Posted: January 9, 2005

Athletics: Grieving Bekele To Miss Edinburgh Race

From David Monti

(c) 2004 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved RaceResultsWeekly.com

By Bob Ramsak

Olympic 10,000 meter champion Kenenisa Bekele, whose fiancé died in Ethiopia last Tuesday, pulled out of next Saturday’s View From Edinburgh International Cross Country race, organizers announced today.

The triple-double World Cross Country champion, who won Britain’s top cross country race when it was previously contested in Newcastle, was the headline attraction at the new Holyrood Park venue in Edinburgh, Scotland.

The tragic sudden death of his 17-year-old partner, Alem Techale, occurred after she collapsed during a training session in a hilly, wooded area outside of Addis Ababa. The couple had planned to marry on May 8.

"He is still trying to calm himself down and obviously has done no training since the incident," said his manager Jos Hermens, who described Bekele as "devastated." Hermens also managed Techale, the reigning World Youth 1,500m champion.

Hermens, who attended the funeral last Wednesday, added, "In the circumstances he is still in no shape to race after such an experience. But he will be back and I thank the race organizers for their understanding and compassion in these awful circumstances."

Bekele’s upcoming scheduled appearances include the 3000 meters at the Reebok Boston Indoor Games on January 29, the Norwich Union Indoor Grand Prix in Birmingham on February 18, and the World Cross Country Championships on March 19-20.

Matthew Turnbull, the athlete director of the Edinburgh race, said, "Jos said he would let us know of Bekele's intentions as quickly as possible. Everyone involved in organizing the event understands the trauma he must be going through at the present time and again offer their deepest condolences in this very sad moment of grief. We said from the very beginning that the decision about Bekele's participation was one we would leave personally to the athlete and totally respect it."

Turnbull is now exploring options to find a replacement for Bekele in the nine kilometer race.