Monday 29/03/2010
2 weeks later, can you believe I still haven't shaken my head cold with nose and throat infections? Sitting with a sore throat and can't swallow even after drinking lemon juice with water as a remedy and took some throat lozenge tablets. Sigh, won't even talk about the mucus!
Joseph Ebuya ends Kenyan draught - Men's Senior race report
Joseph Ebuya crosses the finish line to complete Kenya's sweep of all titles in Bydgoszcz 2010 (Getty Images)
relnewsAs the 136 starters from 39 countries set out for the race we already knew it was Kenya’s day with six out of six golds so far, while Ethiopia could point to three team silvers and a solitary individual bronze.
Within 33 minutes, six Kenyan golds became eight and Joseph Ebuya brought the individual title back to his country for the first time since Paul Tergat won in Belfast 1999.
Once again Kenyan colours were in command of the leading pack from the outset, though Ethiopians Abera Kuma and Trials winner Azmeraw Bekele were in among them. The Kenyan trials winner, and therefore possible favourite, Paul Tanui was prominent before Joseph Ebuya and Richard Mateelong emerged at the head of a leading group of 20 or so. This did not include Gebre-egziabher Gebremariam who could be seen heading a chasing pack on the third lap. It was clear there was going to be a new champion.
After laps of 5:34, 5:32 and 5:33, the race got going in the fourth circuit of 1926m as the Eritreans Samuel Tsegay and Teklemariam Medhin pushed the pace. It was 20-year-old Medhin – ninth in Amman last year – who forced the hardest. At the end of the fourth lap (5:26), Medhin led from Ebuya with a 10m gap to Moses Kipsiro (UGA) then Chakir Boujattaoui (MAR) and Hasan Mahboob (BRN) with the pack slipping away.
Bad day for defending champion
Gebremariam was improving but he was 11th and so with two-thirds of the race gone there was no Ethiopian in the top 10.
The fifth lap was even quicker (5:25) as the leading pair moved away. At the bell Ebuya led from Medhin (both 27:30) with Leonard Komon and Amman runner up Kipsiro the only ones within range.
Gebremariam was still in 11th but fighting hard. Then Ebuya did to Medhin what he had to Kenenisa Bekele in Edinburgh two months earlier, gradually pulling clear to leave the final result in no doubt.
It was all over by the time Komen hurdled the final obstacle, at which point he also lapped the wonderfully-named Seychelloise Gaylord Silly.
Medhin was also untroubled in second spot, but the bronze was won with the final stride of Kipsiro, who left it very late to out-sprint Komon at the end of the 100m finishing straight. With four in the top eight, Kenya again won comfortably.
Eritrea ahead of Ethiopia in team standings
Eritrea outpointed Ethiopia for the bronzes, but deposed champion Gebremariam ran with honour to climb into the top 10. That team bronze was his 16th World cross country medal but that was no consolation and it was a shock to see this usually exuberant athlete walking away from the finish in tears.
Further down the field Saudi Arabia-born Simon Bairu provided Canada with an excellent 13th place, one ahead of Ethiopian-born Alemayehu Bezabeh who led Spain to sixth place.
The best European-born athlete was Spaniard Carles Castillejo, just as he was in Amman.
So Ebuya, whose family could not afford to send him to school and who instead helped his parents with chores on their tiny piece of land, is now $33,333 richer with individual and share of team awards. As emulating Tergat, he has also matched the feat of his idol Richard Limo who was the World short course champion for Kenya in 1999.
“I want to thank the people of Poland and especially Bydgoszcz for cheering me up as I was racing,” said the 22-year-old whose family was originally from the Turkana District of Kenya which is not known for its athletes. “I had to fight a war to get into the Kenya team,” he explained, but gave credit to the Kenyan training camp.
“The whole of the Kenyan team was training foot of mount Kenya which is as chilly as Bydgoszcz.”
However it should be noted that the weather was sunny and a reasonable 10° during his race. Ebuya added, through Kenyan PR Officer Peter Angwenyi, that he was grateful his entire team had arrived three days before the championships. This was certainly not the case for other countries competing in Bydgoszcz.
