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Africa: Bekele and Dibaba Named in Strong Ethiopia Squad
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The Nation (Nairobi)
18 March 2008
Posted to the web 18 March 2008
Nairobi
Kenya's biggest athletics rivals, Ethiopia, have named a strong team to the World Cross Country championships, to be held in Edinburgh, Scotland on March 30.
Five-time double world cross country champion, Kenenisa Bekele, and two-time female long course champion, Tirunesh Dibaba, will lead Ethiopia's team.
Bekele and Dibaba, however, are not the only strong favourites in this team hoping to heal the wounds of a disastrous outing last year in Mombasa, where the country was reduced to two individual medals and a single team title, its worst showing in its 27-year competition history.
The peak of the selections is the return of Bekele to the world cross country a year after he dropped out at the end of the fourth lap in Mombasa. Although initially doubting whether he would ever return to the form that has seen him win five back-to-back short and long course titles, the 25-year-old returned to his old all-conquering self to win a third world 10,000m title in Osaka.
Bekele will be joined in Edinburgh by double world 10,000m silver medallist Sileshi Sihine, who has recovered from the injury that saw him drop out of an indoor 3000m in Stuttgart earlier this month.
Bekele's biggest challenge is expected to come from Abebe Dinkessa, who looked impressive when winning the trials a month ago, while Gebregziabher Gebremariam's presence will add experience to the star-studded line-up.
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Former World cross country double champion Tirunesh Dibaba makes a protracted return to competition and will have every reason to regain her title in a venue that has not always proven kind to her.
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