Meseret Defar wins 5,000m in Oslo. © www.photorun.net
Ethiopian favorites Kenenisa Bekele and Meseret Defar lived up to expectations at the Bislett Games in Oslo this weekend by winning their respective 5,000m races in front of 15,000 spectators. All eyes were on Defar to set the third consecutive women’s world record at this event, but thunderstorms and torrential rainfall forced organizers to suspend competition, which disrupted the schedule and may have been a contributing factor in a slower-than-expected race.
The women’s race was originally going to be a duel between the two fastest 5,000m runners of all time: Tirunesh Dibaba and Meseret Defar. But Dibaba, the Olympic champion and world-record holder, had suffered a minor injury in training a few days prior to the race and was unable to run. Defar had set the 5,000m world record in Oslo two years ago, which Dibaba improved to 14:11.15 in 2008.
After the gun went off, the pace fell away from a possible world record time. Russian pacemaker Elena Zadoroshnaya was unable to maintain the requested tempo of 68-second laps to the halfway point in the race, dropping out before the second kilometer mark. Defar was then forced to take the lead earlier than expected and didn’t get much support from the rest of the pack in keeping a fast pace.
“There was no chance of breaking the world record today,” said Defar after the race. “After the violent storm the conditions just weren’t right and the pace-making didn’t work out as it should have. Then I started to get slight stomach cramps, so I concentrated on just making sure of the win.” No runner could match the 2004 Olympic champion in the home straight. Defar won in 14:36.38 ahead of the Kenyan world silver medalist, Vivian Cheruiyot (14:37.01). Meselech Melkamu of Ethiopia was third in 14:37.50.
In the men’s 5,000m, Kenenisa Bekele held back during the early stages of the race. Two laps from the finish, the pack still consisted of a dozen runners. The world-record holder and double Olympic champion took the lead in the final lap, but with 12 runners on his heels—an unusual dynamic for the champion considering that he is accustomed to winning his races in commanding fashion—Bekele found another gear, using his trademark finishing kick to thin the field. He went through the last lap in an amazing 53.38, beating back the challenge from James Kwalia (Qatar) in the final 200 meters. Kwalia finished in 13:05.46 and the Kenyan, Vincent Chepkok, placed third with 13:06.27. It was a close finish indeed: Nine runners went under 13:10!
Bekele’s win at the Bislett games keeps him in the hunt for the AF Golden League jackpot. If the 27-year-old is able to win in Rome, Paris, Zurich and Brussels, he’ll have a share in a jackpot worth one million dollars (US).
“It was a hard race for me and I’m happy to have won,” explained Bekele. “Gradually I’m coming back to form and I feel better than I did in Berlin. It will take a lot of energy to win four more races, that’s why there’s no possibility of me going for fast times for the moment.” His victory was his 13th successive win at 5,000m. The last man to beat him was American Bernard Lagat in London three years ago.
Final Hill Proves Decisive in Sapporo
Two runners who will compete at the World Championships in Berlin next month were the winners at the Sapporo Half-Marathon in Japan on Sunday. Gideon Ngatuny of Kenya ran an impressive 60:39 minutes and the Japanese runner, Yurika Nakamura, clocked 69:20.
The men’s race quickly developed into a duel between Ngatuny, who finished second in the 10,000m at the Kenyan Championships the previous weekend, and the previous year’s winner, Mokubo Mogusu. In the first half of the race Mogusu’s course record of 59:54 seemed threatened. But the pace then slowed. The turning point in the race came during a long climb two kilometers before the finish. Ngatuny broke away from Mogusu and entered the stadium with a lead of 19 seconds. Mogusu finished in 60:58. Another Kenyan, Cyrus Njui, was third in 61:03.
The women’s race got interesting shortly after the lead pack passed the 13 kilometers mark. Yurika Nakamura, Julia Mombi (Kenya) and Yukari Sahaku (Japan) broke clear of the large leading group. Like the men’s race, the turning point also came on the climb back towards the stadium. By 20 kilometers, Nakamura edged ahead. At the finish, she was ten seconds clear of Julia Mombi (69:30). Yukari Sahaku finished in 69:36, which was good for third place.
Mikitenko’s preparation for the World Championships is going to plan
Irina Mikitenko has recently been preparing for the marathon at the World Championships in Berlin at a high altitude training camp in St. Moritz, Switzerland. “It’s going well, I’m enjoying my running,” she says. Mikitenko, who won the London Marathon for the second year in a row last spring, will be heading to Berlin as one of the favorites.
She plans to head home for three weeks and then travel back to St. Moritz for another three weeks. Her training has been intense—two sessions a day with 180-190 kilometers in total weekly mileage. For the time being, she has been concentrating on stamina work, including light hill training. “More intensive sessions with tempo runs on the track will come in the next training phase,” Mikitenko explained. According to her, the weather in St. Moritz was good for training. “We had sunshine all the time and temperatures of around 20 degrees (Centigrade). If it gets warmer now, I can be prepared if it comes to a real heat wave on race day in Berlin.”
