Hall and Keflezighi to face off in Boston 2010

Boston, USA – A head-to-head battle between the top U.S. marathoners Meb Keflezighi and Ryan Hall will be among the key highlights of the 2010 BAA Boston Marathoner, organisers announced.


The 114th running of the BAA Boston Marathon, an IAAF Gold Label Road Race, will take place on 19 April 2010.

Fresh from his Marathon win in New York City is Keflezighi, a two-time Olympian and American record holder in the 10,000m. Keflezighi won the silver medal at the 2004 Athens Olympic Marathon and holds multiple national titles.
“Boston has a great tradition not only to the running community but also to the rest of the world,” said Keflezighi. “It has always been my ultimate goal to win the Boston Marathon.”
This has been a banner year for Keflezighi who improved his personal best to 2:09:15 with his New York City win and also claimed national titles in cross country, seven miles, half marathon and the marathon.
“Winning in New York was a huge personal triumph and the victory belongs to my family and support team,” said Keflezighi. “I am glad I can help move the continued resurgence of U.S. distance running to the next level. I am living the American dream and feel blessed.”
Hall carries his own impressive qualifications as the second fastest American marathoner of all time with a 2:06:17 personal best. Only former World record holder Khalid Khannouchi has posted a faster U.S. mark. Hall holds American records in the 20K and half marathon. He was first at the 2007 U.S. Olympic Trials, shattering the event record by more than a minute, and went on to place 10th at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Marathon.
“As soon as I finished the 2009 Boston Marathon, I knew I wanted to be back for the 2010 race,” said Hall. “The energy of the crowds far exceeded my expectations, the course was even more challenging than I anticipated, I hurt more than I have hurt in any other race, yet participating in the Boston Marathon was thrilling beyond my greatest expectations.”
That this year’s race, Hall was the aggressive early leader taking a seasoned field through 5K in world record pace. He stayed with the leaders throughout the race, but Deriba Merga of Ethiopia prevailed as the winner.
Both men train with Mammoth Track Club in Mammoth Lakes, California, and have been longtime residents of the state. Hall is originally from Big Bear Lake and graduated from Stanford as a three-time All American in cross country and NCAA champion in the 5,000m. Keflezighi is from San Diego and graduated from UCLA as a four time NCAA champion. In head-to-head marathon competition, Hall has out run Keflezighi 2-1. In their respective third place finishes at Boston, Hall ran a 2:09:40 in 2009 and Keflezighi ran a 2:09:56 in 2006.
Hall and Keflezighi will be attempting to become the first American winners in Boston since Greg Meyer took the title in 1983.

Bekele lines-up once more for Edinburgh XC

Three-times race winner Kenenisa Bekele will bid to regain the BUPA Great Edinburgh International Cross Country title next month.

The greatest-ever cross country performer, with six IAAF World Championships long and five short course victories to his credit, took little persuading to return to Holyrood Park, Edinburgh, UK on 9 January 2010 for the IAAF XC Permit race.

“It's a race I've always enjoyed because there is always a great field and of course I won my last World title there in 2008,” the 27-year-old Ethiopian said.

Bekele took the decision after that 2008 triumph to retire from the World Cross Country Championships.

“But cross country is still one of my favourite events and it will be a challenge to try to win in Edinburgh once again,” said the reigning Olympic and World 5000 metres and 10,000m track champion.

Bekele's appearance in the Scottish capital will see him fully tested in a field which will include countryman Gebre Gebremariam, the reigning World Cross Country champion.

Kenya's Eliud Kipchoge, the winner in 2005 is also returning for the nine-kilometres event.

Zakharova and Ivuti return to the top in Honolulu Marathon 2009

Honolulu, USA - Running out of the predawn darkness and against the toughest men's marathon field ever assembled here, Kenya's Patrick Ivuti blasted through the heart of Waikiki this morning as if he were running in the Rotterdam Marathon, instead. Tempted by the unusually cool and windless conditions, the early pace at today's 37th Honolulu Marathon was high.

"What is going on here?" asked Honolulu Marathon Association president Dr. Jim Barahal as he watched Ivuti, the defending champion, and seven other Kenyan athletes go through the 10 km mark in 30:07. If sustained, that pace would deliver the winner to the finish line in Kapiolani Park in 2 hours and 7 minutes, fully four minutes below Jimmy Muindi's 2004 course record of 2:11:12.

"We were trying to push to see if we could better the time," Ivuti would tell reporters, later.

Muindi, who has won this marathon six times and is Ivuti's brother-in-law, saw foolishness from his position running on the left side of the pack.

"That is Chicago pace!" he exclaimed after the race. "In Honolulu, never think about 2:08 here."

But Ivuti, 31, who won the Volkswagen Prague Marathon in a course record 2:07:48 last May, was undeterred. He covered the one mile climb up Diamond Head Avenue, which gains 100 feet (31m), in 4 minutes and 57 seconds, leaving only Ivuti, Nicholas Chelimo and pacemaker Gilbert Chepkwony at the front of the race. Muindi caught up on the ensuing downhill to the 15 km mark, and it was clear that today's champion would come from this group.

"Jimmy looks like he did when he had good days here," Barahal commented as the foursome pushed through halfway in 1:04:21, still well under course record pace.

Just past the halfway point, Ivuti surged, giving Chepkwony his queue to drop off the pace. Chelimo covered Ivuti's move, but Muindi fell back, and out of contention (he would eventually finish fourth). Ivuti wasn't done, and surged again just ahead of the 25 km fluid station, dropping Chelimo.

"At 25-K, I was trying to run my race," Ivuti explained, thinking that Chelimo would come with him. "We were trying to run together."

Ivuti quickly put 7 seconds on Chelimo, and by 30 kilometres (1:31:40) had a 36-second lead. Although his pace had slowed somewhat from those fast early kilometres, he was still on target to break 2:09. But his left knee was starting to bother him, and his record attempt --and the potential payment of $81,000 in prize money and bonuses-- was now in doubt.

"Around 25 kilometres, that's when I started to feel my left knee," he told reporters. "Although I did my best, I think I could do more (if the knee wasn't hurting)."

At 38 km (23.5 miles), Ivuti prepared himself to go over Diamond Head for the second time. His form had clearly deteriorated, and he began to look behind him. From 30 to 35 km he had run a sluggish 16 minutes and 8 seconds, but his pace collapsed to 17:17 for the mostly uphill 35 to 40 km segment. It was all about holding on now, and the one minute cushion he had built up over Chelimo would prove more than sufficient. Ivuti got to the finish line alone in 2:12:14, clinching his second victory here and picking up $46,000 in prize money and time bonuses.

"After coming back and winning here I am happy," he said, seemingly unperturbed about missing the record. "Why should I not be?"

Chelimo held on for second in 2:13:10, and William Chebon Chebor, who had drawn even with Muindi by 30 km, got third in 2:14:59. Muindi clocked 2:17:17, his 16th finish at Honolulu.

With strong second half, Zakharova defeats Shimahara

In the women's contest here, the race got off to a choppy start. Pacemaker Yuko Manabe only lasted 5 km, leaving the key contenders, Kenya's Margaret Okayo and Pamela Chepchumba, Japan's Kiyoko Shimahara and Kaori Yoshida, and Russia's Svetlana Zakharova, to go it alone.

Okayo, the most accomplished marathoner in the field, fell two and one-half minutes behind the leaders by 10 km, and was never a factor in the race. She dropped out after 30 km, her third consecutive marathon DNF since 2007.

With Okayo out of the picture and a small group of men surrounding them, defending champion Shimahara, Zakharova and Chepchumba got to half-way point in a not-too-fast 1:14:44 (Yoshida was 5 seconds back). Zakharova, who had won here twice before in 1997 and 2002, was happy with the pace.

"The race actually went as I planned," she said through an interpreter, explaining that she was trying to protect a sore knee. "I had a small problem coming in to this race. I had a problem with my knee but it was not major."

Chepchumba fell back, leaving only Shimahara and Zakharova in contention for the win at 30 km (1:46:04). Zakharova, 39, was stronger than Shimahara coming back over Diamond Head, and by 40 km she had over a one minute lead. She ran easily to the finish line in 2:28:34. It was her third marathon of the year, and she was looking to get back home to Cheboksary to see her three year-old daughter, Kseniya, before starting her preparations for next April's Virgin London Marathon.

"I will take one month (of rest) and be with my daughter," she said.

Like Ivuti, she earned $46,000 in prize money and time bonuses.

Shimahara, who stopped the clock in 2:29:53, was also looking forward to some time off. Honolulu was her fourth marathon of the year, and her second in one month (she was second at Yokohama last month).

"I just had a marathon one month ago so I knew it was a challenge," she said through her manager, Brendan Reilly.

Chepchumba came home third in her Honolulu debut in 2:32:41. Yoshida, who was second last year, was fourth in 2:35:46

Today's race had 23,469 entrants, up slightly from 2008 (62% percent of the field was from Japan). Another 3350 people entered the companion 10-K walk.


Results
Men
 1. Patrick Ivuti, KEN, 2:12:14
 2. Nicholas Chelimo, KEN, 2:13:10
 3. William Chebon Chebor, KEN, 2:14:59
 4. Jimmy Muindi, KEN, 2:17:17
 5. Gilbert Chepkwony, KEN, 2:18:48
(no others sub-2:25:41)
Women 
 1. Svetlana Zakharova, RUS, 2:28:34
 2. Kiyoko Shimahara, JPN, 2:29:53
 3. Pamela Chepchumba, KEN, 2:32:41
 4. Kaori Yoshida, JPN, 2:35:46
 5. Eri Hayakawa, JPN, 2:44:33
 6. Satoko Uetani, JPN, 2:45:19
 7. Akemi Ozaki, JPN, 2:48:24
 8. Mina Ogawa, JPN, 2:50:20

Course record and personal best for Kebede in Fukuoka

Tsegaye Kebede, the defending Fukuoka Marathon champion, won the 63rd edition of the race in 2:05:18. It was a personal best for the Ethiopian by two seconds as well as a Japanese all-comers record.
The Fukuoka Marathon is an IAAF Silver Label Road Race.
Kebede became the first runner to defend his Fukuoka title since Gezehagne Abera in 2002. He improved on his personal best of 2:05:20, recorded in the 2009 London Marathon. However, he did not move up on the all-time list. Kebede also improved the course as well as Japanese all-comers record of 2:06:10, which he recorded with his victory here last year.

