certified race course, his counterparts will be well-aware of his presence on race day.”

Whoa! I re-read it just to make sure. And then I started arguing with myself.

“Could it be the Tariku?”
“No, I would have known about it ahead of time.”
“But then the name is unmistakable and it is not even misspelled.”
“There is only one way to confirm.”

So I made a quick phone call here in the US and then another to Ethiopia. Tariku’s brother in Ethiopia confirmed to me it was indeed him.

I was simply stunned to see how far Tariku’s dedication has brought him. I felt so happy about his success, but also felt ashamed that I had not done more for him when I returned back to the US after I met him five years ago.

My direct contact with Tariku was obviously over a short time period but family members tell me that he is always a very pleasant person to be around. He is a person of faith and unbelievable work ethic. Tariku’s determination to consistently train himself, despite very limited resources, has obviously paid off.

Come Sunday, I will be eagerly waiting to see how well Tariku’s debut marathon turns out. I believe he has picked a good race to run. It appears that P. F. Chang’s Rock ‘n’ Roll marathon has recently become a destination of choice for Ethiopian elite athletes. This year’s elite field contains seven Ethiopian men (including Tariku) and four Ethiopian women. You will also remember that this is the same race where Haile Gebrselassie set a half-marathon world record last year. I hope Tariku will find similar success on Sunday. As I conclude, I would like to leave you with a quote from Abraham Lincoln that Tariku’s story has reminded me of:

“You can have anything you want, if you want it badly enough. You can be anything you want to be, do anything you set out to accomplish if you hold to that desire with singleness of purpose.”

Abraham Lincoln

Duel in Boston

Tirunesh Dibaba and Mesert Defar, aka The Duelling Ds , face off at the 12th Reebok Boston Indoor Games in Boston on Jan 27. The two will be attempting to break the 3000 meter indoor record. Mesert Defar is the defending world 3000 meter champion and Tirunesh holds the 3000 meter indoor record.It should be a great race since both women have plenty of incentive to win this race. It's not often that us folk on this side of the Atlantic get an opportunity to catch such action. Don't miss this chance if you can help it.

Bahrain Sendoff

Just a month after my Bahrain Calling blog entry I did not expect to blog about Bahrain giving up an athlete. But that indeed has happend. The opportunity presented itself with the folly of former Kenyan Leonard Mucheru who morphed to Mushir Salem Jawher of Bahrain only to be striped of his Bahraini citizenship last week and now is stateless and stuck with his Bahraini name.

The story is that Mushir Salem Jawher in his greed committed a crime entering Israel by using his Kenyan passport which he should have surrendered in 2003, when he became a Bahrain citizen. After winning the Tiberias marathon in Israel, he was striped of his Bahraini citizenship, when officials of his new country where embarrassed to find out that a citizen of the Arab country had run a Marathon in Israel. I suppose there is no place like home-sweet-home because last reports on the where about of the stateless runner were that he was hiding in Kenya, afraid of arrest by Kenyan immigration officials for his passport violation. Over the last two days, the IAAF has been working to help this fellow and the IAAF has enlisted Kenyan Athletics Federation in an attempt to help him regain his Kenyan Citizenship. The final decision rests with Kenyan Immigration. You can't help but feel sorry for this dude.

I am glad to say that Ethiopia has not produced such fools. I hope this dude's ordeal serves as an example. While on this subject, I wanted to evaluate the magnitude of this trend in defections. So I went looking for numbers.

What I found was that it's almost impossible to know the number in a broad sense so to find useful numbers one must take a narrow interpretation of the term "change of allegiance". The only useful statistics that I found were kept by the IAAF which tracks when an athlete who has represented a country changes allegiance. Athletes that have never represented their country of origin such as Maryam Yusuf Jamal are not tracked by the IAAF. While the number of athletes that have competed for their country of origin and changed allegiance is limited they represent a heavy investment by the country of origin and defections are significant events. The data in the chart below is for allegiance changes since 1998. Data prior to 1998 is not available and even if it were available I am not sure it would be very useful.