When did Ebuya think he had won the race ? “I was not certain I would win because I had not raced before with the one who was following [Mehdin], but when I opened up a 10m gap, I started praying as I was racing, and I thank God that he has given me this win that I have dedicated to the Kenyans.”
Indeed we had seen him crossing himself at an earlier point during the race. The winner, who races in a trademark shell necklace he bought in Nairobi, is now targeting the African Championships in Nairobi where he hopes to defeat Kenenisa Bekele and/or gain a place for Africa to run 5000m at the IAAF Continental Cup in Split.
It has been a good eight days for the Spanish coach / agent duo of Jeronimo Bravo and Julia García.
Last Sunday in Lisbon, Zersenay Tadese brought them world records at 20km and Half Marathon. Now they have the World cross country silver medal through another Eritrean, Mehdin who trains with Tadese. He had been threatening to break through with a series of good wins this year in Spain and it was only in the last lap that he succumbed to the more experienced Ebuya.
“I was thinking ‘a silver medal is enough for now’” he admitted, a thought which was echoed by his coach. “This is already a success,” Bravo told me as we watched the last lap unfold from the sidelines, “we know Ebuya is better.”
Now everyone knows the quality of the Kenyan.
Mark Butler for the IAAF
Chebet's strong finish prevails - Women's Senior race report 
Bydgoszcz, Poland - For most people, déjà vu is a feeling, an impression that something that is happening to you has happened before.
For Linet Masai, when it comes to the World Cross Country Championships anyway, déjà vu is reality. Amman 2009 and Bydgoszcz 2010 are about as alike as chalk and cheese, different weather, different course, different culture.
Sprint finish leaves Masai with second consecutive silver
But for Linet Masai, they are alike in one very unwelcome way. For the second year in a row she dominated a World Cross Country race, dropping her potential rivals one by one, looking for all the world like the winner. She did all the work as three-time champion Tirunesh Dibaba was left 10 seconds adrift at the start of the last lap of the 8km race.
Masai again was the aggressor as the last remaining Ethiopian threat, Meselech Melkamu, was put away over the two jumps in the middle of the final lap.
Yet, for the second year in a row, Masai was beaten to the gold medal by a Kenyan team-mate. In Amman, it fell to Florence Kiplagat to grab the honour of becoming the first Kenyan senior women’s gold medallist (long-course) since Hellen Chepngeno in 1994. Here, it was Emily Chebet who deprived Masai of the glory.
In similar fashion, too: Masai still led as the pair turned off the loop into the short finishing straight. Chebet looked menacing, however, an impression confirmed as she gained the upper hand in a driving sprint to the line.
Ironically, Masai won the gold medal in the 10,000 metres at the World Championships in Berlin last summer with a sprint from third to first in the final straight. Unfortunately, it seems, she cannot find the same speed at the finish of a cross-country. So her one gold medal remains from the 2007 junior race in Mombasa and her record in the senior races becomes third, second and second again.
Melkamu hangs on to bronze
And speaking of seeing it all before, what about Melkamu? She now has five bronze medals from the World cross-country - both short and long races in 2006, and in the long race in 2007, 2009 and now again in 2010.
Masai and her team-mates controlled the pace from the start. Within a lap, there was a leading group comprising all the Kenyan team, five of the Ethiopians and an assortment of others including 2004 champion Benita Willis of Australia, Shalane Flanagan of the USA, Hilda Kibet of the Netherlands and the surprising Lebogang Phalula of South Africa.
As Masai continued to push, the group gradually was whittled down. As they came through the two log jumps in the third lap, Dibaba was seeming to struggle. Suddenly the insignificant gap of five metres, blew out to 10, then 20. By the start of the final lap she was 10 seconds off the lead and clearly in need of something special to even get in the medals, much less win.
Now it was down to Masai, Chebet and Melkamu. Again the jumps were the key to ending the Ethiopian threat - how long since obstacles played a significant role in a World cross country course? - as Masai went clear.
Soon Chebet went around Melkamu and after her team-mate. The gap of 10 metres closed rapidly and the pair settled down to fight out the gold.