“I am very happy to run faster than expected. I don’t know how to describe my happiness in words,” Tsegaye said in a post-race television interview. “I was convinced of my win after 30Km when I started to run away from my competitions. I also knew that I had a chance for a personal best when I passed 40Km point much faster (1:59:01) than last year when I think I passed 40Km in 1:59:45.”

Behind him, two other Ethiopian runners improved their personal bests by a huge margin. Tekeste Kebede, with a previous PB of 2:09:49 recorded in Boston earlier this year, was second with 2:07:52. Tsegaye Kebede’s training partner, Dereje Tesfaye, improved his personal best from 2:11:42, recorded in Dubai this year, to 2:08:26 when he finished fourth. Tekeste Kebede ran more than a dozen marathons before he cracked the 2:10 barrier for the first time in Boston.

“Previously, I was training in a group with a coach but I am now self-coached,” Tekeste Kebede, 28, said. “I think it gave me an opportunity to think about the right training for me and that I think is the reason why I was able to improve the personal best by a huge margin.”

In between the Ethiopian pair, Ukraine’s Dmytro Baranovsky was third with 2:08:19. Not only was it his first sub-2:10 marathon since 2006, it was also his second fastest. Rounding out the top five was Evans Cheruiyot of Kenya who clocked 2:09:46.

Mekubo Mogusu, whose marathon debut was attracting a lot of attention, lost contact with the leaders at 26Km. By 30Km, he was essentially reduced to a walk. He stopped several times and stretched his leg muscles and made a valiant attempt to continue. However, he was finally forced to drop out at 31.4Km.

How the race unfolded -

With Yu Mitsuya, a designated pace setter, taking the lead immediately after the start, the race began with a three minutes per Km pace, a 2:06:35 pace, slightly slower than the 2:06:10 course record. After 5Km (15:02), pace setters Samson Ramadhani and John Kales took over the lead with the favorite Tsegaye Kedebe just behind them. Then just before 7Km, as Ramadhani and Kales picked up the pace, the lead pack was split into two. The front group consisted of two pace makers plus six runners, which include all major contenders like Tsegaye Kebede and Mogusu, who passed 10Km marker in 29:53 (14:51 second 5Km). The second group led by Mitsuya stayed on three minutes per Km pace and reached 10Km in 30:02. The wind was strong in the morning causing some concern but fortunately began to die down just in time for the 12:10 start. “The wind was a bit of a problem, but it was not a major problem,” Tsegaye Kebede said. 

After 11Km, debutante Mogusu, who was attracting a lot of television attention, seemed to have fallen behind, only to catch up to the lead pack again. The race stayed fast, passing 15Km in 44:42 (14:49). Toshihiko Seko, a four-time Fukuoka champion, who was providing television commentary, pointed out that Mogusu’s form is now more efficient compared to the days when he was running college ekiden races.

The lead group passed the 20Km check point in 59:44 (15:02), while the second group lead by Mitsuya was 30 seconds behind. Cheruiyot who arrived Friday was trailing the first group. The half marathon split was 1:03:05, right on course record pace. The second group passed the half marathon in 1:03:35, at which point Mitsuya was released from pace making duty. Eight runners in the lead pack were still together at 25Km (1:14:57), clocking 15:13 for the 5Km split between Kms 20 and 25.

The first major contender to fall off the lead pack was Mogusu, just before 26Km. A half kilometre later John Kales, one of the pace setter dropped out. Tsegaye Kebede started to run slightly ahead of Ramadhani, the pace maker. Soon Tsegaye started to push the pace and Baranovsky, the 2005 champion, and the pace maker Ramadhani fell behind.

Tsegaye Kebede lead three other runners (Tsefaye, Cheruiyot and Tekeste Kebede) at 30Km with 1:29:47, while Mogusu was struggling as he was apparently having trouble with his left hamstrings. “If you don’t try to finish the race, you won’t really find out what the marathon really is. If his leg does not hurt, he needs to finish it,” Seko said. Mogusu dropped out at 31.4Km, however.

Meanwhile Tsegaye Kebede was breaking away from Cheruiyot and Tekeste Kebede. The big surprise was that Tefaye was the only runner able to stay with Tsegaye. However, by 33Km Tesfaye also lost contact and Tsegaye Kebede was running alone. He passed 35Km in 1:44:24 (14:37),the fastest ever split at 35Km in Fukuoka. Meanwhile, at 38.6Km Tekeste Kebede caught Tesfaye who struggled to stay with him, but by 40Km, Tesfaye fell behind by 13 seconds.

Tsegaye Kebede passed 40Km in 1:59:01, 44 seconds faster than his split time at 40Km from last year. He was also 1:54 seconds ahead of the second placed Tekeste Kebede. Tsegaye Kebede also covered the 35 to 40Km in 14:37, the fastest ever for this segment, before reaching the finish.

Ken Nakamura for the IAAF

Weather: cloudy; temperature: 10C; humidity: 42%; wind: 4m/s NNW
Leading Results:
 1. Tsegaye Kebede (ETH)  2:05:18 
 2. Tekeste Kebede (ETH)  2:07:52
 3. Dmytro Baranovskyy (UKR)  2:08:19
 4. Dereje Tesfaye (ETH)  2:08:36
 5. Evans Cheruiyot (KEN)  2:09:46
 6. Luis Feiteira (POR)  2:13:07
 7. Oleg Kulkov (RUS)  2:13:49
 8. Harun Njoroge (KEN)  2:14:17
 9. Tadashi Shitamori (JPN)  2:14:42
10. Vitaliy Shafar (UKR)  2:15:07

Splits
5Km - 15:02  - Yu Mitsuya
10Km - 29:53 (14:51) - Samson Ramadhani
15Km - 44:42 (14:49) - John Kales
20Km  - 59:44 (15:02) - Samson Ramadhani
Half - 1:03:05 - John Kales
25Km - 1:14:57  (15:13) - Samson Ramadhani
30Km - 1:29:47 (14:50) - Tsegaye Kebede
35Km - 1:44:24 (14:37) - Tsegaye Kebede
40Km - 1:59:01 (14:37) - Tsegaye Kebede
Finish - 2:05:18 (6:17) - Tsegaye Kebede 

Temam and Tadesse take Beirut Marathon titles

Beirut, Lebanon - Mohammed Temam revelled in his competitive return to the Middle East when the 20-year-old won the BLOM Beirut Marathon on Sunday, emerging victorious on a day when more than 30,000 took to the streets in the seventh edition of the Lebanese capital’s festival of endurance, including 5 and 10k competitions.

Temam clocked 2:16:12 for victory to beat Eston Ngira by over two minutes. The Kenyan runner-up finished in 2:18:26 with Abraham Yilma of Ethiopia, suffering from vomiting attacks overnight, taking third place in 2:18:34.

This was Temam’s third marathon at the tender age of 20 and all three outings have been this year, beginning with his fifth place debut in 2:16 at the Abebe Bikila Marathon in Addis Ababa. Another fifth place came in Amman in Jordan but today’s Beirut champion described his 2:26:36 in temperatures in the mid-30s Centigrade as “very tough” accompanied by a sorrowful dropping of the head.

Today he can hold his head up high again. Beginning at 7 am with overcast skies and the temperature gauge showing 13 degrees Centigrade, these were made to measure conditions for marathoners on a largely flat course. The former world record holder in the marathon, Paul Tergat of Kenya, watched from the VIP gantry as 550 competitors set off along Jamal Abdel Naser street.

Temam played a waiting game, allowing a quartet to go clear with barely five minutes on the clock. Three Kenyans, Eston Ngira, Stephen Maina and Stanley Mayo took out the pace with Abraham Yilma slotting in behind them.

This group of four went through 10k in 32:45 and 20k was reached in 1:04:52. Mohammed Temam had been making inroads on their lead and shortly after 20k he was matching them stride for stride. He continued to look comfortable in the pack as Beirut’s rainy season provided early morning showers. Temam was putting in a series of surges, looking around for his compatriot Yilma and with 33k covered he made his decisive move.

Going through 35k in a solo 1:53:50, Temam was over 50 metres clear of Yilma who was coming under increasing pressure from the lone Kenyan challenger, Eston Ngira. By this stage the course record of 2:12:47, set by the Ethiopian Alemayehu Shumye last year, was well out of reach but Temam was on course for a personal best.

“I knew he was good, he is a strong runner and young,” was the praise for the men’s champion from the third placer Abraham Yilma, disconsolate that he had been unable to match his compatriot’s attack shortly after 33k. But Yilma, second and third here in successive years from 2006, is building a solid CV of Beirut performances.

Mohammed Temam gave a quiet smile of satisfaction and admitted, “I felt strong all along, I was confident.” Having made his marathon debut in the Abebe Bikila Marathon, a race held in honour of Ethiopia’s double Olympic champion at the distance, the young Temam has also added another historical note to his short career. This year’s Beirut trophy is named in homage to Pheidippides, the Athenian messenger who is said to have run from the plains of Marathon in 490 BC with news of victory over the Persians.

Mihret Tadesse completed the Ethiopian double as she made it two wins out of two in her marathon career. She took the women’s title in 2:42:41, improving her best by 31 seconds from her winning debut in Barcelona last year. Jackline Nyangeri of Kenya finished runner-up in 2:43:24 with the fastest woman going into the race, Sisay Measo of Ethiopia, taking third in 2:44:00.



