Posted: January 15, 2005

Athletics: Kipchoge Powers To Edinburgh Win

From David Monti

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

By Bob Ramsak

EDINBURGH -- In a dazzling gun-to-tape performance, Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge outsprinted Ethiopian Dejene Berhanu in the final 100 meters to win the View from Great Edinburgh Cross Country today in the Scottish capital.

It was the first cross country victory in Europe for the 21-year-old Olympic 5000m bronze medallist since his win in the junior race in the 2003 World Cross Country Championships.

Despite the narrow one-second margin of victory, Kipchoge dominated the 9.2 kilometer race, leading virtually from the gun, and falling behind only once, and then, only briefly, when Berhanu took a short-lived lead about 100 meters from the finish.

"I led from the start, and with 100 meters to go I was still feeling very energetic," said Kipchoge, who was a late hour replacement in the event for Olympic 10,000m champion Kenenisa Bekele, who missed the meet because of the sudden death of his fiancée last week. "I led for nine kilometers, and didn’t want to lose the lead in the last 200 meters." His winning time was 27:43.

From the outset, Kipchoge dictated a scorching pace that reduced the strongest field of the year into an eight-man contest just eight minutes into the race. Behind Kipchoge, world steeplechase record holder Saif Saaeed Shaheen, Olympic 10,000m bronze medallist Zerseney Tadesse, Ethiopians Berhanu and Gebre-Egziabher Gebremariam, and Kenyan Henry Rugut followed in single file, with five-time European champion Sergey Lebed and Australian Craig Mottram bringing up the rear and barely maintaining contact.

"I wanted to go from the front with high speed," Kipchoge said. "Always in the slower races anyone can win."

The pace soon proved too much for Mottram, and just beyond the halfway point, Lebed and Tadesse lost contact as well. 16 minutes into the race, only Kipchoge, the Ethiopian pair and Shaheen, the former Kenyan Stephen Cherono, were left. Shaheen, running his first race since his near-world record steeplechase performance at last September’s World Athletics Final, spent much of the race jumping from second to fourth position, until a slight stumble entering the final lap of the muddy course’s immediately left him some five meters adrift.

Both Berhanu and Gebremariam, runner-up to Bekele in both races at last year’s world championships, appeared comfortable with Kipchoge’s front-running, but in the end, besides Berhanu’s brief dash to a momentary lead, neither could match the Kenyan’s long sustained closing effort. Less than two seconds separated the podium finishers, with Gebremariam credited with a 27:45 clocking.

After being named as Bekele’s replacement for the race, Kipchoge said, "My goal was to come here and win in order to restore the great name of Kenya." But he refused to make any predictions for the upcoming world championships in St. Etienne – St. Galmier, France, and refrained from throwing down the gauntlet to Bekele, who raced to double wins at the World Cross Country Championships for the last three years.

"It’s not good for me to now talk about Kenenisa because Kenenisa is still in mourning" Kipchoge said, explaining that Kenyan tradition dictates that individuals in periods of mourning should be respected. "And to talk about beating Kenenisa right now is not good. But I promise the world that I will try my best this year to earn a medal" at the world championships in March. Kipchoge also said that his victory here was certainly a confidence booster.

"After this race I feel very happy in my heart, and I feel confident that I will have something around my neck at the world championships."

His next competition will be the Kenyan trials on Feb. 12, where he will contest the 12-K race.

Shaheen held on to finish a distant fourth in 28:06, 21 seconds behind Gebremariam, while Lebid overtook the fading Tadesse to finish fifth (28:08). Mottram was well back in tenth (29:13), 14 seconds ahead of American Tim Broe, who finished 10th.

Look for complete results in Monday’s Race Results Weekly.