United States, Great Britain, France, Russia and Canada appear on both sides of the chart indicating ease of mobility and the transient nature of allegiance in these counties. So the net loss and gain numbers are more useful are represented in the next chart.



As expected, the countries with the most losses are African nations followed by former Eastern Block nations. Drilling down on Ethiopia, lets take a look at our former athletes. When, who and to where?



Turkey and Great Britain are the top destinations for elite Ethiopian athletes and 1998 was a pretty bad year with 5 athletes changing allegiance. In fact, if we take out 1998 we find that Ethiopia hasn’t lost more than two athletes in any given year.

The following graph has the complete trend line and a comparison of Ethiopian (red) with Kenya(gray) and Morocco(green.)





What is clear is that while we (Ethiopia) lose some athletes there is no mass exodus similar to what Ethiopia experienced in 1998 or what Kenya has recently experienced. Let's hope it stays that way.

Melkam Genna

Enkuan LeBrhane Lidetu Bedehna Aderesachu- Merry Ethiopian Christmas to all. As you celebrate, make sure you do not leave out any of these steps.

Haile in the News

Haile in the news? "What's news about that?" you say, "he is always in the news." Well, this time he is not in the news for running... or organizing a race, or acting, or any of the things he has done in the past. Haile is in the news for politics! Yes, that dirty eight letter word, politics.

You think he read Roocha's earlier post on Running for Office?? Fat chance. Anyway, Haile (killer name for a politician!) apparently has been supplementing his recovery activity from Fukuoka Marathon with some under-the-radar political mediation. Some of the Ethiopian online news outlets and blogs such as Ethiopian Media Forum and Seminawork are reporting that Haile Gebrselassie and Dr. Ephraim Issac have been mediating secret talks between the Ethiopian Prime Minister and jailed opposition leaders.

Haile has been appointed a UN Ambassador in the past, but I believe this is his first direct contact with the rough and tumble "sport" of Ethiopian politics. Haile deserves admiration by his fellow citizens for being willing to risk his name and reputation in an attempt to solve the current political impasse in Ethiopia. Great job, Haile, and best wishes!

Cheers Ethiopia!

As we are getting ready to bid farewell to the year 2006 and welcome 2007 (well, that’s when this post was started), it is only fitting to add one more post to say cheers!

Happy New Year to all readers of Roocha! And a special cheers is in order for all Ethiopian Olympians. Although the past year has gone by without much mention of this, 2006 marked a milestone for Ethiopia's participation at the Olympic Games. It was 50 years ago, at the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games, that Ethiopia made its first appearance at the Olympic Games.

There has not been much commemoration of this Golden Jubilee of Ethiopian Olympic participation. In fact, I became aware of this milestone only after hearing it mentioned several months ago by the magnificent journalist Negussie Aklilu of Voice of America’s Amharic language service. Thank you Ato Negussie and VOA Amharic for bringing this to our attention. It is a shame that we do not take time to celebrate significant historical milestones such as this. The need for celebration is highlighted in an interesting article I came across sometime ago about how Australians planned to commemorate the 1956 Melbourne Olympics- “The Friendly Games.”

By any measure, Ethiopia’s record at the Olympic Games has been outstanding. It seems that every four years Ethiopians not only win medals (which very few countries do to begin with) but also break barriers and achieve feats previously out of reach.

So, in the spirit of a new year’s tradition, let’s count down the significant accomplishment of Ethiopians at the Olympics over the past 50 years. Obviously, each entry is worthy of a separate post (note to self!) but it would not be right to let 2006 expire without making mention of these achievements, even in a hurried fashion. So, here goes:


10-Derartu Tulu wins Gold Medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympics 10000M race, eight years after her first gold medal. It is an amazing, and quite likely unmatchable, achievement to win a track race at two Olympic Games with this much time in between. This race is also notable for having Ethiopians finish 1-2 with Gete Wami claiming the Silver Medal.