Leading Results -

Men:
1. Mohammed Temam (Ethiopia) - 2:16:12
2. Eston Ngira (Kenya) – 2:18:26
3. Abraham Yilma (Ethiopia) – 2:18:34
4. Stephen Maina (Kenya) – 2:22:30
5. Stanley Mayo (Kenya) – 2:26:25
6. Al Batal Sleiman (Lebanon) – 2:26:43

Women:
1. Mihret Tadesse (Ethiopia) – 2:42:41
2. Jackline Nyangeri (Kenya) – 2:43:24
3. Sisay Miasou (Ethiopia) – 2:44:00

Kibet shatters Singapore record

Singapore - Luke Kibet hobbled away from the finish of the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon this morning. But the former World champion had staved off a troublesome achilles’ tendon long enough to shatter his own course record, and win in 2:11:25, an achievement made even more extraordinary by the 31C heat and 77% humidity.

When he won last year, in 2:13:01, he beat young Kenyan colleague Johnstone Chepkwony by over two minutes. This morning, Kibet needed a sprint finish to keep Chepkwony at bay.

A repeat one-two seemed unlikely before the race, given the vastly improved field, tempted to endure the atmospheric conditions by the lure of US$35,000 first prize, with $19,000 for second, and $10,000 for third.

Accordingly, a dozen or more men set out with intent, and were a minute up on record pace after 10k. Vincent Krop, better known as a half-marathoner had agreed to take the pace, with the intention of finishing the race, if he felt OK.

He certainly fulfilled all expectations when he finished third. But so did Kibet. He had forecast that if the improved field worked together, and Krop did his job, even in the warm conditions, a sub-2:12 was possible.

By 30k, everything was falling into place. Kibet favouring his left achilles’ tendon had kept in the lee of the pack, while Krop, Leonard Mucheru, and Chepkwony had forced the pace.

Mucheru was first to drop, at 36k, followed by Krop, just before 40k. Kibet then tested Chepkwony with a surge, to which the 25-year-old responded. But it obviously told Kibet all he needed to know, because when they entered the finishing straight together, the 2007 World champion eased away to victory, with Chepkwony finishing second, in a personal best 2:11:33. Krop was also under the previous record, in 2:11:51. And a former winner, John Kelai finished fourth in 2:13:16.

“I was protecting my achilles’, so I stayed behind at first,” said Kibet. “I was waiting for the kick. This year was less humid, so we were able to run faster, but it is still difficult conditions. I think I will have to go back to Germany for treatment, to Dr Mueller (Wohlfahrt), but I’d like to race again next April.”

As for the conditions, which are perennially difficult in Singapore, second-place Chepkwony was in no doubt. “Two-eleven here is like 2:06, 2:07 in a cooler place.”With strong second half, Mayorova-Ivanova takes women's race
Lyubov Morgunova of Russia thought she had done more than enough to win the women’s event. But the Muscovite veteran of over 40 marathons had reckoned without her young compatriot, Albina Mayorova-Ivanova.

Morgunova, 38, had taken up the running after a slowish first 10k, and her attritional pace had put paid to a posse of pursuers, until only Magdaline Chemjor of Kenya was left in contention. A couple of steady accelerations put paid to Chemjor’s hopes, and she faded to seventh. And the last 10k looked like a formality for Morgunova. Until Mayorova-Ivanova hove onto the horizon, and started closing the gap with startling speed.

From 10th at halfway, in 1:17:28, over a half minute behind the leaders, she caught Morgunova by 35k, and ran a ‘negative split’ – a faster second half – of 1:15:21, to win easily in 2:32:49, second only to Salina Kosgei’s 2:31:55 in 2006.

“This is very important for my career, to win coming back after my first baby,” said Mayorova-Ivanova. “I felt very comfortable at halfway, and I could still see the leaders, that they weren’t going away. This is a good time for the conditions.”

Morgunova hung in to finish second in 2:34:49, and Mary Akor Beasley of the USA was a surprise third, in 2:36:44. But she collapsed over the finish line, and had to be stretchered off to recover.



Leading Results - 

MEN -
 1. Luke KIBET, KEN               2.11.25
 2. Johnstone CHEPKWONY, KEN      2.11.33
 3. Vincent KROP, KEN             2.11.51
 4. John KELAI, KEN               2.13.14
 5. Leonard MUCHERU, KEN          2.15.18
 6. Duncan KOECH, KEN             2.15.54
 7. Robert John STEPHEN, TAN      2.16.40
 8. Vincent KIPSOS, KEN           2.19.26
 9. Stanley RONO, KEN             2.19.52
10. Sammy TUM, KEN                2.20.52

WOMEN
 1. Albina MAYOROVA-IVANOVA, RUS   2.32.49
 2. Lyubov MORGUNOVA, RUS          2.34.49
 3. Mary AKOR-BEASLEY, USA         2.36.44
 4. Jacquiline NYETIPI, KEN        2.37.56
 5. Leah MALOT, KEN                2.38.02
 6. Emily KIMURIA, KEN             2.40.02
 7. Magdalene CHEMJOR, KEN         2.41.29
 8. Aberesh TESFAYE, ETH           2.41.40
 9. Irene MOGAKA, KEN              2.42.22
10. Alem ASHEBIER, ETH             2.42.26

Wanjiru and Mikitenko to defend their London titles

London, UK - Reigning champions Sammy Wanjiru and Irina Mikitenko will return to defend their London Marathon titles next April against two of the strongest fields ever assembled in the 29-year-old history of the race.
The Virgin London Marathon is an IAAF Gold Label Road Race.
Wanjiru smashed the course record last April when he added the London crown to his Beijing Olympic gold, while Mikitenko will be chasing a rare triple after she retained her title in superb style in 2009. The German is aiming to become only the second woman ever to win three London marathons in a row following fellow-German Katrin Dorre’s trio of victories from 1992 to 1994.
Yet both champions face stern tests if they are to repeat their triumphs on Sunday 25 April next year.
MEN’s race
Despite his brilliant win in a personal best of 2:05:10 seconds this year, Wanjiru will be only the third quickest in the 2010 men’s field.
The line-up includes no fewer than six men who have run faster than 2:05:30, including reigning World champion Abel Kirui and three-times London winner Martin Lel, both of Kenya, plus World and Olympic bronze medallist Tsegaye Kebede of Ethiopia, who was second in London last year, and former double World champion Jaouad Gharib of Morocco, who was third.
Quickest of the lot, however, is Kenyan record holder Duncan Kibet, the second fastest marathon runner of all time thanks to his 2:04:27 victory in Rotterdam this year. Like Kirui, Kibet will be making his London Marathon debut.
“I am delighted to be returning to London again,” said Wanjiru, the 23-year-old Kenyan who was crowned World Marathon Majors champion in November. “I will be doing my best to defend my title after I worked so hard to win it last year. London always has the world’s best athletes but with opponents such as Duncan, Abel and Martin it will be even tougher this time.”
There are many other likely challengers among the 16-strong elite field, including sub-2:07 World silver medallist Emmanuel Mutai of Kenya, plus two-times New York Marathon champion Marilson Dos Santos of Brazil.
Two Eritreans – Yonas Kifle, and the triple World Half Marathon champion Zersenay Tadese – will also be in the hunt for medals, while the Asian challenge comes from a trio of Japanese runners – the Matsumiya twins, Yuko and Takayuki, and Yusei Nakao.
Britain’s hopes of a decent showing rest with Dan Robinson, the Commonwealth Games silver medallist, and Andrew Lemoncello, a former steeplchaser making his debut over 26 miles 385 yards.
WOMEN’s race
Competition in the women’s race will be equally fierce. While Mikitenko heads the field with her German record of 2:19:19, the World Marathon Majors champion faces stiff opposition from Romania’s Olympic title holder Constantina Dita, all three medallists from the Berlin World Championships, and Britain’s Mara Yamauchi who produced a brilliant performance in 2009 to finish second just a minute behind the German in a personal best of 2:23:12.
“My goal is to win a third London Marathon and equal Katrin’s record,” said the 37-year-old Mikitenko. “I love running in London and I am determined to be fit and ready for the challenge, although I know it will be difficult against such strong opponents.”
In all, six athletes in the 19-strong field have broken 2:22 while 12 have run faster than 2:25. Athens Olympic medallist Deena Kastor is the second fastest in the field, and the American will be keen to repeat her 2006 London victory when she set a US record of 2:19:36.
New York silver medallist Lyudmila Petrova has the third quickest time. She is one of five strong Russians, including fellow veteran Svetlana Zakharova, three-times a silver medallist in London, Liliya Shobukhova, the 2009 Chicago champion and third here last year, and Inga Abitova, winner of the recent Yokohama marathon.
There’s also a phalanx of fast Ethiopians, including the Berlin champion, Atsede Habtamu, the 2009 Dubai champion, Bezunesh Bekele, the World Championships bronze medallist, Mergia Aselefech, and former Paris champion Magarsa Assale Tafa.
World champion Bai Xue of China leads the Asian threat, along with World silver medallist Yoshimi Ozaki and her Japanese teammate Yukiko Akaba. Two New Zealanders, Kim Smith and Fiona Docherty, and South African Tanith Maxwell make up the field.
Virgin London Marathon race director David Bedford said: “We are delighted to welcome our two champions back to head such high quality races. These elite fields are as good as any we’ve had in the previous 29 London Marathons, and I am sure they will produce two superb contests for the London crowds.”
Natasha Grainger (organisers) for the IAAF
The full elite fields and their best times
Men
Samuel Wanjiru KEN 2:05:10
Duncan Kibet KEN 2:04:27
Abel Kirui KEN 2:05:04
Martin Lel KEN 2:05:15
Tsegaye Kebede ETH 2:05:20
Jaouad Gharib MAR 2:05:27
Emmanuel Mutai KEN 2:06:15
Yonas Kifle ERI 2:07:34
Marilson Dos Santos BRA 2:08:37
Abdi Abdirahman USA 2.08.56
Yuko Matsumiya JPN 2:09:18
Takayuki Matsumiya JPN 2:10:04
Dan Robinson GBR 2:12:14
Yusei Nakao JPN 2:14:23
Zersenay Tadese ERI DNF (London 09)
Andrew Lemoncello GBR debut

Women
Irina Mikitenko GER 2:19:19
Deena Kastor USA 2:19:36
Lyudmila Petrova RUS 2:21:29
Constantina Dita ROU 2:21:30
Svetlana Zakharova RUS 2:21:31
Magarsa Assale Tafa ETH 2:21:31
Bezunesh Bekele ETH 2:23:09
Mara Yamauchi GBR 2:23:12
Bai Xue CHN 2:23:27
Yoshimi Ozaki JPN 2:23:30
Liliya Shobukhova RUS 2:24:24
Atsede Habtamu ETH 2:24:47
Mergia Aselefech ETH 2:25:02
Yukiko Akaba JPN 2:25:40
Inga Abitova RUS 2:25:55
Tanith Maxwell RSA 2:36:38
Fiona Docherty NZL 2:40:18
Kim Smith NZL DNF (New York 08)
Maria Konovalova RUS debut

Kibet Ready to turn up the heat – Singapore Marathon preview

Singapore - Luke Kibet rescued a relatively dismal 2008 by winning the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon in a course record 2:13:01 a year ago. This year hasn’t been much better for him so far, and he recognises that it’s going to be a lot harder to repeat his rescue act against an improved field in Sunday’s race around the city-state. But the 2007 World champion has one major advantage over his rivals - he runs well in heat and humidity.

The Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon is an IAAF Silver Label Road Race.

After victory in the Lagos half-marathon at the beginning of the year, Kibet failed to finish the London Marathon in April, suffering from a left achilles’ tendon injury, which endured for several weeks, and took him at one stage to the celebrated Dr Hans Wilhelm Mueller-Wohlfahrt in Munich, for treatment. “I was in Germany, at my manager’s for almost four months this year,” he said on arrival in Singapore on Friday. “And I went to Munich a couple of times, for just a day. I think it’s OK now.

“It’s a much tougher field here this year. There are four really good men here this time.” Almost inevitably, they are Kenyan compatriots. He named John Kelai, winner in 2003, Vincent Kipsos, Evans Ruto and Leonard Mucheru, all of whom like him have run well under 2:10.

But there is the little matter of the ever-constant heat and humidity in Singapore, which has kept the course record somewhat higher than those personal bests. Kibet’s victory at the world champs in Osaka two years ago came in 33C heat and high humidity, and he has twice won in Taipei, which enjoys, if that’s the right word, similar conditions. Singapore will be cooler, but not by much.

“It depends a lot on the weather,” says Kibet, “but we didn’t have very good pacing last year, and I won by over two minutes. This year we have Vincent (Krop) pacing, and with the others, if we stay together, I think we can run under 2:13, maybe even 2:11, 2:12”.

That would certainly be a bonus for organisers who, inside the seven years since this race was revived, with Standard Chartered as sponsors, have turned the event into the biggest and best in south-east Asia. There will be 50,000 runners in the three events, including 10k and ‘half,’ with over 15,000 in the marathon. And a first prize of $35,000, for both men and women has ensured a vastly improved elite entry.

Fastest woman in the field with 2:25:12, Muscovite Lyubov Morgonova has run over 40 marathons. “But none,” she said, “in conditions like this. The closest was in Hawaii, but even that was not as humid as Singapore”.

Her two colleagues, Yuliya Gromova, from St Petersburg, and Mayorova Ivanova, from Cheboksary concurred, and agreed that conditions might put five minutes on their best times. But even that might be optimistic, given that returning 2007 winner Alem Ashebier of Ethiopia clocked 2:37:09.

Ethiopian double at Obudu International

Obudu, Nigeria - Ethiopia’s Habtamu Fikadu and Mamitu Deska stole the limelight at the 5th Obudu International Mountain Race in Obudu, Cross River State in south east Nigeria on Saturday (28).

WOMEN’s race
The runners were flagged of by the Obioma Liyel Imoke, the wife of the Governor of Cross River State Senator Liyel Imoke, and after barely a kilometre into the race a large lead group had already formed which comprised only Ethiopians and Kenyans who steadily pulled away from the rest of the field.
The Ethiopians upfront were Mestawat Tufa, Meselech Melkamu, Mamitu Deska, Rehima Kedir, and Belamesh Gebre, and their Kenyan rivals were Margaret Wangare, Pauline Wangui, Genevive Njoku, Pamela Chepkorch Bundtich and Rose Jerotich Kosgei
Over the first half of the race a series of surges by Melkamu and Tufa had the effect of thinning down the group as Maiyo, Wangui, Bundotich, Njoku, Kosgei and Wangare, Kedir gradually fell off the pace.
However, Melkamu’s spirited attacks took their toll on her too during the steepest section of the course during the seventh and eight kilometres. Clutching her stomach she suddenly stopped leaving Deska and Tufa to forge ahead, though she did get back into her stride and keep in contact.
As the gradient levelled out in the ninth kilometre, Deska made her move breaking away from Tufa and went onto carry the day in a winning time of 49:12. She was followed by Tufa (49:13), and a now distant Melkamu (49:54). Wangare was the first Kenyan across the finish line in 49:55.
“Although the race was just 11 kilometres it demands the effort of a half marathon runner. I am happy to win in this my first visit to Nigeria,” confirmed a delighted Deska.
Melkamu, the Africa 10,000m record holder, commented, “this is a tough hilly race. I first felt the pain in my stomach at six kilometres. But rather than fading away it became more intense so I stopped running for while before resuming again. This race requires special preparation.”
Jolanda Verstraten (the Netherlands) was the best placed non-African in the race. She vowed to return, “I liked this experience although it was a tough race. Next year I will be back aiming to finish in the top ten.”

MEN’s race

Senator Liyel Imoke, the Cross River State Governor flagged off the men’s contest 15 minutes after the women’s race got underway. In a similar fashion to that earlier competition, the men’s showdown was dominated by East Africans.
Defending champion Abebe Dinkesa and compatriot Habtamu Fikadu led a spirited effort to fend off the larger Kenyan contingent lead by Hillary Kipchumba and MacDonald Ondara, and the experienced Ugandans Geoffrey Kusuro, who is the reigning World Mountain Running champion, John Mellasiya and Martin Torotich.
The steep incline at the eighth kilometre was once again the defining moment of the race allowing Fikadu to take the first advantage which he built on and increased in the final sprint for the finish line. However even though Fikadu prevailed in winning the race in 42:03, he was closely followed home by Kusuro (42:11) Ondara (42:14) Kipchumba (42:18) and Dinkesa (52:35).
“I am glad to win this race once again,” says Fikadu. “I won this race in 2007, but last year did not have a good season and finished third. After finishing fifth at the World Cross Country Championships in Amman, Jordan in March, I was sure that I could win this race today.”
Defending champion Dinkesa was gracious in defeat, “after the World Championships in Berlin Germany I had an injury. So I have trained for only three weeks before coming to Obudu. Next year I will be back to win the title.”
This year the event incorporated the inaugural men’s African Mountain Running Championships and a women’s championship will be introduced next year.

Kipruto holds off Kosgei by a second in Florence

Florence, Italy - Kenyan Ben Chebet Kipruto took the win at the 26th edition of the Florence Marathon (Sun 29) holding off Reuben Kosgei by one second in 2:11:21. It was the second win of the year for Kipruto who finished first at the Maratona di Sant’Antonio in Padova last April in his 2:09:42 PB.
Kosgei finished the first marathon of his career in Florence after his unlucky debut in Vienna where he dropped out at 25km. Assefa Reta Girma from Ethiopia finished third in 2:12:42, three seconds ahead of Italian 37-year-old top runner Danilo Goffi who kept his dream alive to make the National team for next summer’s European Championships in Barcelona.
Eva Maria Gradwohl from Austria was the surprise winner in the women’s race in 2:35:41 in the 20th marathon of her career. Europe prevailed over Africa in the fight for second place with Lena Gavelin from Sweden second in 2:37:11 ahead of Girma Tadesse (2:37:28) from Ethiopia. Ivana Iozzia finished as the first italian in fourth place in 2:37:35.
MEN

Nine men in the leading pack went through at 5km in 15:20 The group featured Reuben Kosgei, Ben Chebet Kipruto, Valentin Ondego Orare, Paul Ngeny Kipkemboi from Kenya, Assefa Girma from Ethiopia, Daniele Caimmi, Danilo Goffi and Denis Curzi from Italy and Abdelhadi El Hachimi from Morocco. There were no pacemakers in the group.
Kosgei, Assefa and Kipruto ran at the front of this nine-men leading group which reached the 15km in 46:00.
During the 18th km Kosgei, Assefa, Kipruto and El Hachimi injected a 2:57 split and had pulled away from the rest of the group by 20km.
However, Daniele Caimmi who returned to marathon running after two years managed to catch up with the four men at the front which went through at halfway in 1:04:32 but Caimmi was soon dropped again by the four Africans.
The other Italian challenger, Denis Curzi, who suffered from a bout of flu ten days ago, was forced to drop out of the race before the 30 km.
By 30km Kosgei, Assefa and Kipruto had carved out a gap of 18 seconds and it was this trio who secure in front fought for the win.
Kipruto and Kosgei at 38km broke away from Assefa who lost the ground. In the final 2 kilometres they battled it out with Kipruto pulling clear with a gap of five seconds over Kosgei but the former Olympic Steeplechase champion did not give up and managed to close the gap dangerously  in the final kilometre, with his opponent holding on to win in 2:11:21 by just one second!
It was the sixth victory for Ben Chebet Kipruto who has already won in Innsbruck 2005 (2:12:04), Trieste 2006 (2:16:22) Carpi 2008 (2:10:50), Thessaloniki 2006 (2:13:40) and Padua 2009 (2:09:42). He dropped out at this year’s Venice Marathon at 30 km due to stomach problems.
“I ran in Venice but I did not finish the race. I prepared very well and I wanted to get a second chance. My coach Claudio Berardelli told me that I could win the race”, said Kipruto.
Second placed Kosgei had won the Sydney Morning Herald Half Marathon in Australia on 17 May in 1:04:18. During his distinguished track career Kosgei became the youngest ever runner to win the Olympic 3000m Steeplechase title when he took the gold in Sydney 2000 at the age of 21 and then won the World title one year later in Edmonton. In 2001 he also clocked 7:57.19 in Brussels. “I need to get more experience over the marathon distance but I feel that I am a 42 km runner,” said Kosgei.
For Danilo Goffi the Florence Marathon was the start of a second career after many ups and downs in the last two years. “Last August I began training hard with the dream to take part in my fourth European Championships next summer in Barcelona. After some difficult years I look forward to next year with great confidence”, said Goffi, 1998 European silver medallist.
WOMEN

