2004 World Cross Country Championships – Brussels, Belgium

DAY ONE

After coming in with high expectations, after all the preparations at a 4-week high-altitude camp in Kenya, and after all the history of success at previous World Cross meets, the first day of the 2004 World Cross Country Championships is a disaster for Kenya. Three races are scheduled, with opportunities to chase three team titles and three individual titles. Kenya wins nothing.

The day is cold, blustery and rainy, and the course becomes a slippery mess as the day’s races progress, but any explanation that uses the weather as an excuse for Kenya’s demise is flattened by the steamrolling success of Ethiopia, Kenya’s east African neighbor. Ethiopia’s success today is, well, Kenyan-esque, with individual sweeps and dominatingly low team scores.

The world cross course is a 2000m counter-clockwise triangular circuit that keeps steering the runners near the finish section where the majority of spectators line the fence. When the runners are out of sight, a commandingly huge TV screen on the trailer of a truck gives spectators, both commoners with hoods and VIPs under a bleacher cover, a live view. National teams gather in a large team tent behind the starting area that would rest in the shadow of the Atomium if the sun was out.

Inside the tent, metal cage walls separate all the nations alphabetically, and teams sit in their area on chairs or on the floor. The whole environment has a cattle effect to it, including the dank, musty smell of mud and restlessness. Sitting on chairs, the Kenyan squad seems somewhat ill at ease. The junior women are out warming up. The men’s 4k squad sits over in one corner under their nation’s flag hung on the cage wall. In another corner the women’s 8k squad sits, many with eyes closed. The coaching staff of seven comes and goes.

The Kenyan women’s 6k junior team is the first to appear on the starting line for the day’s opening race. The starting area is quite different from the one in Nairobi. Instead of a line in the grass with a banner over it, this starting area has a huge scaffolding with bars that separate the teams into separate boxes on the starting line—almost like a horse race.

The Kenyan juniors sport spiked shoes that look a bit too new. I wonder how much practice the squad has had in their new racers, and I remember many going barefoot in the national race in Nairobi. Can you adjust to shoes in 4 weeks? Will they help? Would going barefoot on a muddy course be better? Two starting boxes over, the Ethiopians look taller and more mature. On the start lists, the Ethiopians have three born in ’85, one in ’86, and one in ’87. The Kenyans are younger, with one born in ’86, two in ’87, and three in ’88. The two teams plus one Chinese runner make up the entire front pack for two loops before an Ethiopian quartet forces the pace and the Kenyans lose contact and fade. Ethiopia defeats Kenya for the second straight year by scoring a perfect 10 points on a 1-2-3-4 finish. Meselech Melkamu of Ethiopia wins in 20:48. The perfect score is the second in that event’s history; Kenya also scored 10 in 1993. Led by national champ Chemutai Rionotukei (5th place, 21:04), Kenya runners finish 5-6-9-16 to score 36 points ahead of bronze-winning Japan (67).

Next is the men’s 4k race, and the rain begins to fall harder and horizontally as the gun fires. Kenya’s Eliud Kirui leads after one 2k circuit, with two-time 4k/12k winner Kenenisa Bekele of Ethiopia close. The awards are presented for the women’s junior race, and suddenly the Ethiopian national anthem is blaring on the loudspeakers. Inspired, Bekele makes a dominating surge to clear himself of the mud-stomping front group and wins with surprising ease in 11:31. Other than Kirui, who was the sixth and final qualifier out of Nationals, no other Kenyans make an appearance up front—unless you count the Qatar team. Abdullah Ahmad Hassan (formerly Albert Chepkirui) and Saif Saaeed Shaheen (formerly Stephen Cherono) finish 4th and 5th. Kirui (6th) is the first Kenyan to finish, marking the first time Kenya has been shut out of any individual medal in the men’s 4k short race. Ethiopia goes 1-2-3-11 to sweep the individual medals and win the team title with 17 points. Qatar goes 4-5-8-22 for second, while Kenya—after winning all six of the short course team titles since the race began in 1998—takes third with 52 points. Kenya places 6-7-19-21 with Kirui, Isaac Songok, Abraham Chebii (a pre-race favorite, but never a factor here), and Kiplimo Muneria. Two-time short course individual champ John Kibowen (1998 and 2000) is the last Kenyan in 32nd place.

