Posted: January 15, 2005

Athletics: Kipchoge Denies Reuters "Waterloo" Quote

From David Monti

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

By Bob Ramsak

EDINBURGH (14-Jan) – Apparently, it was a classic case of "don’t believe everything you read."

Speaking with reporters today prior to his appearance in tomorrow’s View From Great Edinburgh Cross Country race, world 5000 meter champion Eliud Kipchoge appeared puzzled when asked about a statement distributed by the Reuters News Service earlier this week that quoted him as saying that Kenya has a "master plan" to defeat Ethiopia's triple-double world cross country champion Kenenisa Bekele. Referring to the upcoming World Cross Country Championships in St. Etienne - St. Galmier in March, the report further quotes Kipchoge: "France will be his Waterloo."

"He told me he knows who Napoleon was, but said he didn’t know anything about Waterloo," said Michel Boateng of Global Sports Communication, the agency that represents both Kipchoge and Bekele. For his part, Kipchoge, who raced to a bronze medal finish in the 5000m at last summer’s Olympic Games, simply smiled and shook his head in resignation.

Here, Kipchoge did express his condolences to Bekele, his family and the entire Ethiopian athletics community after the sudden death of Bekele’s teenage fiancée earlier this month, and said he hoped the Ethiopian would come back quickly from the tragedy.

"I am wishing him all the best, and I hope he is able to come into the shape he had last year. And," he added, "I hope that I can beat him."

Kipchoge said that he has just one race planned after Saturday’s 9.2-K contest in Edinburgh’s Holyrood Park: the 12-K race at the Kenyan world championships trials on Feb. 12.

"I’m not saying that I will win [in in St. Etienne - St. Galmier], but I expect to do well. France is where my [successful] athletic life started. I want it to be a good build up to the world championships in Helsinki."

Barely 21, Kipchoge didn’t begin running seriously until he was 17. But prior to then, he said he was already pouring on the mileage, tallying 20 kilometers daily during two round trip runs to school. "I did that for eight years," he added with a bright, toothy smile.

He emerged as a global force in 2003, first winning the junior title at the World Cross Country Championships in Lausanne-La Broye that year, before taking the 5000 meter crown at the world championships in Paris five months later, defeating Morocco's Hicham El Guerrouj. Last year he displayed incredible range, clocking personal bests of 3:33.20 and 3:50.40 in the 1500m and mile, 7:27.72 in the 3000, and 12:46.53 in the 5000m. The 3000 meter performance in Brussels was the fastest of the year; the 5000 meter performance to win Rome's Golden Gala Golden League meeting was the year’s second fastest.

Is he ready to seriously challenge Bekele?

"In the future, maybe," he said. "But not the world record right away." Before tackling Bekele’s 12:37.35, he said he’ll chip away first at his own PB. "First 12:45, then 12:40."

While he didn’t hint at any "master plan," Kipchoge does believe that his country will return to the top of the distance running world.

"I think in the future Kenya will surprise the whole world. Right now Ethiopia is dominating. But Kenya will surprise everybody. Maybe this year, or maybe next year."