9-Haile Gebrselassie wins Gold Medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics 10000M race. Although this was anticipated by all Ethiopians, the victory lifts the spirit of an entire nation. In advance of the Atlanta Olympics, Haile had already attracted the attention of international media by setting multiple world records on the track as well as his public relations savvy off the track. His victory in Atlanta was the deciding factor in picking Haile’s life story as the one to be featured in the movie Endurance.

8-Kennenisa Bekele wins Gold Medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics 1000M race. In the same race, Sileshi Sihine wins the Silver Medal and Haile Gebrselassie finishes fifth. But this race was more than winning medals. The team work displayed by Kennenisa and Sileshi to help out the injured Haile served as the inspiration for a popular Ethiopian music video by Tewodros Kassahun. Kennenisa and Sileshi were willing to risk their medal chances by slowing down in mid-race to allow Haile to catch up with the leaders. This was clearly the race were the “baton” was passed from one generation to the next.

7-Gezahegne Abera wins the 2000 Olympic Marathon in Sydney giving Ethiopia an unprecedented fourth Olympic Gold Medal in Men’s Marathon. Reclaiming of the Marathon Gold medal after 32 years sends Ethiopians into euphoria. In the same race, Ethiopian Tesfaye Tola wins the Bronze medal.

6-Fatuma Roba wins Ethiopia’s first Gold Medal in the Women Olympic Marathon at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. Although Fatuma was a relatively unknown runner in 1996, she has gone on to win the next three Boston Marathons, easily distinguishing herself as one of the greatest women marathoners in the world.

5-Miruts Yifter wins two Gold Medals in the 5000M and 10000M race at the 1980 Moscow Olympics earning a rare double victory in these distances. Although Miruts had won a Bronze medal in the 5000M at the 1972 Olympics in Munich, his double victory in Moscow puts him among all time running greats. Miruts’ achievement distinguishes him as the only Ethiopian Olympian to win two Gold Medals at the same Olympics.

4-Derartu Tulu wins the 1000M at the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games, earning the first medal by an Ethiopian woman and the first Gold Medal by a black African woman. Her victory paves the way for all the great Ethiopian woman runners that followed in her footsteps. Derartu’s success served notice that Ethiopian women runners are as much talented as the men.

3-Mamo Wolde makes it a three-peat for Ethiopia in Olympic Marathon by winning the Gold Medal at the 1968 Mexico Olympics. Mamo also won a Silver Medal in the 10000M race foreshadowing the success to come in future track races. Mamo’s victory in the marathon showed that Abebe Bikila’s victory was not just a one man show but highlighted the special talent of Ethiopian runners.

2-Abebe Bikila repeats as Olympic Marathon Champion at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. With another Olympic Gold Medal to go with the one he won four years earlier in Rome, Abebe clearly achieves the status of a running legend that is revered to this very day. The fact that Abebe won the Tokyo race after having his appendix removed only six weeks earlier adds to the legend.

1-Abebe Bikila wins the 1960 Olympic Marathon in Rome, running barefoot, setting a new world record, and becoming the first African to win an Olympic Gold Medal. This victory would be quite significant if taken in and of itself. But from a vantage point of 45+ years in the future, it is indisputable that Abebe’s victory in Rome is single-handedly responsible for the magnitude of success African runners have achieved in the years that followed.

2006 Top 9

• 9 Coming off Berlin victory, Haile Gebrselassie wins Fukuoka International Marathon

  3-Dec-06 Disproving doubters. Proving Berlin was not a fluke. Haile showed that he can beat anyone by defeating two-time World Marathon champion Jaouad Gharib of Morocco. 2006 is the year we witnessed Haile became a complete marathoner.
  
  
  
  

• 8 Meseret Defar Retains 3,000 Meters World Indoor Title

  11-Mar-06 In Moscow, Meseret Defar defended here 2004 World Indoor 3000 M title easily defeating World record holder and home favorite Liliya Shobukhova. It seems like the sky is the limit for Meseret Defar.