“The Kenyans were not as strong as we expected,” says winner Bekele. “We thought they would come up with new tactics, but they were not so strong as we expected.”

Resting on the fence lining the course, my wife visits with an Ethiopian next to her. He clucks as the Qatar team is awarded silver medals and says that Ethiopians have more pride in their country than a desire for money, and that no Ethiopian athlete would ever jump ship to wear another nation’s jersey. I would imagine the same thing could have been said about Kenyan athletes some 15-20 years ago. Will Ethiopia, with its burgeoning success, be able to produce the massive depth that Kenya has produced? It is this depth, I think, that has sparked Kenyan athletes to agree to swap nations. A former Kenyan has a much easier time making his or her new nation’s teams (for Olympics, World Championships, or World Cross teams), plus there is often a lump sum and/or a monthly paycheck.

By now the Brussels course is trashed, and each lap the runners pick a wider, outside route on the corners in order to stay on grass out of the mud. The women’s 8k race begins, and this one looks promising for Kenya. For the first two loops, Kenya has four in the top group, while Ethiopia has only two. Others include Kenyan-born Lornah Kiplagat (now running for Netherlands), plus Australia’s Benita Johnson. Past the halfway mark, the Kenyans group begins to fall back, and an Ethiopian moves from the second pack to the front. Now the question is whether the four Kenyans can stay enough places ahead of Ethiopia’s fourth runner to get a team win. On the final loop Johnson moves strongly to the lead, and the Ethiopians look human for the first time all day. Johnson wins by 12 seconds in 27:17. Ethiopia’s Werknesh Kidane, one of the pre-race favorites, takes third behind teammate Ejegayehu Dibaba as Ethiopia goes 2-3-5-16. Ethiopia’s 26 points is just enough to edge Kenya, which places its top four 4-7-9-10 for 30 points. Ethiopia’s win is the third in a row in this race. Kenyan national champion Alice Timbilili’s fourth place in 27:36 leads the Kenyans, followed by Eunice Jepkorir, who was fifth at nationals.

The three races on this first day have a common theme for Kenya. Each squad got out well and looked good through the halfway point (although the men’s 4k group looked the weakest), but couldn’t keep the group together when the race reached decisive points. Packs trickled apart. No team tactics seemed evident.

“The course was just too slippery today,” says Kenyan men’s team captain John Kibowen. “I couldn’t respond to the attack of the Ethiopians. There were in very good shape today. There was no tactical plan in the Kenyan team. You just have to run as hard as you can, that’s all. We cannot be satisfied with the team result, but what can you do about it? Sports is all about winning and losing. And when you lose, you just have to accept it.”

I see Kenyan Head Coach Patrick Sang on the sidewalk near the team tent. He is exceedingly polite, but doesn’t want to speak about the day’s races. “I’m not really comfortable talking about anything that happened today,” he says. “I’m still thinking. Can we talk tomorrow? I don’t know what to say. I need to talk to the team. When I hear from them, I’ll have something to say.”

DAY TWO

The second day begins with some success for Kenya, although Ethiopia’s success from yesterday also continues. In the men’s junior 8k race, Ethiopia’s Meba Tadesse battles back and forth with Uganda’s Boniface Kiprop before winning in 24:01. But Kenya packs four in the top 7 (3-4-6-7) to score 20 points and win its first team title in four tries of this 2004 meet. Ernest Meli, only 4th at the nationals after falling but now 3rd in the world, leads the team, followed closely by national champ Barnabas Kosgei, Hosea Macharinyang and Ronald Kipchumba. By winning its sixth junior men’s title in a row (and 16 of the last 17), Kenya’s athletes get to hear their country’s national anthem, and it brings smiles to the entire squad’s faces. With 25 points (1-5-9-10), Ethiopia tallies a close second—and first runner-up spot after three team wins on Day 1—but gains its third individual title in four tries.

