Kenenisa Bekele (Nr. 1662) seen here on his way to an Olympic three-peat, is poised to win big in Berlin. © www.photorun.net
The largest track and field event of the year kicks off this Sunday in Berlin: the 12th IAAF World Championships in athletics. Over the course of a week, the world’s fastest athletes will put everything on the line to win one of the most sought-after medals in the running world. Records are certainly going to be broken along the way.
This first of four World Championship previews focuses on the men’s track events—5,000 meters, 10,000m, and the 3,000m steeplechase. You can expect the following 3 previews in the next days.
Taking center stage will undoubtedly be Kenenisa Bekele. The Ethiopian could make World Championship history if he wins both the 5,000m and 10,000m events—a feat that no male runner has ever achieved in the history of the championships. The only person to have done so was fellow Ethiopian, Tirunesh Dibaba, four years ago in Helsinki.
10,000m: Bekele is confirmed to start at the 10,000m. If he wins the race, it will be the fourth time in a row for the 27-year-old-a feat achieved only by one man to date, Haile Gebrselassie, who won the title on successive occasions from 1993 to 1999. This year, however, Bekele has not run a race longer than 5,000m. In addition, he struggled at the start of the season after coming back from a stress fracture he suffered in late 2008. Both of these factors may affect his performance in Berlin. But the Ethiopian would certainly not enter the race if he thought he had no chance of winning.
As in the past, fellow Ethiopian Sileshi Sihine is once again one of Bekele’s strongest competitors. In the last two Olympic Games (2008 and 2004) as well as the last two World Championships (2007 and 2005), Sihine finished second to Bekele.
Never to be overlooked are the Kenyans who will be trying their hardest to produce a world champion for the first time since 2001. At the top of their starting line-up will be Micah Kogo who touts a 26:35.63 minutes which is the sixth-fastest 10,000m of all time. Kogo has also placed third in the 2008 Olympics. Other contenders to look for are 2007 World Cross-Country champion, Zersenay Tadese (Eritrea), the Kenyan-born Nicholas Kemboi (Qatar), and Boniface Kiprop of Uganda.
The 10,000m final is scheduled for Monday, August 17.
5,000m: Kenenisa Bekele is again the pre-race favorite. He remains unbeaten at this distance this season and continues to be in the running for the AF Golden-League jackpot after four meetings. His top rival will be defending champion Bernard Lagat of the United States. Bekele will have to watch for Lagat’s trademark finishing kick if it comes down to the wire at the finish.
Another runner who can threaten Bekele is Said Saaeed Shaheen (formerly known as Stephen Cherono) of Qatar. Shaheen owns the world record in the 3,000m steeplechase. He will be running the 5,000m in Berlin but has been struggling with injuries this season.
The 5,000m heats are on Thursday, August 20 with the final scheduled for Sunday, August 23.
3,000m steeplechase: This has always been a Kenyan event at the World Championships and it appears to be the case again in Berlin. Since the inaugural World Championships in Helsinki in 1983, the Kenyans have won seven gold, eight silver, and four bronze medals. Since the World Championships in Tokyo in 1991, they have produced the champion on all but two occasions. In 2003 and 2005, Kenyan-born Said Saaeed Shaheen won the race running as a citizen of Qatar.
But Shaheen will not be running the 3,000m steeplechase in Berlin which all but assures a Kenyan trifecta. Since the defending champion, Brimin Kipruto, has an automatic qualification, the Kenyans can enter four runners. Apart from the World and Olympic champion Kipruto, these runners are Ezekiel Kemboi, who leads the world rankings this year with 7:58.85 minutes, Paul Koech, and Richard Mateelong. At the World Championships in Osaka two years ago, the Kenyans managed to take all three medals for the second time since Athens in 1997. Kenyans aside, there’s a lot of interest in how French runner Bob Tahri performs. Tahri set a European record of 8:02.19 in Metz (France) in the beginning of July.
The 3,000m steeplechase heats are on Sunday, August 16 with the final scheduled for Tuesday, August 18.