• 7 Kenenisa Wins World Indoor Title at 3000 M

  12-Mar-06 Kenenisa became the first athlete win a World Outdoor Championships, a World Cross Championships and a World Indoor Championship. He toyed with the field wining over 3000 M at the World Indoor Championships.





• 6 Meseret Defar Beats Tirunesh Dibaba at the Final Golden League Meet, ISTAF Berlin
  

  10-Sep-06 Once again Meseret Defar wins a race. Only this time it’s controversial because Tirunesh Dibaba’s loss cost Tirunesh $125,000. We now have ourselves a rivalry. May the best woman win.




• 5 Meseret Defar breaks the 5,000m road race world record

  10-Apr-06 Going where no woman has gone Meseret Defar demolishes the 5K road record shared by Paula Radcliffe and Tirunesh Dibaba by five seconds. This lady has had a spectacular year.




• 4 Meseret Defar sets the Womens 5000 M world record
  

  3-Jun-06 Meseret Defar sets a new Womens 5000 M world record 14:24.53, snatching the record from Turkey’s ex-Ethiopian runner Elvan Abeylegesse's. It was a 0.15 second improvement. Nonetheless, this one was sweet.




• 3 Berhane Adere Wins Chiago Marathon, Sets Ethiopian Record

  22-Oct-06 The way Berhane Adere disposed of Galina Bogomolova in the Chicago marathon made us wonder if she should have been marathoning all along. She sure looked like a natural setting a new Ethiopian record of 2:20.47.




• 2 Haile Gebrselassie & Gete Wami of Ethiopia Win 2006 Berlin Marathon (Both Set Ethiopian Records)

  26-Sep-06 Haile Gebrselassie and Gete Wami set Ethiopian records while winning this Marathon Majors event. This was a reminder that they have not faded yet. Gete ran 2:21:24 and this record was later broken by Berhane Adere.




• 1 Kenenisa Bekele- Double Win at World Cross Country Championships

  2-Apr-06 Running two races in two days in, 2002,2003,2004,2005 and now 2006 Kenenisa Bekele wins the long and short race at the World Cross Country Championship. Kenenisa has won ten titles during the last five years and single handedly brought an end to the era of Kenyan cross country dominance. No one will ever dominate this event like Kenenisa Bekele has.

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Merry Christmas!

Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you;
he is Christ the Lord.
(Luke 2:11)

For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
(Isaiah 9:6)

Your Cheatin’ Heart

It is refreshing when athletes speak their mind rather than try to be politically correct. Many of them try so hard to not give away strategies that they end up saying nothing during interviews. So, it was quite interesting to read a candid interview with the up and coming American marathoner Fernando Cabada (training partner of Fasil Bizuneh), who spoke openly about his ambition and goals.

Of course, there is always the risk of talking too openly to an extent where a whole segment of society gets offended. Take Turbo Tumo, one of the top Ethiopian marathoners in the 1990s. After he failed to finish the 1996 Olympic Marathon, he was asked why he dropped out. Turbo (killer name for a runner!) replied saying he thought it would be better to drop out rather than finish the race in a time only fit for women runners. Ouch!

Someone should have told Turbo about the Tanzanian marathoner John Akhwari who represented his country with great dignity in the 1968 Mexico City Olympics. Akhwari managed to limp to the finish line with a cut knee and dislocated joint he suffered from a fall during the race. As he approached the finish line, an hour after Mamo Wolde won the race, he was given a thunderous ovation by the crowd. When he was asked later on why he did not drop out of the race, he replied with what has become one of the greatest quotes: "My country did not send me over 11,000 kilometers to start a race. They sent me over 11,000 kilometers to finish one."