Chebet was Kenyan national 10,000m champion in 2007 and ninth in the World Championships in Osaka that year. Impressive credentials, but it did not seem they were sufficient to take out a championship ahead of Masai and Dibaba. Not for the first time, however, a World cross country race confounded expectations.
Team bronze for USA
On that note, however, there appears to be nothing junior champion Mercy Cherono could not do on this day. Watching the first lap on a monitor while awaiting her press conference, she was asked who would win the race. “Emily,” she replied confidently and, as it turned out, correctly. For good measure, she also predicted that Dibaba would not medal!
After two perfect scores in the junior races, Kenya slipped to a 1-2-5 (Lineth Chepkirui)-6 (Margaret Muriuki) total of 14 points to win the teams races for the second year in a row after seven of Ethiopian domination. With Dibaba fourth, Feyse Tadese seventh and Mamitu Daska eighth, Ethiopia had 22 points for the silver medal.
Led by Flanagan’s 12th, the USA had four in 25 (Molly Huddle 19th, Magdalena Lewy-Boulet 20th and Amy Hastings 25th) to take the bronze medal, its first since 2003. Morocco, Portugal and Great Britain rounded out the top six.
The 2003 champion, Werknesh Kidane, finished ninth for Ethiopia, while Willis, the last non-East African winner in 2004, finished 17th.
Len Johnson for the IAAF
Augustyn sub 3:50 for 50km in Dudince
Dudince, Slovakia – Polish Olympian and the 22nd placer at the World Championships in Berlin last year Rafal Augustyn with strong finish became the fourth Polish walker to win the 50 km Race Walk in Dudince (EA Permit), an event that counts towards the 2010 IAAF Race Walking Challenge standings.
In the 29th edition of the event Augustyn posted current the second fastest in the world this year, life-time best of 3:49:54 to take the Polish title whichwas incorporated into this meeting. His team-mate Artur Brzozowski was second in personal best 3:50:07. They both went past Irish record holder Robert Heffernan in last 300m.
Heffernan who had a 1:20 margin over Augustyn when entering last 2 km lap of the race debuted at the distance with an excellent national record of 3:50:08 for third.
The top nine finishers all went under four hours.
A third Polish walker Lukasz Nowak was fourth in 3:50:31 (another PB), fifth was German Christopher Linke (3:53:24 PB), sixth was Portuguse record holder Antonio Pereira (3:55:41), seventh and eighth were the Koreans Kim Dong-Young (3:56:40 PB) and Shin Il Yong (3:57:46, debut) and in ninth came French walker Cedric Houssaye (3:59:20).
The pre-race favourite, the Berlin World silver medallist Trond Nymark of Norway left the race after 30km because of stomach problems.
“I did not expect such a good time, not to speak about the win with Nymark of Heffernan in the race. I knew in last four kilometres that I had a chance. 400 metres before the finish I started to dream of hearing our national anthem,” said the winner.
54 walkers started and 31 finished the race.
In the 20km race Slovak’s best walker Matej Toth won in 1:22:25. "I had the race under control and when I saw I could also go under 1:23 I speeded up little bit in the last lap," said Toth. Second was Ukrainian Ruslan Dmytrenko who clocked 1:22:47 ahead of his team-mate Nazar Kovalenko (1:23:46).
In the women’s 20km, Czech Zuzana Schindlerova won with 1:34:20 ahead of the best Slovak Zuzana Malikova (who currently lives in Ireland) who got her 7th national title with 1:34:53.
In the men’s 10km junior race Ukrainian Ihor Lyashchenko posted 41:20 to beat German Hagen Pohle (42:22); the top 5 went sub 43 minutes.
Alfons Juck for the IAAF
Wednesday 31/03/2010
Wind ruins qualifying hopes
A strong cross wind ruined any hopes some athletes may have had of using Tuesday night's Yellow Page's athletics meet at Stellenbosch to secure qualifying standards for the Commonwealth Games in India, in October.
The Stellenbosch venue offered middle and long distance athletes hopes of improving personal bests as well as notch more Commonwealth Games qualifying marks, but all that came to nought.
Some senior athletes will now pin their hopes of attaining qualifying marks at next week's final meet in Germiston, where the curtain will down on the local season. Some athletes may be forced to go abroad in an effort to qualify for India.