Double Italian marathon champion Ivana Iozzia took the lead with a Ethiopian duo formed by Dagne Kaligan and Girma Tadesse at 10km mark which they reached in 35:38. Iozzia kept the lead until the 21km mark a point which she passed in 1:15:48, leaving Tadesse in front, with Kaligan in third, while Austrian Maria Gradwohl reached halfway in fourth place in 1:16:16.
The race slowed in the second half and saw the race demise of Kaligan, which left the 36-year-old Austrian beginning to close the gap on Iozzia who began fading seriously after 30km, and would eventually complete in fourth (2:37:35).
Tadesse remained out in front with a seven seconds margin over the chasing Gradwohl who continued her great second half, catching-up with the Ethiopian when 2:28 was on the clock and finishing a clear winner in 2:35:41.
Sweden’s Lena Gavelin overtook Tadesse who was fading in the final part of the race and finished runner-up in 2:37:11 from the Ethiopian (2:37:28).
It was the tenth marathon win for Gradwohl who won the Graz Marathon five times, the Linz Marathon four times and set her PB of 2:30:51 in Linz in 2008. Gradwohl, mother of a 15-year-old boy, took part in the Olympic Games marathon in Bejing where she finished 57th in 2:44:24.
“I set my goal to qualify for the European Championships in Barcelona. It’s a big honour to win in this beautiful city. After finishing fifth in Casablanca on a very hot day, I want to enjoy running and I have decided to take part in races held in beautiful cities,” said Gradwohl.
      

Selected results from the Florenze Marathon

Men’s race:
1 Ben Kipruto Chebet (Kenya) 2:11:21
2 Reuben Kosgei Seronei (Kenya) 2:11:22
3 Assefa Reta Girma (Ethiopia) 2:12:42
4 Danilo Goffi (Italy)   2:12:45
5 Daniele Caimmi (Italy)  2:15:14
6 Abdelhadi El Hachimi (Marocco) 2:16:17
7 Francesco Bona (Italy)  2:17:02
8 Federico Simionato (Italy)  2:18:03

Women’s race:
1 Eva Maria Gradwohl (Austria) 2:35:41
2 Lena Gavelin (Sweden)  2:37:11
3 Girma Tadesse (Ethiopia)  2:37:28
4 Ivana Iozzia (Italy)   2:37:35

Austrian wins Great Australian Run

MELBOURNE: Austrian Guenther Weidlinger upstaged Olympic champions Sammy Wanjiru and Stefano Baldini to take out the Great Australian Run over 15 kilometres (9.3 miles) yesterday.
The three-time Olympian kicked clear in the final stages of the mass public run to win in 43:01, 17 seconds ahead of Australians Collis Birmingham and Martin Dent.

Kenya's Beijing Olympic marathon champion Wanjiru was fourth in 44:20 and 2004 Athens Olympic marathon gold medallist Baldini finished 11th in 45:42.

Wanjiru, 23, only arrived in Australia late Friday because of the hospitalisation of his daughter and said his tiredness had affected his form.

The man tipped to break Haile Gebrselassie's world marathon record next year, he wasn't at his best as he chose to sit in the leading pack rather than aggressively set the tempo out in front.

"Today (yesterday) was not my day," Wanjiru said. "I can come here to try again (next year), maybe to break the course record or world record for 15km."
Weidlinger and Birmingham ran away from Wanjiru at the 6.5km mark and the Austrian found something extra to shake off Birmingham just before the 10km mark and didn't look back in the final 5km.

"It's probably one of my biggest victories because I have beaten two Olympic champions with Baldini and Wanjiru and I have beaten the European champion Jose Manuel Martinez (who finished eighth in 44:58)," Weidlinger, 31, said.

"He (Wanjiru) showed from the start that somebody should lead with him and after 1.5km, I thought I feel good and I am in the race and in the rhythm so I tried to push a bit and split up the lead group.

"I realised that Wanjiru was not in his best shape so I tried to push the last 200 metres uphill and we lost him."

Australian Nikki Chapple won the women's race in 50:18 ahead of compatriot Benita Willis and British dual Olympian Helen Clitheroe. -- AFP

Jamaica's Bolt takes third gold

ATHLETICS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
Venue: Olympic Stadium, Berlin Date: 15-23 August

Usain Bolt made it a hat-trick of golds at the World Championships as Jamaica won the 4x100m relay but the quartet failed to set a new world record.

Bolt, who had already won the 100m and 200m titles in Berlin, ran the third leg of the relay with the Jamaican team crossing the line in 37.31 seconds.

Steve Mullings, Michael Frater and Asafa Powell were the other three members of the team that won gold.

They finished ahead of Trinidad with Great Britain winning bronze.

With Bolt complaining of tiredness following his world records in his 100m and 200m victories during the week, the 23-year-old, along with Powell, was rested in the earlier heats before Saturday's relay final.

With the American team disqualified in the semi-final, the Jamaicans began the race as hot favourites and did not disappoint the packed Olympic Stadium in Berlin.

"I wasn't really thinking about getting three gold medals because I could be in better shape," said Bolt, who has now matched his three-gold haul at the Beijing Olympics.

Despite the Jamaican team clocking the world's second fastest ever time in the 4x100m, Bolt was apologetic for not feeling 100% and said: "It is a little bit my fault." Jamaican Mullings got the quartet off to a fine start and they were rarely troubled as Bolt handed over to Powell to bring the team home.

Trinidad and Tobago's time of 37.62s saw them set a new national record, while Britain, which included Simeon Williamson, Tyrone Edgar, Marlon Devonish and Harry Aikines-Aryeetey, ran a season's best of 38.02 to grab an impressive bronze.

It was Jamaica's seventh gold medal of the Championships with their 4x100m women's relay team also earlier winning gold.

It has been another stunning show from Bolt at this year's World Championships in Berlin.

The Jamaican, who only turned 23 on Friday, smashed the world records in the 100m (9.58s) and 200m (19.19s) which followed his phenomenal triple Olympic gold performances in Beijing a year ago.

"Am I getting used to winning? You cannot get used to winning," he added.

"But winning three gold medals in Berlin is wonderful and I am proud of myself."

Cheruiyot, redemption time

Berlin, Germany – It was Meseret Defar who said this year would be all about redemption. Unfortunately for the Ethiopian who lost her Olympic title last summer, it wasn’t her who found it here in Berlin, but Vivian Cheruiyot, the tiny Kenyan woman she has beaten so often on the world’s biggest stage.

Two years ago in Osaka Defar outkicked Cheruiyot on the last lap of the women’s 5000m final to win by five metres, just two months after the Ethiopian set the then World record in Oslo with Cheruiyot chasing her home to clock 14:22.51, a Kenyan record and still her PB.

Cheruiyot said earlier this year that that performance was the highlight of her career. Until tonight that is.

After 11 5000m races against Defar, of which she had won just one – in Brussels last September – Cheruiyot finally got her revenge at the 12th IAAF World Championships with a calculated piece of front running and never-say-die determination in the final straight not to let her chance slip away.

“Normally when I race Defar I finish second,” she said afterwards, failing to hide her joy behind a smile that just got bigger and bigger the more she talked. “But this was my time. I believed in myself because of the training I have done in Kenya and here.

“In Osaka two years ago I was the silver medallist and now I have the gold medal. It is a great achievement for me.”

The 25-year-old added her first major title was inspired by the example of her training partner, Linet Masai, who won the 10,000m on day one. Like Masai, Cheruiyot got her tactics exactly right, as she wound up the pace lap by lap and kilometre by kilometre to take the finishing sting from Defar’s legs and give Kenya its first women’s 5000m World Championships gold.

“They say patience pays and we have had to be patient,” she said. “But now is our time. It has been such a long time that Kenya has not got the medal in the 5,000m. I think we are coming now. I got the silver in Osaka and today I improved to gold so it is great to be champion.

“After Linet won the 10k race she encouraged me to be self confident. She was my biggest inspiration and I believed I can beat Defar.”

Indeed, it was as great day for Kenya, as Cheruiyot’s victory followed a Kenyan triumph over their Ethiopian rivals in the men’s Marathon earlier in the afternoon.

“Now we have beaten Ethiopia in both the 5000m and the 10,000m,” added Cheruiyot, who shares the same manager, Ricky Simms, and training programme as Masai. “It’s great for me and Linet because we train so hard together and our performances here showed we got it right.”

Cheruiyot certainly did. She’s competed against Defar enough to know that a slow race would merely play into her hands – or maybe her feet. So she took initiative shortly before the 3000m mark in a dawdling final and slowly, slowly increased the speed. After 3:06 and 3:05 for the first two kilometres, she clocked 3:04.01, 3:00.74 and 2:42.18. Even when Defar moved past her with 150m to go she knew she wasn’t beaten and clawed her way back to win by more than half a second.

“For me the pace has to be fast,” she said. “If it’s too slow then anyone can win, and I know how fast Defar can be. I said to myself, ‘Maybe I can try my best and this time if I go fast enough I can win.’

“So I decided to go at a fast pace, to push, to push so the others could not do their last lap. On my last 100m I was pushing so hard, pushing, pushing. Finally I won. It’s so great to be a champion.”

Cheruiyot’s victory has indeed been a long time coming. Born in the rural district of Keiyo in the Rift Valley, she began running at school aged 11 and first competed internationally at the tender age of 14, at the 1998 world junior cross country championships. She won that title two years later and the same year, aged just 16, made her Olympic debut in Sydney where she was a finallist. No wonder she earned the nickname ‘Kidago’, Swahili for ‘Young One’.