Speaking of athletes talking openly, who can forget what Paula Radcliffe did at the 2001 World Championships in Edmonton, Canada. She openly protested against the Russian 5000m runner Olga Yegorova who had tested positive for the performance enhancing substance EPO. At the 5000m race which Yegorova was competing in, Paula watched the race from the stands while holding a large sign that read “EPO CHEATS OUT.” Now, that is talking openly!

Radcliffe surely did not mince her words on how she feels about athletes who cheat. And many of them do cheat. Those who get caught almost always deny cheating and come up with the wildest excuses. Others say all top athletes (including Ethiopians!) cheat with some type of performance enhancing drugs. Many question the legitimacy of some of the seemingly unreachable world records supposedly achieved with an enhanced performance. There was even suggestion of scrapping all records and start fresh as we entered the new millennium.

Athletics has changed from an amateur to a professional sport, and the money that comes with such transition could be enticing for anyone to want to cheat. That is the easy explanation. The question that I find more interesting is why some athletes cheat when there is no financial motivation. Last week, I read an article that talked about a $12200 settlement offered to 167 former athletes of East Germany who were forced to take performance enhancing drugs. It is an acknowledgment that someone within the East German government had taken a deliberate action to cheat against competitors from other countries. Why? Perhaps to prove to the world that Communism is a superior ideology and those who live under it are “stronger” human beings. In the process, the government compromised the health of those very people whom it wanted to prove as being superior!

It is even more curious when non-competitive runners are caught cheating. Of course, no dose of performance enhancing drug could propel a regular Joe/Jane to the front of the pack so these people resort to other form of cheating. The classic case of this is Rosie Ruiz who “finished” first in the 1980 Boston Marathon before being disqualified shortly there after. There are also cases of charity runners cutting course to shorten the marathon in order to
“finish” within the prescribed amount of time. I can not understand why anyone who goes out to run a marathon at a very slow pace would feel compelled to take a short cut rather than honorably drop out like the brave Turbo Tumo…

And that brings me back to the thought of professional integrity among Ethiopian athletes. Is it inconceivable that some Ethiopian athlete would use performance enhancing substances? Are Ethiopian athletes more honorable than others and would consider cheating to be beneath them? One can never say for sure whether a particular Ethiopian athlete does or does not use performance enhancing substance until a test result comes positive. But rest assured that there will always be a bad apple in the barrel.

As an unbelievable as it sounds (at least to me), there has been an Ethiopian elite runner, named Alene Emere, who has been caught using the performance enhancing substance EPO and suspended from competition in 2001. Even after serving his suspension, he was disqualified from a race where he registered with a different name in an apparent attempt to disguise himself.

So, there is a cheatin’ heart in runners slow and fast, men and women, Ethiopian and American. Though we are stunned when we learn about stories of Ben Johnson, Regina Jacobs, Mary Slaney, Tim Montgomery, Dwain Chambers, Dennis Mitchell, Justin Gatlin, and even Ethiopia’s Alene Emere, we should never forget that there is no limit to the depth humans will sink to when left to their own devices.

It is wonderful that all the big-name runners Ethiopia has produced have stayed out of trouble so far. However, we must be careful not to expect of them a super-human standard.

Jeremiah 17:9-10

The heart is deceitful above all things
and beyond cure.
Who can understand it?

"I the LORD search the heart
and examine the mind,
to reward a man according to his conduct,
according to what his deeds deserve."

Psalm 19:14

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be pleasing in your sight,
O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.

Running Tidbits 19-Dec-2006

• We did not know it then but for the record, ex-Ethiopian middle distance runner Maryam Yusuf Jamal beat a man to win here 800M gold medal at last week’s Asian games. The Indian runner who won the silver medal in the women's 800 meters failed a gender test and was stripped of the medal.



• Race Results Weekly has chosen Mesert Defar and Kenenisa Bekele as Runners of the Year saying...
  
  

  Bekele and Defar had such excellent years that we concluded our internal debate relatively quickly
  .....
  However, choosing Bekele was easier than choosing Defar because her compatriot, Tirunesh Dibaba, also had a spectacular year.

