Gebrselassie raring to run

By K.P. Mohan

EDMONTON, AUG. 2. One had watched that epic duel in sheer delight in Sydney. But words were inadequate then to describe the sight of Haile Gebrselassie chasing the long-striding Paul Tergat down the finishing straight and crossing the Kenyan just in the nick of time for the Olympic gold. They still are.

On Tuesday, at a crowded gathering of scribes in a downtown hotel here during a presentation by Jos Hermens's Global Sports Communication when that video-clipping was shown, of the peerless Ethiopian grinding his teeth and pulling off a memorable victory, all over again, the one question that came up was, won't he miss Tergat this time?

At Athens and Seville and at the Atlanta Olympics, too, Gebrselassie had edged Tergat for the gold. Moments later, the great man himself was there to answer that question. That characteristic grin, from ear to ear, was in place. So too his simplicity and candour. ``Yes, it would have been great had Tergat been there. Tergat is a very good runner. It would have been good for the fans to see another race like that,'' said Gebrselassie. Needless to say he sounded as though he was going to win again.

Tergat has moved onto the marathon scene now. But Gebrselassie, who too talked about shifting to the road this year, will be aiming for a record of sorts at the World Championships beginning here on Friday. That in itself might have been rather routine for the greatest long distance runner of our times. But incredibly, the 28-year-old Ethiopian will be making his season's debut here. ``Making season's debut at a World championships, you must be joking.'' So would you have said had anyone else mentioned that.

But this is Gebrselassie, the man who owns both the distance World records, the man who has not been beaten in the 10,000 metres since 1993, the man whose exploits outdoors and indoors since breaking into the limelight as a junior in 1992, is legion.

``He is a great inspiration for all us,'' said Million Wolde, the Olympic champion at 5,000 metres. Words failed the young Ethiopian this time. But then that was natural.

But let us not digress from Gebrselassie. Back after a foot operation in January, but yet to run competitively this season, he would be gunning for his fifth straight World crown. ``That's why I am here ,'' he said and laughed as someone reminded him of the significance of his victory, if he could pull it off.

Gebrselassie is more sure of himself this time than he was in the Sydney Olympics when a persistent Achilles tendon injury had troubled him no end to the point of forcing him to consider a pull-out. He did not think that there was any great deal of difference in running the 5000 or the 10,000 after his sabbatical.

Outside of Sergey Bubka, the newly-elected IAAF Council member, who won six pole vault World titles in a row from the inaugural year in 1983, no one has won five individual titles in one event. Michael Johnson could have hoped to achieve that along with Gebrselassie had he been competing here. The American could have added one more to his collection of four golds in the 400m alongside the two he has in the 200 metres. Johnson is on his farewell tour, signing off with a few exhibition relays around the world. Quite possibly, we might see Gebrselassie for the last time on the track here. But the Ethiopian would not commit. ``I said that last year, and I am here. I won't say that now,'' he said. Track is irresistible, no matter `road' might offer a bigger purse.

Gebrselassie's confirmation must have given the much- needed boost that these Championships needed after a set of circumstances forced out many a leading contender from the biennial exercise that is considered next only to the Olympics and World Cup football in terms of television audiences around the globe.

While someone like Cathy Freeman, who stole the Australian show in the Sydney Olympics, had announced that she was taking an year off, another Olympic champion, javelin thrower Trine Hattestad of Norway, has retired. Russian Irina Privalova, winner of the 400m hurdles gold in Sydney, is on the injured list.

In the absence of Freeman and the intrigue-loving Frenchwoman Perec, who has remained away from the limelight since storming off Sydney last year, the women's quarter-mile could be anyone's to grab .

So should be the men's 400 metres in the absence of Michael Johnson, though the unlikely figure of the little-known Avard Moncur of the Bahamas has sprung up as a strong contender. Jamaican Greg Haugton might not agree while Saudi Arabian Hamdan Al Bishi should speak up for Asia. For Asia the other top contender could be Japanese hammer thrower Koji Murofushi.

On paper at least there should not be too many doubts about the sprints, with Maurice Greene and Marion Jones looking far too strong for the rest of the field. Trinidadian Ato Boldon should run Greene close, though the season's best of 9.84s is in the custody of another American, Tim Montogomery.

Greene might skip the 200 metres, leaving it a more open affair, with veteran Frankie Fredericks one of the outsiders who could challenge the season leaders.

Jones has lesser worries compared to Greene. She has been dominant through the season and is unbeaten since 1997 in the 100 metres while not losing a final in the 200 since 1995. In the run-up, Ukrainian Zhanna Pintusevich, a former World champion, and Jones's training partner, Chandra Sturrup of the Bahamas, have come closest to the champion. Her position in the relays is, however, uncertain.

The classic match-ups might not be materialising here in the absence of a few key stars and the lukewarm build-up. But despite the absence of Olympic champion Noah Ngeny, who was excluded from the Kenyan team on disciplinary grounds, the men's 1500 metres might yet produce a real cracker.

Ngeny, in any case, had a forgettable season, but another man, Algerian Ali Saidi-Sief is ready to challenge Hicham El Guerrouj. The `pretender' in Ngeny won in Sydney, while the `King', El Guerrouj, sobbed. The Moroccan has one last chance to redeem his reputation before he moves onto the 5,000 metres.

Another keen race could be the men's 800 metres in which Swiss Andre Bucher had shown such devastating form in the Grand Prix circuit that the others might as well have aimed for the silver and bronze. However, Olympic champion Nils Schuman of Germany on Wednesday promised that he was ready to challenge Bucher. Russian Borzakovskiy could have made it a more interesting race, but he has talked of stress and the need to stay away. Injury has laid low World record holder Wilson Kipketer.

Szabo critical on Yegorova issue

Aside of Jones and the sprints, the long distance events in the women's section could turn out to be absorbing on more than one count, especially with Gabriela Szabo joining issue with the international federation on the Olga Yegorova doping case.

``It is not correct'', said Szabo at a meet-the-press organised by her agency, Jos Hermens's Global Sports Communication on Wednesday. ``It is not just my opinion alone, all other athletes feel the same way,'' said Szabo as the topic of Yegorova's positive test for EPO (erythropoietin), an endurance-boosting drug, came up.

``Let there be a race for EPO-takers and let there be another one for clean athletes'', the Romanian, who had suffered losses against the Russians and others this season, said.

But the IAAF Secretary, Mr. Istvan Gyulai, brushed aside Szabo's pull-out threat by saying that what the IAAF was concerned about was a ``fair, clean and just result''.

Doping controls will be stricter than ever before, the IAAF has warned, with a panel from the World Anti Doping Agency (WADA) on hand to make an independent assessment. But then, the cheats have rarely been caught in major championships, if one excludes the famous Ben Johnson case in 1988.

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