Gauteng star Ruben Ramolefi, a finalist at the Beijing Olympics two years ago, led from start to finish in the 3000 metres steeplechase. But the adverse conditions ruined any hopes he had of improving on his gold medal-winning performance at the recent national championships in Durban, where he clocked 8:21.74. His winning time was 8:35.63, but he has already secured his passage to India.
South African 100m sprint champion Simon Magakwe of Dreamveldt Pukke and Leigh Julius of Nelson Mandela Metro University renewed their rivalry but any hopes of clocking creditable times were blown away by the wind blowing into their faces.
Julius won the event in 10.73 seconds while Magakwe who clocked 10.98 for a fourth-placed finish seemed to pull up just ahead of the end of the race.
Reigning SA 100m champion Cindy Stewart made it a double 100m triumph for the Port Elizabeth University when she won the women's sprint in a time of 12.31 seconds.
One athlete who held out hopes of notching a qualifying time was 1500m national champion Rene Kalmer. She just missed out on the qualifying 4:08.42 mark in Durban when she clocked 4:08.61. Klamer who has a personal best of 4:06.71 left the opposition for dead as she bravely battled the elements but had to settle for an average 4:17.58.
During this season's five Yellow Pages series events as well as the SA Senior Track and Field Championships held in Durban, all of LJ van Zyl (400m hurdles), Cornel Fredericks (400m hurdles), Ruben Ramolefi(3000 metres steeplechase), Robert Oosthuizen (javelin), Hardus Pienaar (javelin), Tumelo Thagane (Triple Jump), Setone Tshamano (5000m), Elroy Galant (5000m), Estie Wittstock (400m), Elizna Naude (discus), Sunette Viljoen (javelin), Justine Robbeson (javelin), Tebogo Masehla (3000m steeplechase) and Myrette Filmalter (3000m steeplechase) have produced Commonwealth qualifying efforts to date.
Wind and chill takes its toll in Stellenbosch
Stellenbosch, South Africa - National champions Ruben Ramolefi, Rene Kalmer, and Cornel Fredericks braved the weather conditions to win their respective events at the Yellow Pages Series meet in Stellenbosch on Tuesday (30).
A warm and sunny afternoon suddenly gave way to gusty and chilly wind in the early evening. The sudden change of weather dampened the hopes of several athletes hoping to qualify for the Africa Senior Championships and Commonwealth Games.
Technical workout for Ramolefi
Ramolefi seemed unperturbed by the chilly wind when he surged to the front right from the starter’s gun. Only Edwin Molepo stayed in contact with him until 2000 metres, before he began to fade rapidly. Ramolefi covered the distance in a decent 8:35.63.
“After the first three laps I realised it would be hard to run a fast time as I had planned because of the chilly headwind,” Ramolefi said. “So I focused on polishing up my hurdling technique. In particularly I wanted to clear my last two water jumps well as I have lost valuable time there.”
“A sub 8:40 in these weather condition is good. I think I will improve my national record (8:11.63) sometime this year,” Ramolefi asserted.
Buoyed by her 5000m and 1500m victories at the national championships last week Kalmer came to the Stellenbosch meet convinced she could break the 4:08.42 Commonwealth Games 1500m qualifier. However, like many other athletes she had to be content with her 4:17.58 run.
“It was not just the wind on the home straight that bothered me,” Kalmer said. “As you entered the back straight the chill hits us from the side. It is so uncomfortable especially to the ears. Anyway I will now go back to build endurance and weight for the European outdoor circuit.”
Spurred on by a partisan crowd Cornel Fredericks gave the Stellenbosch fans something to cheer in 400m Hurdles. Starting out cautiously Fredericks made his move on the back straight. The fans erupted in celebration as he surged past Wouter le Roux on the ninth hurdle and held on to win in 50.78, to Le Roux’s 51.95.
Mark Ouma for the IAAF
Ramolefi, Kalmer, Fredericks win in Stellenbosch All Athletes are South African unless otherwise mentioned.