  
  

Abebe Dinkesa and Wude Ayalew win at Venta de Baños

At the 27th Cross Internacional de Venta de Baños, Abebe Dinkesa and Wude Ayalew each won their respective races. Abebe Dinkesa who has the third fastest Ethiopian 10000M time behind Kenenisa Bekele and Haile Gebrselassie beat out Kenyan Hosea Macharinyang. Abebe had had a great 2005 clocking 26:30.74 which was the third fastest 10000M that year. 2006 had been expected to be a breakout year for the 22 year old but an illness has set him back. This win will firmly put his career back on track. 18 year old Wude Ayalew has been cranking out wins in 2006 and this adds to her great year.

Running Tidbits:16-Dec-2006

• You have to jump through some hoops registering but the Great Run site has podcasts from the Great Ethiopia run. They claim to have an exclusive two-part podcast with Haile Gebrselassie but the links to Haile’s podcasts are broken.



• This could be trouble: Chinese officials declared themselves dissatisfied despite winning 316 medals at the Asian games. China finished second to the USA at the Olympics in 2004 but has set its sights on finishing first at the Beijing Olympics in 2008. The article says that officials are under intense pressure to deliver after a massive financial and personnel investment from the Chinese government.



• U.S. 100 meter Olympic champ who will be banned for life from athletics, after testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs, is looking for another line of work. He has been trying out with several NFL teams.


• What do a German swimming champion, an American college basketball player, an Australian professional surfing champion and a Jamaican world championship medallist have in common? Answer: They are all competing at the 15th Asian Games in the Qatar capital Doha. The article also mentions Zenebech Tola.

China Watch

In 2008, at the Beijing Olympics, the Ethiopian long distance women runners face fierce competition from China’s 10000M and 5000M runners. One of China’s hopes, 17 year old Xue Fei, is on display this week at the Asian Games. She is the reigning 5000M Junior World champion.

In addition to this 17 year old, the reigning 10000M champion is Xing Huina is also from China. In the past China has been a pain for Ethiopia's women. The 10000M women’s World Record is still held by the worm eating Junxia Wang of China, who in Atlanta '96 won gold the 5000 and was the silver medalist behind Portugal’s Fernanda Ribeiro leaving Gete Wami with a bronze at the 10000. Gete's bronze was the only medal the women won on the track that year.

Despite the Ethiopian clean sweep at the 2005 world championships, the Ethiopian women are not a lock at this event. China has a bag of tricks. The Chinese program is not squeaky clean. Last year the 2003 World Championship silver medalist and Athens 5000M Olympian Sun Yingjie failed a doping test and is now suspended. There are some that have always thought that there was something fishy behind the sudden dominance and quick disappearance of Chinese runners. In 1993 Wang Junxia came out of nowhere to break world records, in 3000M and 10000M and claimed it was the worms she eats that helped he. Her records haven't broken since she set them 13 years ago.

This article from last year sums up the mess in Beijing.

China has scored a sporting own goal, as its first rehearsal for Beijing's Olympic Games in 2008 descended into a farce of alleged match-rigging, bribery, unfair judging and doping scandals.
....
The scandals have highlighted how Chinese sport remains tainted by the corruption prevalent in the sporting systems of the former Soviet Union and East Germany.

Corruption in sports is always problematic and should never be tolerated because corruption makes for fertile grounds for performance-enhancing drugs to thrive.

Last October, Dick Pound, the head of the World Anti-Doping Agency in October summarized the problem before his visit to China.

China was among "many countries" that have been identified as sources of "performance-enhancing drugs that have been sent to other countries.

and he continued ...

An Olympic host country has the special responsibility, both at home and around the world to demonstrate its commitment to doping-free sport.

Now is the time for all countries, including China, to make sure that they have put into place programs necessary to remove doping from sport.

The pressure to win at home in 2008 is sure to exasperate the situation. Let’s hope China cleans up.

