Mosop gleefully eyeing gold

He has been to the Olympic Games, World Championship and the World Cross Country Championship on six occasions in total, but he is yet to secure the one coveted medal.

Since he emerged on the international scene in 2002 as a junior at the Dublin World Cross Country Championships, Moses Mosop has successfully curved out a niche for himself in cross country running.

However, Mosop has struggled to win in the cross country and his best performance was in Mombasa two years ago where he got a silver medal behind Eritrea’s Zersenay Tedese.

He also secured a bronze medal at the World Championship in Helsinki in the 10,000 metres but flopped at the Athens Olympics in 2004, finishing a distant seventh in 27:46.61.

But that is all behind Mosop, nickname “Engine Kubwa”, which arose from his audible breathing while running.

Indeed he has undergone a major overhaul since the injury that kept him out most of last season.

Ath the March 28 World Cross Country Championships in Amman, Mosop is likely to miss his two highly rated opponents in six times champion Kenenisa Bekele (injury) and Tedese who is making his marathon debut in London two weeks later.

It is something that Mosop is disappointed with, having shaken off his career threatening hamstring injury that kept him off last year’s championships in Edinburgh.

“My injury is history now. I feel in top form and I would relish the challenge of the two in Jordan,” Mosop had said after winning the national trials at Nairobi’s Ngong Racecourse last month.

“The weather and humidity in Amman is just like it was in Mombasa. I missed the gold medal two years ago and this is my time. Next will be the Berlin World Championships,” he noted.

But there will be still strong challenge from Ethiopia with Tariku Bekele, Sileshi Sihine and Abraham Cherkos, the world junior 5,000 champion, leading the assault.

Qatar’s and Bahrain’s Kenyan imports will also remain a threat while emerging forces Eritrea, Uganda and Morocco also remain a possible threat.

Now tucked away in the slopes of Mt. Kenya where he is with the rest of the national team in training camp, “Engine Kubwa” is laying his reputation on the line.

Having stood as a beacon of hope for many in the way he fought his injury, the 23-year-old Marakwet born runner is faced with his biggest challenge so far in his running profession.