MEN
100m A (-2.1)
1 Leigh Julius 10.31; 2 Hannes Dreyer 10.79; 3 Brent Stevens 10.83; 4 Simon Magakwe 10.98; 5 Sergio Mullins 11.01; 6 Roscoe Engel 11.01; 7 Kagiso Kumbane 11.04; 8 Krabbe (Denmark) 11.23
100m B (-0.8)
1 Henrico Bruintjies 11.17; 2 Ethan Fourus 11.21; 3 Denver Miller 11.30; 4 Heinrich Fortein 11.32; 5 Gueron Kulsen 11.38; 6 Pieter Schoeman 11.44; 7 William Duckitt 11.86
200m (-3.0)
1 Hannes Dreyer 21.35; 2 Brent Stevens 21.65; 3 Roscoe Engel 21.66; 4 Sergio Mullins 21.87; 5 Anthony 21.98; 6 Pieter Schoeman 22.80
400m
1 Ofentse Mogawane 47.12; 2 Sibusiso Sishi 47.72; 3 Shaun de Jager 47.95; 4 Jacques de Swardt 48.78; 5 Anrich Visser 48.89; 6 Rifaat Jappie 49.77; 7 Jody Isaacs 49.99; 8 Travis
110m Hurdles (-1.3)
1 Louw Smit 14.54; 2 Sors Joubert 14.70; 3 Ruan de Vries 15.01; 4 Drikus Viljoen 15.47
400m Hurdles
1 Cornel Fredericks 50.78; 2 Wouter le Roux 51.95; 3 Johan Hanekom 52.84; 4 Francois Retief 53.56; 5 Leeroy Bitterhout 54.04; 6 Leeroy Bock 54.47; 7 Herman Langenhoven 55.54; 8 Wiekus Jonck 55.97
800m
1 Adriaan van Wyk 1:49.94; 2 Vuyolwethu Kayi 1:50.83; 3 Rick Hambridge 1:51.80; 4 Dumisani Hlaselo 1:51.83; 5 Nathan Beukes 1:53.42; 6 Adriaan Geldenhuys 1:55.91; 7 Marshal Rooi 1:58.17
1500m
1 Mbulaeni Mulaudzi 3:47.02; 2 Molefe Molefe 3: 47.66; 3 Ratlale Mokone 3:48.32; 4 Windy Jonas 3:50.49; 5 Dumisani Hlaselo 3:51.21; 6 Jacques Pretorius 3:52.44; 7 Mthobisis Baloyi 3:56.03; 8 Armin Botha 4:02.42; 9 Duran Faro 4:11.08; 10 Hilton Persons 4:19.36
3000m Steeplechase
1 Reuben Ramolefi 8:35.63; 2 Edwin Molepo 9:00.91; 3 Dicardo Jacobs 9:08.25; 4 Sikhumbuzo Seme 9:28.03; 5 Virgin Ngudlumana 9:32.55; 76 Tom Lusaseni 9:36.85; Graven Galant 10:46.92
Long Jump
1 Keenan Watson (+2.9) 7.73; 2 Zarck Visser 7.47 (+0.8); 3 Regan Julius 7.25 (+2.6); 4 Thomas van der Plaertsen 7.10 (+2.6); 5 Clint Johnson 7.04 (+3.4)
Discus
1 Victor Hogan 55.84; 2 Wynand Coetzee 52.35; 3 James Sinclair 51.64; 4 Burger Lambrechts 49.51
WOMEN
100m (-6.0)
1 Cindy Stewart 12.31; 2 Estie Wittstock 12.44; 3 Stacey Gardiner 12.75; 4 Melissa Hewitt 12.80; 5 Anre Zanberg 13.04; 6 Srabani Nanda (India) 13.04; 7 Bernice Roman 13.11; 8 Maryke Brits 13.26
200m (-4.1)
1 Srabani Nanda (India) 25.25; 2 Melisa Hewitt 25.45; 3 Lynette Morgan 25.67; 4 Stacey Welsh 26.06; 5 Bernice Roman 26.35; 6 Colleen Mey 27.08; 7 Tamryn Botes 27.09
400m
1 Estie Wittstock 53.42; 2 Sonya van der Merwe 55.43; 3 Chanelle Anderson 58.30; 4 Saskia Kotze 58.61; 5 Annika van Huyssteen 59.92; 6 Sunelle Jacobs 1:00.02; 7 Keasha Wentzel 1:00.88
100m Hurdles (-2.7)