Switched Allegiance

Been thinking about… Allegiance.

And of course, living in the United States, the first thing that word brings to mind is The Pledge of Allegiance with which millions of American children begin their school day. “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, …” I am sure that for many of these children it is just a daily ritual they go through without giving a second thought to the seriousness of their uttering. It is recited day after day, year after year, “… one Nation under God, indivisible, …” even as hidden rifts are exposed with events such as the 2000 Presidential Election. The pledge concludes “… with liberty and justice for all” just as we are told this very week that, after all, the Middle-East may not be so eager to embrace American type democracy and “liberty for all” may really not mean for all.

Needless to say, allegiance is serious business. And those who truly understand where their allegiance lies, and remain faithful to it at any cost, are truly inspiring. One of my favorite verses in the Bible is Hebrews 11:26 where we read about how Moses chose disgrace for the sake of Christ rather than the riches of Egypt. I think of the early Chrisitans who chose being burned at the stake rather than affirm “Ceasar is Lord.” In more recent times, the story of people such as the runner Eric Liddell is quite inspiring and it has been made into the movie Chariots of Fire.

Conversely, it is astonishing to hear stories of people who switch allegiances, some of them at a drop of a dime. I was amazed to learn that the staunchly conservative Republican President Ronald Reagan was once a Democrat! In 2001, Senator Jim Jeffords decided that he was no longer a Republican and instantly tipped the power balance in Congress. I often remember how Arsenio Hall once joked that he would gladly don the hood of KKK if the money was right.

Just like many issues of regular every day life, the issue of switched allegiance has been present in the sport of running for sometime now. The winner of the 1936 Olympic Marathon ran for Japan although he was a Korean native. We can at least give him a pass considering he was forced to run for Japan against his wishes. Of course, he did not have to win for Japan so I am not sure that he should get a full pass. In the 1984 Olympics, one of the most infamous races in Olympic History featured Zola Budd, a South-African-turned-British. It seems like the way the race unfolded caused more of an uproar than Budd’s switched citizenship.

More recently, Khalid Khannouchi, a former marathon world record holder, became an American Citizen few years ago and he openly talks about his desire to bring an Olympic Medal to his newly adopted country. In a clear indication of where his allegiance now lies, Khannouchi has made it known that he has no desire to wear the uniform of his native Morocco:

"I could still go run in the Olympics for Morocco. The king himself has called to ask me to do that. My own father, whom I love dearly, has asked me to do that. The Moroccan track federation said it would put me on the team.

"But this I will not do. I will run in the Olympics for the United States, God willing, either this summer in the 10,000 meters or in the marathon four years from now, and I will be in world meets for this country in the near future."

The list of runners who have switched allegiance goes on an on. Two of the current top American marathoners, Meb Keflezighi and Abdi Abdirahman are natives of Eritrea and Somalia, respectively. Merlene Otey, the ageless Jamaican sprint queen, is now a Slovenian citizen. The current top American miler, Bernard Lagat, is a Kenyan native. The fact that Lagat competed for Kenya in the 2004 Athens Olympics, while keeping silent about his newly acquired American Citizenship prior to the Olympics, is quite telling about how one can be torn apart by switching an allegiance. The Kenyan native Danish runner Wilson Kipketer missed out from participating in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, at the prime of his career, because his allegiance had changed from Kenya to Denmark.

America and other wealthy nations are often the beneficiary of switched allegiance- be it in science, politics, or even athletics. But on rare occasions, they also find themselves on the losing side of the deal, as in the case of Felix Sanchez. Though he was born and raised in New York City, Sanchez brought the first ever Olympic Medal to the Dominican Republic and he is a national hero there.

It is quite fascinating to see some of these athletes who have switched nationality win a race and then go on to celebrate their victory with two flags in hand. Meb Keflezghi always carries the American and Eritrean flag during his celebration. Even the super-star Marion Jones opted to celebrate with two flags, one American and the other Belizean, upon winning the 100M race in the 2000 Sydney Olympics. What a stark contrast to Emperor Haile proudly, and exclusively, carrying Ethiopia’s Tri-Color.

