Athletes rubbish Bekele challenge

Fears that Kenya’s national team has limited chances of reclaiming the senior men’s 12km race in Bydgoszcz looked real after Ethiopia’s six-time world cross country champion Kenenisa Bekele confirmed he is keen to travel to Poland.

National team manager Henry Alukhaba however exuded confidence that Kenya will triumph in Bydgoszcz. He warned the Ethiopians that, irrespective of the course conditions – muddy or dry – Kenya was ready to ascend back to the helm.

“Everything in camp is going on well. We are not focussed on what others are doing but we look down to our strength and I believe we will deliver both the individual and team titles. It will be complete rout,” Alukhaba said.

Nagging calf injury

Bekele, 27, who is also an Olympic and world 5,000m and 10,000m champion, has since reversed his decision, announced in 2008, to retire from the world championships.

Having struggled for two months to shake off a nagging calf injury, he has raced only once this year – on January 9 in Edinburgh, Scotland, where he was a distant fourth in a race won by Joseph Ebuya of Kenya.

But after missing the successive indoor races in Birmingham and Lievin, France, where he was expected to make a stab at Daniel Komen’s 3,000m record, Bekele has already set his sights on a seventh title in the March 28 race in Bydgoszcz.

However, for him to get his target, Bekele must bring down the only man to have defeated him this year: Ebuya. But the Kenyan said: “I have trained hard. I was never given the chance when we came to Nairobi for the trials but I made my mark.

“During the Armed Forces Championship, I was not that lucky because I had just returned from Europe and the difference in weather affected me. But now I am prepared for battle.”

As the teams make final preparations for the championship, organisers have warned that endurance and balance will be paramount for the athletes in Bydgoszcz to win during the world cross country championship, which comes in just 10 days.

Unfavourable weather

With the rains having subsided in the country, the national team, which is camping in Kigari, Embu, must brace for a course that will give them a real challenge as they seek to reclaim the individual men’s titles across the four events on card.

A statement by the IAAF confirmed that the weather conditions in Bydgoszcz have been unfavourable for several weeks after Poland held their national cross country championships as a dry run ahead of the championship on Sunday.