But after winning her third world junior cross medal in 2002, Cheruiyot seemed to disappear from athletics. She never stopped training but took some time away from racing to finish exams.

A member of the Kenyan police team, she returned to competition in 2006 and a year later truly arrived as a world class athlete with those memorable duels against Defar.

Even in last summer’s Beijing final, a devastating race for Defar, who lost her Olympic title to Tirunesh Dibaba, the Kenyan was still adrift of her rival in fifth. And in last year’s World Athletics Final it was again Defar first, Cheruiyot second, as it was at the Bislett Games in Oslo this June.

No wonder Cheruiyot couldn’t stop smiling after finally getting revenge here in Berlin. “I want to thank everyone,” she said to the laughing media. “My husband, my coach, my manager, my brothers and sisters, the Kenyan police force who give me support and time to train – in fact, everyone in Kenya.

“We are going to have such celebrations. We will sing and dance. Everyone will sing and dance in Kenya.”

Even Defar caught the mood. Although visibly upset to have only taken the bronze, Defar broke into a smile herself and put her arm around the woman who had taken her title. They embraced and leant their heads together for the cameras almost as if their fates as athletes were somehow inseparable.

Kirui following Gebrselassie's Berlin example

Berlin, Germany – As a man who counts Haile Gebrselassie as his best friend, it was kind of fitting that Abel Kirui should win the men’s Marathon title at the IAAF World Championships in Berlin today.

Berlin is the city where the legendary Ethiopian has twice smashed the World record and the 27-year-old Kenyan has played a part both times – in 2007 when he finished second as Geb first stole Paul Tergat’s world mark; and last September when Kirui paced his friend to the historic time of 2:03:59, the world’s first sub-2:04 Marathon.

To return to the Germany capital 11 months later and destroy the hopes of Gebrelassie’s compatriots by becoming World champion himself was a dream for Kirui, but one this gregarious and outgoing young runner was utterly confident of turning into reality from the moment he stepped onto German soil last week.

“When I was reaching the finish line I still couldn’t believe it,” he said. “But I love running in Berlin. I know it so well from my times here with Haile, and that made it so special for me.

“I love this city. When I got off the plane I knew then I could win, I was so confident. This morning I prayed with my coach for help, but I was so sure I would do it.”

Kirui has actually run the Berlin city Marathon three times in the past, the first in 2006 when he finished ninth, and he joked after today’s victory that the thousands of spectators probably couldn’t believe it was him in the lead.

“I have been in three great races here,” he said. “But they won’t have believed it when they saw me today because before I was always pacing or I was finishing with four legs.

“But I always wanted to be a great champion and now I made it.”

Kirui made it with some style. Like Sammy Wanjiru in the Beijing Olympics a year ago, Kirui looked in control throughout today’s midday race, contested over a four-lap loop course that twisted and turned past many of the city’s famous landmarks.

And like Wanjiru he smashed the championships record as he powered home down Unter den Linten to the finish line at the Brandenburg Gate in 2:06:54, almost a minute and a half inside Jaouad Gharib’s six-year-old record.

Berlin marathons are famously flat and fast, of course, although this was not the well-known World Marathon Majors route which has seen so many world records. Indeed, a number of runners, including Ethiopia’s bronze medallist Tsegaye Kebede, said they found the narrow corners difficult to handle.

Not so the Kenyans. After waiting years 20 years for a global championships Marathon gold before Luke Kibet’s win in Osaka two years ago, Kenya has now won three titles in three years. And this is no accident.

According to Kenya’s team coach Peter Mathu, today’s race had been carefully planned for more than five months. Indeed, such is the nation’s strength in depth at this distance that they could leave out such runners as Wanjiru and three-time London champion Martin Lel to deliberately pick athletes who hadn’t run in big city races for three or four months.

It meant their tactics today could be just as brutal as those adopted by Wanjiru and Lel to bring Olympic gold last year. The three leading runners, Kirui, Emmanuel Mutai and Robert K. Cheruiyot dominated the head of the field then pushed the pace through the last 10km to leave their Ethiopian rivals trailing.

“I knew at the start the race would be won between 35 and 38km,” said Kirui. “The race was very tactical but I stayed focused and calm ready for this.”

“All of our guys had trained just for this for five months,” said Mathu. “It was very important for us to train all our runners to be able to run at the front and keep increasing the pace. We knew this was the only way we could beat the rest of the field.”

Mathu picked out Cheruiyot for special praise as the tall four-time Boston marathon winner took on the brunt of the pace-making duties.

Cheruiyot himself, the first World Marathon Majors winner back in 2007, confirmed that a Kenyan victory was his main concern.

“All I wanted was the team title,” he said. It was only when Ethiopia’s Deriba Merga finally showed signs of wilting that he allowed his two teammates to go.

“When I saw two Kenyans were going to be on the podium, only then did I relax,” he said. “Before then I had to keep pushing and pushing. Even my teammates were telling me I was going too fast.”

With three in the top five it was no surprise that Kenya easily won the World Marathon Cup, although for Kirui his win was a personal as well as a team triumph.

Although ranked sixth on the world all-time list, thanks to his 2:05:04 third place finish in an incredible Rotterdam race earlier this year, Kirui has only ever won one race at the distance, the relatively minor Vienna marathon in April 2008.

Not that he’s ever doubted the victories would come. After all, as child of the Rift Valley, Kirui did not have to look far for inspiration to become a great runner. Born into a family of four, he started running at Samitui Primary school, following in the footsteps of his uncle, Mike Rotich who went on to win the Salzburg marathon in 2007.

He claims his family’s running history goes back much further, however. “Our great grandfather was a runner,” he said. “He used to chase an antelope and catch it.”

It wasn’t chasing animals but chasing a job that finally got Kirui serious about running. After leaving high school with no great ambitions, he entered a race as part of an Administration Police recruitment exercise, and won. “I heard that there was recruitment and what you had to do was win a race, so I just entered, won, and was the only one picked of the nine finalists,” Kirui said.

From then on he was training seriously. He eventually moved to Kapsabet and began travelling to Europe – Poland specifically – to get race experience. He raced in the Berlin half marathon in April 2006 and won a place as a pacemaker for the full marathon in the German capital later that year. He did his pacing duties and just kept going, clocking 2:17:47. It wasn’t quick, but he knew with training he could get better.

A year later, he was back in Berlin, pacing Gebreselassie to his first World record and the Ethiopian immediately became his role model. Now, just two years later, with the words “World Champion” next to his name, the ever-confident Kirui has his sights set on his mentor’s record believing he can lower it by half a minute.

“It needs total preparation and total commitment in training, but, for sure, I very much think I can run 2:03:30 in the near future,” he said. “I need to recover and take my time before I can bring my body back to the stage where it can run that fast. But I think I can do it, maybe next year.”

And where does he think this will happen? Berlin of course – where else?

Bolt again, and again! 19.19 World record in Berlin

20 August 2009 - Berlin, Germany - Just when you thought Usain Bolt could not surprise any more, he only goes and runs another World record - this time over 200m.

Bolt's winning time - 19.19* - looks more like a grandparent's year of birth than a time for the 200m, but although it may take a while to digest, those are the new World record figures.

Former 200m World record-holder Michael Johnson had said earlier in the day that he felt Bolt was too tired to improve on the record of 19.30. But then again, Bolt does not know the meaning of fatigue.

Back in 1996 when Johnson set the world record of 19.32, it was widely acknowledged as one of the toughest records on the books. Bolt bettered it in Beijing, of course, but with this latest improvement it must surely be considered one of the greatest performances of all time, along with his 9.58* in the 100m last Sunday.

When Bolt set his sprint World records in Beijing, he was clearly trying harder in the 200m compared to his easing-down exploits in his 9.69 run over 100m. But the -0.9m/s wind reading in the Beijing 200m final gave hope that, in better conditions, Bolt would be capable of improving the record in better conditions.

So with the promise of another momentous performance from Bolt - along with the highly anticipated High Jump duel between Blanka Vlasic and Ariane Freidrich - the Berlin Olympic stadium was near capacity.

And Bolt did not disappoint.

But his crack at breaking the record was almost over before it even began. Frenchman David Alerte false-started and Bolt registered a slow reaction of 0.345. Fortunately, he had another attempt to start and at the second time of asking he absolutely nailed it - 0.133, the fastest reaction of the field.

The lanky Jamaican flew around the bend and was surged into the lead as he shot into the home straight. At half way, Shawn Crawford of the USA was in a clear silver medal position.

But while Bolt maintained - and extended - his lead, Crawford was being caught by Panama's Alonso Edward and US team-mate Wallace Spearmon.

Bolt streaked ahead to stop the clock at 19.20, later rounded down to 19.19, while Edward and Spearmon succeeded in catching Crawford. Edward, who came into this year with a 20.62 PB, registered a South American Area record of 19.81 in second place and at 19 years old became the youngest ever World medallist in the men's 200m. His time is also a world age-19 best, breaking the 19.88 set by Bolt in 2006. And anyone who breaks one of Bolt's records is certainly set for a bright future.

Spearmon won his second successive World 200m bronze with a time of 19.85 - his third best ever clocking - while Crawford tightened up on the line with a time of 19.89.

It was the first time in history that four men had dipped under 19.90 in the same race and also the first time in which five men had broken 20 seconds.

Whoever said Berlin was a slow track?

Certainly not Bolt. While speaking to track-side interviewers after his lap of honour, he said: "It wasn't a good race, but it was a fast one."

Indeed it boiled down to a race between Bolt and the clock, and his winning margin of 0.62 seconds is by far the biggest in World Championships history.

Rounding out the top eight were Jamaican Steve Mullings (19.98) in fifth, Charles Clark of the USA in sixth (20.39), Azerbaijan youngster Ramil Guliyev in seventh (20.61) and Alerte in eighth with 20.68.

