Posted: January 15, 2005

Athletics: Johnson, Kipchoge Headline Edinburgh Fields

From David Monti

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

By Bob Ramsak

EDINBURGH (14-Jan) -- Reigning world long course cross country champion Benita Johnson and Eliud Kipchoge, the reigning world champion in the 5000 meters, top the fields for Saturday’s View From Great Edinburgh Cross Country in the Scottish capital.

"It's definitely the strongest field I've raced against this year," said the 25-year-old Australian who arrives in Edinburgh just as her momentum towards a title defense begins to gather substantial steam. "Of my races before I go home next month, this is the one I really want to win."

Kipchoge, the Olympic bronze medallist in the 5000, is among the favorites in the men’s race in only his second outing of the winter season. Last weekend, the 21-year-old Kenyan beat a solid field in the 4-K race in the final contest of Athletics Kenya's Cross Country series.

"It is a very strong field, and we’re all expecting a big day," said Kipchoge, who displayed incredible range in 2004 on the track, the roads, and in cross country.

Last weekend, Johnson defeated Kenya's three-time World short course champion Edith Masai in Amorebieta, Spain, just nine days after her 43-second victory over Catherine Ndereba at the San Silvestro Vallecana 10-K in Madrid on New Year's Eve.

On Edinburgh’s 6.3 kilometer course in Holyrood Park, Johnson will face Ejegayehu Dibaba, the Ethiopian she out-kicked en route to her world crown, for the first time in cross country competition since their race in Brussels last March. Dibaba, the Olympic silver medallist at 10,000 meters, has raced only twice since Athens: at the World Athletics Final where she was third at 5000 meters, and at the Chiba Ekiden in late November, where she contributed a solid 10-K leg to Ethiopia's winning effort.

Another key entrant is Kenyan Susan Chepkemei, making her first start since racing Paula Radcliffe to the wire at the ING New York City Marathon last November.

"I know that everybody here is strong," Chepkemei said. "But as an athlete, I always believe in myself." Third in this event last year when it was held in Newcastle, England, Chepkemei said she will decide late Saturday if the upcoming World Cross Country Championships in St Etienne - St Galmier, France in March will be on her upcoming race plan.

"This is my first race after New York," said Chepkemei, who enjoyed a long vacation in Australia at the end of last year. "I will see after this race how things will be later in the season."

Tirunesh Dibaba, Ejegayehu’s younger sister, returns to defend her title. The younger Dibaba, The reigning World Champion in the 5000 and the Olympic bronze medallist in the event, also hasn’t raced since Chiba where she handily won the 7.4-K stage.

European champion Hayley Yelling of Great Britain, fifth behind Johnson in Amorbieta last weekend, toes the line as well, along with Kathy Butler, who raced to victory at last month’s Cross Internacional de Venta de Baños. Butler, who was born near the Edinburgh course, was fourth in Amorbieta. Meselech Melkamu, the reigning World Junior Cross Country Champion and Dutchwoman Lornah Kiplagat, fifth in the Olympic 10,000, are other elite entrants. Like Chepkemei, the Kenyan-born Kiplagat also hasn’t raced since her seventh place finish in New York City’s five-borough race.

While the anticipated appearance by triple-double World Cross Country Champion Kenenisa Bekele, and his subsequent withdrawal last weekend after the tragic death of his fiancée dominated the attention of the men’s race, organizers have nonetheless assembled the strongest cross country field of the 2004-05 season for the men’s 9.2-K race.

In November, just prior to taking a three-month competitive break, Kipchoge shattered Haile Gebrselassie's course record in the Four Miles of Groningen road race, in Groningen, Netherlands. Since his Athens bronze, the Kenyan has won four of his five races, the only loss being a narrow loss by Ivan Heshko in a road mile in Newcastle in late September. Outside of his win in the junior race at the 2003 World Cross Country Championships in Lausanne-La Broye, Switzerland, Kipchoge has yet to win a cross country race in Europe.

Riding nearly the same momentum as the women's favorite is Zersenay Tedesse, the Olympic 10,000 metre bronze medallist. Since Athens, the 22-year-old Eritrean has won five of his six races, including a pair of cross country wins in Fuensalida and Soria Spain. In last weekend's Cross Internacional del Calzado in Fuensalido, Tadesse defeated five-time European champion Sergiy Lebid by a hefty 12-second margin. Tadesse, who was fourth in this event last year and sixth at the World Championships last March, has only been running since 2002.

Qatari Saif Saaeed Shaheen, the world record holder in the steeplechase, makes his first appearance since his runaway victory at the World Athletics Final. Though he rarely races on the grass, Shaheen, the former Kenyan Stephen Cherono, has shown he is a force here as well after his fifth place finish at last year’s world championships short course race.

"Normally I’m not very good in cross country, so I just really want to test myself," Shaheen said. "It's a very strong field and I will not let them have their own way."

Shaheen said he was looking forward to racing Bekele, and like Kipchoge, shared his condolences as well as his regrets that he was unable to race.

"If he was racing tomorrow it would have been good for me to gauge myself against Kenenisa, to judge myself against him. There would be no other opportunity." At the moment, Shaheen said he is leaning towards contesting the 4-K race at the world championships.

Gebre-Egziabher Gebremariam, who finished second to Bekele in both races at last year’s World Championships, returns to competition this weekend after a six-week lay-off. In late November, he won the Cross Internacional Valle de Llodio in Spain less than a week after winning a 10-K stage for the victorious Ethiopian squad at the Chiba Ekiden.

Filling out the field are Ukrainian Sergey Lebed, Europe’s undisputed cross country King; Dejene Berhanu, who lowered the Ethiopian national record in the half-marathon to 59:37 at last September’s BUPA Great North Run; Australian Craig Mottram, like Johnson, the winner of Madrid’s New Year’s Eve 10-K; and American Tim Broe, an Olympic 5000 meter finalist.

The afternoon’s action begins at 1:05 pm with a national men’s 4-K race, with the international men taking the line at 1:25, and the women at 2:00. All three races will be televised by the BBC.

The storms and high winds that pounded Scotland earlier in the week have vanished, with race day temperatures expected to reach a high of 10° C. (51° F.), with a slight chance of showers in the forecast.