Evelyne Watta
29 April 2008
Addis Ababa — Ethiopia have entered a huge contingent of 140 athletes to the 16th African Athletics Championships that start tomorrow in Addis Ababa, but the Kenyan camp of 40 remained unfazed by the hosts' numbers and pedigree.
World 5,000 metres champion and record holder Meseret Defar, world 10,000 metres champion Tirunesh Dibaba and six times world cross country champion and 10,000 metres world title holder Kenenisa Bekele are some of the big names in the Ethiopian squad that will be banking on homeground support to sweep the medals table at the biannual competition.
Confident of great show
But Athletics Kenya secretary David Okeyo and the Kenyan team's head coach Julius Kirwa on Monday remained confident of a great showing by their lean squad.
Okeyo said it was not the association's fault that Kenya failed to send a bigger squad to Addis Ababa.
"We held our trials in Nairobi and, unfortunately, the top athletes failed to show up. We picked those who qualified. We will have to make do with the team that we have," Okeyo, also an organising delegate at the continental show said on Monday.
"We are not afraid of the Ethiopian numbers and I'm sure we will pull off a few surprises."
Qualifying marks
The official, however, said the moderate Addis temperatures suits the Kenyan team just fine and was confident that many athletes would attain the qualifying marks for this summer's Olympic Games in Beijing.
"The conditions here are perfect for the sprinters and long distance runners and the non-wind weather is also perfect for the throws," he said.
Coach Kirwa led the Kenyan team through a light workout after their arrival in the Ethiopian capital on Sunday night.
Addis Ababa has only one tartan track and this has led to a lot of congestion as all the athletes representing their nations have to make do with the solitary track for their workouts.
Kirwa concentrated on the warm-up and light stretches, talking to each athlete to monitor the progress.
"I have assessed each athletes and everyone knows what to do," Kirwa said.
Defar, Dibaba, and Bekele - affectionately known as the "Golden Trio of Ethiopian Athletics" - will lead the hosts' strong squad for the Addis championships that run until May 4.
The games' technical meeting will be held this morning to ratify the programme of events.
With the exception of injured Olympic 10000m silver medallist Sileshi Sihine, all of Ethiopia's top names have been included in long and middle distance squads.
Ethiopia also has medal aspirations in the men's and women's 3,000m steeplechase and the 20km race walk. There is nothing like a strong home nation squad to boost the spirit of the home nation in major championships. And Ethiopia's version of a 'Hollywood Red Carpet' has rolled out three of the world's top distance runners.
The star of the men's squad is without doubt Olympic and three-time world 10,000m champion Kenenisa Bekele, who will compete in front of his home crowd for the first time in four years. His last appearance yielded an Addis Ababa stadium record time in the men's 5,000m at the 2004 Ethiopian Athletics Championships.
In Addis Ababa, Bekele will compete over the 10,000m as opposed to defending his African 5,000m title.
Seasoned campaigner Gebregziabher Gebremariam, national champion Eshetu Wondimu, and world junior 10,000m champion Ibrahim Jeylan will be the others in the men's 10,000m team.
Despite Kenenisa's absence, his younger brother Tariku hopes to keep the men's 5,000m title in the family.
The 21-year old finally broke his barren spell of medals in senior competitions by winning world indoor 3,000m gold in Valencia, Spain this year.
Additional reporting by Elshadai Negash and Samson Haileyesus
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