Bolt improved his previous 200m World record by 0.11, the same amount of time he chopped off his 100m record on Sunday. But, as was the case in Beijing, he ran tonight's race into a headwind (-0.3m/s), which again begs the question - can he go quicker in better conditions?

For his efforts here tonight, Bolt bagged $160,000 to add to his 100m winnings of $160,000 (both prize packets include the $100,000 World record bonus from TDK). That's roughly $11,123 for each second of his 100m and 200m performances combined.

Of course there will always be the speculation of what defending champion Tyson Gay could have achieved if he had accepted his place in the 200m. No doubt, he would have been Bolt's closest challenger, but even Gay himself would probably admit that 19.19 is just a little beyond what he is currently capable of.

It could prove to be beyond what any other human is capable of for years to come. Any human, that is, but the man himself - Usain Bolt.

Richards – ‘I enjoyed every step of my race’

Berlin, Germany – It was the dethroned champion Christine Ohuruogu who put it best. “It was a good run and a brilliant time. I think she just wanted it more than the rest of us.”

World number one for the last five seasons, but never a champion, Sanya Richards finally got it right when it mattered most as she took her first major championships gold at the 12th IAAF World Championships in Berlin in superb style.

After the heartbreak of the Olympic final in Beijing last year, when she was overhauled by Ohuruogu in the finishing straight, and the misery of missing 400 qualification for the Osaka World Championships two years ago, the Jamaican-born American at last fulfilled the promise of her world billing on the biggest stage.

Yes, she wanted it all right. She wanted it bad.

Richards had looked tense on the start line, and appeared at first to go off too fast – as she did in Beijing – but the glamorous 24-year-old judged her race perfectly this time and was smiling with joy and relief before she’d even crossed the finish line.

It was a look that told the tale of her last four years, a look of relief that all the frustration, doubts and worries had come to an end, that all the expectations, hopes, and, most of all, pressure, had at last led to gold.

“I thought ‘Yes, finally’,” said Richards. “Finally I have a major title. Finally the hard work has paid off. To finally come across the finish line and not be disappointed is such a wonderful feeling.”

Gone were the sleek, go-faster sleeves she’d worn at the Olympics, as Richards –in bright red spikes – clocked her 38th sub-50 time (more than any other athlete in history), stopping the clock at 49-dead, the quickest in the world this year. It could have been quicker if this celebrity of American track and field hadn’t allowed herself to skip through the line, so pleased was she to have finally won the global title her dominance of the event surely deserves.

Moments later she was dancing with joy, literally. “It’s called the ‘Dallas Boogie’,” she explained later to the curious press when she was asked about her victory jiggle, as her watching mother, Sharon, and father, Archie, plus a whole entourage of grinning family members, giggled in recognition.

“I do it all the time at home in front of my family,” said Richards, who describes herself as a bit of a singer and dancer on her website. “It’s a Texas thing. I told my sisters if I won I was going to do it, so I thought, ‘Well, here goes. I’m better do it.’

“I don’t know if I jumped across the line or what I did. I just wanted to get there first whatever it took – a skip, a bound, or whatever. ”

Richards clearly likes Berlin’s Olympiastadion, and it’s deep blue-ovalled track in particular, as she has won here three times in the last four years over 400m, most recently at the ISTAF Golden League meeting in June.

“It feels so great to finally hear my name announced as world champion and I can now say my first title was on the blue track here,” said Richards. “I didn’t have much doubt before this race. I thought about all the positive experiences I’ve had on this blue track. I feel so comfortable running here.”

Indeed, she’d looked comfortable all week, sailing smoothly through the rounds with easy victories in 51.06 and 50.21. Many observers wondered if the experiences of 12 months ago would again bring her down in the final, especially when Jamaica’s Shericka Williams, the Olympic silver medallist who was second again here, produced the fastest ever 400m semi in 49.51.

Like Ohuruogu, Williams is renowned for her strong finish so Richards knew she’d have to get her tactics right. As Ohuruogu put it, “The pressure was on her to win a title more than for me to lose it.”

And Richards herself admitted the stress-induced condition, Behçet syndrome, which hampered her season two years ago, from did “flare up” this week as her own expectations grew and grew.

“It does come on when I get stressed but I know how to handle it now so I didn’t let it get in my mind and I was able to concentrate,” she said. “I think pressure did get to me in the past and that’s what I wanted to shake this time. I was confident in my rounds and in my race strategy.”

Despite being the IAAF’s Athlete of the Year in 2006, and the youngest woman ever to break 49-seconds, many have questioned Richards’ tactical nose in major championships.

After finishing fourth in the 2004 Olympic final, she was a favourite at the 10th World Championships in Helsinki four years ago, when she finished second, and was again at last year’s Olympics, when she had to settle for bronze. She was also second at the 2002 World Juniors and fifth over 200m in Osaka.

This time, though, she ran precisely to plan. The difference, she says, is confidence.

“I did go out well in the Olympics,” she said. “But today my split was 23-flat so it was almost the same. I don’t think I went too fast last year but this time I was really confident in my strategy. I enjoyed every step of my race tonight.

“I would love to have won the Olympics but sometimes you have to learn things to grow, and I think I’m a better athlete because of it.”

Richards added that a lot of credit should go to her coach Clyde Hart, famously guide to Michael Johnson and Jeremy Wariner, for making her more consistent and getting her to the start line with greater self belief.

Now she has a World Championships gold medal to place alongside the Super Bowl ring won by her boyfriend Aaron Ross, cornerback with the 2008 Super Bowl champions, the New York Giants.

Not that she’s satisfied yet.

“I’m only 24,” she said. “I have time. Lots of 400m runners are at their best when they’re 31 or 32 – look at Michael Johnson. 2009 is just the start.”

23 global golds for Bekele; Dreaming: Bekele vs Bolt at 800m

Berlin, Germany - So it took a very strong Kenenisa Bekele to restore Ethiopia’s long distance pride in Berlin at the 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics, on Monday night (17).

Two days after the country’s shock defeat by Kenya’s Linet Masai in the women’s 10,000 metres it was the double Olympic Champion and world record holder, who took the gold medal in the men’s 25 lap race. “I am very happy to have won this one for Ethiopia. It is not easy if you run for your country in a major championship,” said Bekele who counting team results at cross country has won 23 senior global gold medals in his career.

4 in the bag, ambition to surpass Haile

And as so often when Bekele takes a major race, there was something special to come with it. We are not talking about a World record in a championship race, though with his great time of 26:46.31 minutes the 27 year-old improved his own championship’s record from Paris 2003 (26:49.57).

But it was the great Haile Gebrselassie, with whom Kenenisa Bekele is now on the same level regarding the number or World Championship wins in the 10,000m. While Gebrselassie took each of the golds in 1993, 1995, 1997 and 1999 Bekele now also has four in a row: Paris 2003, Helsinki 2005, Osaka 2007 and Berlin 2009.

So in two year’s time, when the World Championships will take place in Daegu (Korea), Bekele could even surpass Haile Gebrselassie with a fifth win.

“To surpass Haile is always a major challenge for me. But we will have to wait what will happen until then. I have to stay healthy and fit.”

Jos Hermens, Bekele’s Dutch manager, confirmed: “Oh, yes, Kenenisa is still very determined to surpass Haile whenever there is a chance.”

5000m double

Well, there is one opportunity coming up very soon: next Sunday, when the 5000m final will take place. No man has so far taken both gold at 5,000 and 10,000m in the history of the World Championships. Gebrselassie had just missed out at his first World Championships back in 1993. In Stuttgart he took the 10,000m gold but then was narrowly beaten by Kenyan Ismael Kirui. After that Ethiopia’s superstar never tried doubling again at global championships.

Bekele also tried the double at his first World Championships in 2003. But he ended up with a bronze medal in Paris, narrowly beaten by Kenya’s winner Eliud Kipchoge and Morocco’s Hicham El Guerrouj. But of course Bekele succeeded in Beijing last year.

The prospect of a unique World Championships’ double seems to be an attractive feat for Bekele. “Yes, to take the double would be an important success for me,” said the world record holder at both distances. “But I will decide about the start tomorrow,” he added on Monday night. Asked if he feels that this might be the best chance at these championships to take both golds, Kenenisa Bekele replied: “It is never easy to win the 5,000 metres gold medal. Even if it might look so.”

Usain was very special

But chances seem to be very good that we will see more of Kenenisa Bekele in these World Championships. But first the Ethiopian will see more of World Championships’ action himself. “Yes, I watched the 100 metres and I enjoyed it. It was a superb race and the result from Usain was very special.”

Asked about his personal best at 100 metres Kenenisa replied: “It is 11.00 seconds.” Talking relaxed after the end of the official press conference in the dark outside the press conference tent next to the historic Olympic Stadium he was asked about his improved English: “I do not really study it at home, but because I speak regularly I am improving more and more.”

Over 800m Haile’s confident of his success

But back to Usain Bolt: How about an 800m race against the 100m World record holder? Who would win that one? “Oh I would definitely beat him if we would race 800 metres. I would be ready”, said Bekele, who, after answering this one, may prompt meeting directors to turn to him regarding a challenge with Usain Bolt.

Monday’s race had been Bekele’s first 10,000m event this year. Following his stress fracture in the foot in November 2008 he had to abandon any starts in the indoor season and in cross country this year. “Such an injury can happen, so I was not feeling too disappointed. I recovered well and the main goal of the year had always been the World Championships in Berlin.”

At the start of the season Bekele then concentrated on the 5000m and successfully stayed in the AF Golden League Jackpot with wins in Berlin, Oslo, Rome and Paris. But although he had not raced the 10,000m before Monday he was confident.

“Of course you can never be sure that you will win a race – you can only dream about that. But I prepared very well. And because of this I felt comfortable even with the fast pace. At first I stayed back a bit, but I felt fine all the way,” said Bekele and added: “There was no team tactic today. It can not work when the pace is so fast. You can do this if the race is slow, but if it is fast then you have to run for yourself only.”

Bekele once more did this in an impressive way.

