Posted: September 25, 2005

Athletics: Tadesse And Kiplagat Chase Titles In Edmonton

Monte-Carlo - Two athletes, one from Eritrea and one from The Netherlands, are aiming to capture the individual titles at the 14th IAAF World Half Marathon Championships, Edmonton, Canada, despite opposition from traditional road running powerhouses such as Kenya, Ethiopia, Russia and Romania, when the men’s and women’s races are contested this Saturday, 1 October 2005.

23-year-old Zersenay Tadesse (ERI) and 31-year-old Lornah Kiplagat (NED) are two of the likely candidates for the titles outside the teams which have traditionally dominated the previous 13 editions of the championships, and with neither of last year’s winners, Paul Kirui (KEN) or Sun Yingjie (CHN) defending their titles, new champions are certain to be crowned in Edmonton.

Though the Kenyans have taken 8 men’s and 4 women’s team wins and the Romanians 6 women’s team titles since these championships were inaugurated in 1992, the individual champions have come from a slightly wider array of nations, including Belgium, China, Ethiopia, Great Britain, Italy, Morocco, Portugal, Russia, and South Africa.

To read more about the title ambitions of Zersenay Tadesse (ERI) and Lornah Kiplagat (NED) please click on the links below to access the feature stories recently published on the IAAF internet.

Edmonton prepares to welcome a road running legend in the making

Kiplagat is determined to win that elusive medal in Edmonton