1 Janet Wienand 14.20; 2 Erika Kleynhans 14.40; 3 Marike Walters 15.00
400m Hurdles
1 Wenda Theron 1:00.34; 2 Anneri Ebersohn 1:03.92; 3 Megan Goddard 1:04.65; 4 Ane Fourie 1:05.49; 5 Alix Moreillon 1:07.17; 6 Sumarie Claassen 1:07.88
1500m
1 Rene Kalmer 4:17.58; 2 Mapaseka Makhanya 4:21.73; 3 Mandie Brandt 4:30.77; 4 Violet Raseboya 4:32.92; 5 Maxine Heine-Wacker 4:33.55; 6 Dominique Scott 4:37.48; 7 Christine Kalmer 4:41.06; 8 Mia Pienaar 4:42.80;
Long Jump
1 Janice Josephs 6.39 (+3.1); 2 Birdie Carstens 6.00 (+3.4); 3 Samantha Pretorius 5.89 (+2.2); 4 Maryke Brits 5.81 (+3.6); 5 Janet Wienand 5.73 (NWR); 6 Tamryn Cupido 5.68 (+3.4); 7 Vanturio 5.51 (+3.1); 8 Nicole Dirk 5.29 (+2.6); 9 Nicola Orffner 4.98 (+2.4)
Pole Vault
1 Deone Joubert 3.60; 2 Monique Jan van Noordwyk 3.50; 3 Janita Stander 3.20; 4 Taahirah Kozain 3.00; 5 Talita Lombaard 3.00
Discus
1 Elizna Naude 57.77; 2 Juanita Gerstner 38.67; 3 Annalene Gerstner 33.52
Hammer
1 Annemie Smith 51.16; 2 Karin le Roux 49.96; 3 Marizette Badenhorst 48.81; 4 Magdaleen Louw 47.89; 5 Marlize Coetzee 41.76
Swimming: Chad le Clos (men’s 200m butterfly) 
Swimming: Chad le Clos (men’s 200m butterfly) 
Swimming: Men’s 4x100m freestyle (Graeme Moore, Gideon Louw, Roland Schoeman,
Darian Townsend)
Gold (2) Swimming: Natalie du Toit (S9 100m freestyle) 
Swimming: Chad le Clos (4x100m individual medley) 
Silver (3) Swimming: Wendy Trott (women’s 800m freestyle) 
Gymnastics: Jennifer Khwela (Vault)
Para Athletics: Samkeli Radebe (men’s 100m) Bronze (2) 
Gold (3)
Swimming: Cameron van der Burgh (50m breaststroke)
Athletics: Chris Harmse (men’s hammer)
Swimming: Natalie du Toit (S9 100m butterfly)
Swimming: Men’s 4x100m freestyle (Graeme Moore, Gideon Louw, Roland Schoeman,
Darian Townsend)
Swimming: Natalie du Toit (women’s S9 50m freestyle) 
Swimming: Natalie du Toit (women’s S9 50m freestyle) 
Wrestling: Richard Addinall (men’s 74kg, greco-roman)
Wrestling: Richard Addinall (men’s 74kg, greco-roman)
Swimming: Cameron van der Burgh (men’s 100m breaststroke) Bronze (3)
Swimming: Men’s 4x200m freestyle (Jean Basson, Darien Townsend, Jan Albert
Venter, Chad Le Clos)
Swimming: Cameron van der Burgh (men’s 100m breaststroke) Bronze (3)
Swimming: Men’s 4x200m freestyle (Jean Basson, Darien Townsend, Jan Albert
Venter, Chad Le Clos)
Gold (2) Swimming: Natalie du Toit (S9 100m freestyle) 
Swimming: Chad le Clos (4x100m individual medley) 
Gymnastics: Jennifer Khwela (Vault)
Para Athletics: Samkeli Radebe (men’s 100m) Bronze (2) 
Gold (3)
Swimming: Cameron van der Burgh (50m breaststroke)
Swimming: Natalie du Toit (S9 100m butterfly)