In all the cases mentioned above, it is the athletes themselves that sought out the citizenship change as a means of expanding opportunities for their trade. And I have no problem with that in the same way as my partner blogger ATTILATHEHUN. However, I am disturbed by the most recent “runner for hire” African expedition of Middle-Eastern countries in aggressive pursuit of coveted championship and Olympic medals. To make matters worse, these countries are not content on simply transacting a citizenship change, but are also requiring a name change and apparently change of religion too!

It has been quite sad for me to see talented Ethiopian runners having to switch their nationality in order to find success in their profession. Although it is getting more media coverage now, Ethiopian natives running for other countries is nothing new. The two best Marathon runners Israel has on its rosters are Ethiopians- Haile Satayin and Asaf Bimro. One of Australia’s best marathon runner is an Ethiopian named Gemechu Woyecha. Even Haile Gebrselassie’s older brother Tekeye is a Dutch citizen and represented the Netherlands on many occasions in the past.

Of course, thousands of ordinary Ethiopians have also switched their allegiance by taking citizenship of another country in the post Revolution era. It would therefore be quite hypocritical to single out elite athletes and fault them for doing the very same thing other Ethiopians do on a daily basis. After all, why should athletes be held to higher standards than, say, Medical Doctors?

I have met and talked to several Ethiopian elite runners at local races on weekends around the Washington, D.C. area. These runners, although talented enough to have represented Ethiopia in the past, are pursuing challenging lives in the United States where they work multiple jobs and run races on weekends hoping to win couple of hundred dollars to help make ends meet. I have nothing but admiration for the talent they possess and the little financial reward they get in return from their running talent.

But one has to wonder how much is too much for a person to concede for the sake of opportunity. Is changing a name OK? The Ethiopian runner Hewan Abeye is now the Turkish Elvan Abeylegesse. And she is fighting tooth and nail to take medals and records away from Ethiopian runners.

How about changing a religion? How about losing a family tie? The Ethiopian Zenebech Tola is now the Bahraini Maryam Jamal. Ethiopia has lost a runner and Ato Tola has lost a daughter. Incidentally, it is interesting to ponder how the world would respond if the United States made Abdi Abdirahman change his name to "John Christiansen" as a pre-requisite for representing USA in competition?

I think the lesson here should be two fold: first, we should be immensely grateful to those athletes who choose to train in Ethiopia and compete for Ethiopia. Unlike many, they are proving their worth by remaining faithful in their allegiance to Ethiopia. I am sure Haile and Derartu could have made even more money than they now have by accepting citizenship of a “wealthier” country. Instead they have kept their allegiance to Ethiopia and have already contributed immensely for the betterment of Ethiopia in athletics as well as other sectors.

Secondly, the Ethiopian Sports Federation should learn, sooner than later, to take good care of its athletes and provide fair and unbiased treatment. I have heard some disheartening stories of mistreatments by the Federation from some of the Ethiopian athletes who have decided to stay in the US.

Elvan and Maryam are obviously highly talented athletes that got away. It is also obvious, by the fact that they decided to leave, that they were not given opportunity to blossom within the existing system. As a result Ethiopia has a reduced talent pool to pick from for competitions. Even now, after these expatriate athletes have achieved success outside of Ethiopia, they are viewed as enemies and are not welcome to train with other Ethiopian athletes when they visit their homeland. If Ethiopians can have occasional training sessions with Kenyans, Morrocans, and Mexicans, what is so terrible about training with Ethiopian natives who compete for other countries?

As Ethiopians, we have lost much too much over the past 25 years. It is my hope that 25 years from now we will not look back and realize the fate, and the faith, of Ethiopia’s extraordinary athletes have been sold to the highest bidder.

Long live ROOCHA and Jesus is LORD!