Bolt sets record to win 100m gold

ATHLETICS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
Venue: Olympic Stadium, Berlin Date: 15-23 August

Triple Olympic champion Usain Bolt set a new world record as he stormed to a stunning victory in the 100m at the World Championships in Berlin.

The 22-year-old Jamaican recorded a time of 9.58 seconds to shave 0.11 off the mark he set last year when winning gold at the Beijing Olympics.

American Tyson Gay was second in a time of 9.71, with Jamaica's Asafa Powell claiming bronze in 9.84.

Britain's Dwain Chambers came sixth in a season's best time of 10.00.

Bolt, who set three world records when winning his Olympic golds in Beijing last summer, served up another superlative display to enhance his reputation as the best sprinter of all time.

In the final, he powered out of the blocks at the first time of asking and took control of the race within the first 30m, the crowd going wild as he streaked across the line.

Bolt's time represents the biggest increase in the record since electronic timing was introduced in 1968.

"I was ready, I was feeling good after the semi-finals," Bolt told BBC Sport.

"I knew it was going to be a great race and I came out and executed it. It's a great time. I did well and I feel good in myself."

Former world record holder Powell paid tribute to his compatriot, saying: "When I saw the time I had to try and catch him, but I couldn't."

Gay, who went into the final as the reigning world champion, has been troubled by a nagging groin pain and had to cut practice on his start.

"I ran the best I could but it was not enough," he said. "I believe I put in a championship performance and I am very pleased with the national record.

"I'm happy he ran 9.5 because I knew he could do it. I'm happy for him."

Chambers, back competing at

the top level after serving a two-year ban for taking the designer steroid THG in 2003, said the final was a "great experience".

"It is hard to explain what it is like to go out there and stand on the line to compete with the best in the world," said the 31-year-old. "It does not get easier as you get older but it is worth it."

Earlier, there was controversy as Britain's Tyrone Edgar was disqualified from the semi-finals.

After Bolt made the opening false start, Edgar was ruled to have transgressed the second time, although initial reaction times seemed to suggest that decision was harsh.

"I don't think it was a false start," said the 27-year-old Edgar, who was also disqualified at the London Grand Prix last month.

"To me it looked pretty good but there is nothing I can do. I am not going to argue the point. I am disappointed right now because I reckon I would have made the final."

After round two, 100m momentum with Bolt and Bailey

Berlin, Germany - Both literally and figuratively, the quarter-finals of the men’s 100m managed to separate the dash’s boys from the main event’s men. And the big men at the moment are Usain Bolt and Daniel Bailey.

It may not have been the fastest, but Heat five, featuring the World record holder and his Antiguan training partner, was certainly the most entertaining, and arguably the toughest.

Not that Bolt and Bailey had a particularly difficult time breezing through to tomorrow evening’s semi-finals. With the best starts in the field, the pair, running side-by-side, ran virtually stride-for-stride through the finish, sharing glances and trading smiles back and forth over the final 30 metres. Nor did it matter that the comparably diminutive Bailey, who barely reaches the Jamaican’s broad shoulders, crossed the line first in 10.02 to Bolt’s 10.03. The ease with which Bolt ran suggested a far different result when he’ll be seriously tested. Not to be outdone, the relaxed 22-year-old Bailey played the part of a medallist in waiting quite admirably.

The race claimed a pair of strong names, Churandy Martina of the Netherlands Antilles (10.19) and British champion Simeon Williamson (10.23).

Also running well was former World record holder Asafa Powell who breezed onward with a strong victory in Heat Three. Second or third out of the blocks, Powell got into gear quickly and gradually pulled away from American Darvis Patton. Easing up some 15 metres from the line, Powell clocked 9.95, the evening’s first sub-10 and fastest of the round, ahead of Patton (10.05) who finished runner-up. Trinidad’s Marc Burns was third in 10.12 to move on as well. 2001 World champion Kim Collins, fourth in 10.20, did not. The race also saw the departure of African record holder Olu Fasuba (10.25) and Frenchman Ronald Pognon (10.27).

After a somewhat sluggish start, defending champion Tyson Gay was forced to work harder than he would have liked through the midway point of Heat Four before he finally took control. He won handily in 9.98, ahead of Jamaican Michael Frater (10.09), the 2005 silver medallist, and lanky Norwegian Jaysuma Ndure (10.16).

After a pair of false starts, it was U.S. champion Michael Rodgers from gun-to-tape in Heat Two. Unfazed by the delay and running relaxed, the 24-year-old cruised to a 10.01 win. Briton Tyrone Edgar was next in 10.12, with Naoki Tsukahara (10.15) of Japan. Gerard Phiri needed a Zambian national record of 10.16 to advance on time. Guilty of the false start was French teenager Christophe Lemaitre’s whose season, which has included a 10.04 European junior record, ended on a down note with his unceremonious departure.

From the gun, Heat One was dominated by Briton Dwain Chambers and Olympic silver medallist Richard Thompson of Trinidad. Chambers got out well and maintained his lead, stopping the clock in 10.04, a season’s best. Thompson was never far behind, reaching the line second in 10.08. Further back, Frenchman Martial Mbandjock (10.22) advanced by right

After thriling title run, Masai no longer the bridesmaid

Berlin, Germany – When Kenyan distance runner Moses Masai was asked yesterday morning how his younger sister Linet would fare in the women’s 10,000m he said he thought she’d do well. “But whatever she does,” he added. “I’ll do better.”

After his 19-year-old sibling’s sensational victory over the mighty Ethiopians in last night’s final he’ll have to produce one hell of a stunning performance in the men’s race on Monday to outdo her now. Not that the softly-spoken shy girl of Kenyan distance running is worried about that. Indeed, she believes her gold medal is a good omen for the Masai family.

Like sister, like brother?

“In Beijing both of us were fourth,” she says, referring to last year’s Olympic Games when she and her brother came agonisingly close to medals. “This year I am the champion and I believe he will be the same.”

Of course, Moses will have to overcome the triple champion and World record holder, Kenenisa Bekele, to match his sister’s achievement. And, no doubt, some will claim Linet’s win was devalued by the absence of Tirunesh Dibaba, the reigning champion and double Olympic gold medallist, who pulled out of the event a few days ago with a leg injury.

'It doesn't matter that Dibaba wasn't here'

Not surprisingly, Masai doesn’t see it that way. After all, she destroyed the Ethiopian in New York earlier this summer over 5000m, a performance that gave her the belief she could win again in Berlin’s Olympic Stadium, even though the Ethiopian great was below her best at the time.

“It doesn’t matter that Dibaba wasn’t there tonight,” she says. “This year I have beaten Dibaba already so I don’t think it would have made any difference.”

In fact, Masai’s victory over the remaining Ethiopians – Meselech Melkamu, the world number one and second fastest all-time, Meseret Defar, the reigning 5000m champion, and Wude Ayalew, who took the bronze medal – was no matter of chance or luck.

The Kenyan team devised a plan to end Ethiopia’s decade-long dominance of this event, and Masai made it work to perfection.

Initially, she was the only Kenyan runner named for the event but the federation later granted the World Cross Country champion, Florence Kiplagat, and African 5000m bronze medallist, Grace Momanyi, wildcard places in the team.

“We saw it would be unfair for Linet to compete against the Ethiopians alone at the World Championships, and coaches recommended to Athletics Kenya that they include Grace and Florence,” new national head coach, Peter Mathu, explained at the time. “I believe now we have a strong team to take on our rivals since Linet has runners she can work with.”

With her heartbreaking Beijing experience still fresh in her mind, Masai was right behind the plan. “You have to start pushing early and run strong since they can finish you with their kick and that requires serious training,” she said after the decision was made. “I will try to handle them in Berlin. I’m more experienced now.”

That extra experience certainly came to the fore as Masai executed the plan superbly. “We knew we’d have to run the last eight laps fast to run the finish out them,” she explains. “I was expecting the race to be harder and so with 3k to go I decided to push the pace higher because this way I could win.”

Indeed, it was only when the young Kenyan stretched her long, elegant legs to move from the back of the field to the front that the race raised itself above the pedestrian. With Momanyi for support she proceeded to run smoothly but swiftly, raising the pace from 3:09-3:10 per km to around 2:56-2:58. It was enough to burn the blistering finishing kicks out of Defar and Melkamu’s legs, and give herself a chance when it came to the final lap.

It was this move, says Masai, that meant she had strength to fight back from a boxed position 200m from home, and from fourth place with 100m to go, to outsprint her rivals on the line. “In the last 100m I saw that I was still strong and so I decided to push it,” she says. “I am so happy I was strong enough to win.”

Although Masai tries to play down talk of rivalry between Kenya and Ethiopia, her manager Ricky Simms explains that she was well aware of the history of the event, and in particular that the last non-Ethiopian gold medallist was Sally Barsosio in 1997, another member of his management group and of Masai’s training group.

“She knew that the last person to win apart from Ethiopians was Sally and that was important to her,” he says.

But there were other reasons, too, for her determination to win here, Simms explains. She was hurt after the Olympic final when she was in third place close to the end but just didn’t have enough strength to take a medal. And then she led the World Cross Country Championships this year until right at the death when passed by Kiplagat.

“She was worried that she was always going to be the bridesmaid and never the bride,” he says. “Well, now she’s the bride.

“I call her the Queen, and now she’s the Queen of Berlin,” he added when asked to reveal more about his latest champion’s character. “She appears shy but when you get to know her she has a lot of confidence. She’s very popular with her teammates.”

Her mental strength also comes from her background in a land of hardship, he says. She comes from the Mount Elgon area in Kenya where 600 people were killed last year in an internal conflict involving a guerrilla movement from the Sabaot tribe that she belongs too. She missed a flight to Belfast for a cross country race because of roadblocks and reports suggested her training was badly disrupted.

But she shakes her head at the memory, and backs away from the question with the lowered smile of a teenager still not quite used to the attention that comes with being a world champion.

At that point she escapes the prying microphones as Simms passes her the phone. “It’s Moses,” he says, ushering her away.

What’s the bet she put the handset to her mouth and raised her voice above its customary whisper to say, “Beat that, older brother.”