Although it’s quite chilly, the sun peeks in and out of clouds that speed across the northern European sky. There is no rain, which is a vast improvement on yesterday. More spectators press up against the fences lining the race course, which is less slippery today but still soft, slow and mucky.

The next race is the women’s 4k, where Kenya’s Edith Masai is the two-time defending world champion. Kenya so far has been shut out of any individual world titles this meet. How will Masai respond? She immediately answers questions about her mindset by jumping to the lead and controlling the race through the first of two loops. She’s joined at the front by teammates Peninah Jepchumba and Isabella Ochichi, plus the three Ethiopians who led their team to the 8k win yesterday (Tirunesh Dibaba, Teyba Erkesso, and Werknesh Kidane). Masai presses on, and late in the race it’s just her and the Ethiopian trio in a closely-spaced single file line. Masai rounds the final bend, eyes the finish line and sprints to a two-second win over Dibaba, last year’s junior world champ. Finally, an individual win for Kenya! It is a win Masai promised two weeks ago, despite finishing just third in the national championships. The team race is close: Ethiopia 19 (2-3-4-10), Kenya 21 (1-5-7-8), as the two teams reverse last year’s team finish.

“I’m very happy today,” says Masai, a senior sergeant in the Kenyan Prisons Service who also has a bronze from 2001 to go with her three golds. “It was not an easy win. I tried to shake off the Ethiopians several times during the race, but I didn’t succeed in that goal. With 300m to go, I saw the opportunity to beat them in the sprint and I broke away.”

The final race of the 2004 meet is the men’s 12k championship. This race has been Kenya’s crown jewel—18 straight wins at the World Championships, often in dominating fashion. The last time Kenya didn’t win was 1985, when Ethiopia defeated Kenya, 129-141.

In the buildup to this meet, both Athletics Kenya officials and the Kenyan press have been touting the 12k national team as one of the country’s best-ever squads. The team boasts tremendous depth plus killer front-runners. In addition, the nation has a reputation for remarkably successful team tactics at world meets. There’s Eliud Kipchoge, the national champ and 2003 world 5000m track champion. There’s Charles Kamathi, the former 10k world track champion. The entire team has a wealth of international experience. They will all meet powerful Kenenisa Bekele of Ethiopia.

Bekele won yesterday’s 4k race, and is trying for an incredible third straight 4k/12k double at the world meet. A win in either the team category or individual category might be enough for the Kenyan team to return home to an acknowledgement that things still seem okay with the nation’s running program. A team win would be the 19th in a row. Good, good. An individual win would mean Kenya has a runner who can beat Bekele. Losses in both will be disastrous, and will likely mean months of national angst and questioning heading into the 2004 Athens Summer Olympics.

At the start things again look good for Kenya. The race is six laps, and for the first two laps through 4000m, there are six Kenyans surrounding Bekele, who has only two countrymen in his vicinity. At 6k Bekele leads a smaller front pack, and Kenya’s team result begins to look vulnerable. There are still four Kenyans and three Ethiopians, but the race is taking its toll. On the fourth lap the Ethiopians move together and suddenly there is a gap from the front green-clad trio to Kenya’s Kipchoge, who begins to lose form and is out of contention. Kenya’s third and fourth runners begin to fade, while Ethiopia’s fourth runner holds strong in the top ten. The first three Ethiopians work together until nearly 10k, when Bekele moves into the spotlight on his own. The final circuit is essentially an effortless victory lap for Bekele, who smiles for 2000m and occasionally waves to the crowd. With a 1-2-3 finish Ethiopia sweeps the race to eliminate any Kenyan man from an individual 12k medal for the first time since 1984. Kipchoge is 4th and 42 seconds in arrears, Kamathi fifth, Wilberforce Talel 10th, and John Korir 11th.

The final tally: Ethiopia 14 (1-2-3-8), Kenya 30 (4-5-10-11). Kenya’s 12k reign is over—and over decisively. During Kenya’s 18-year turn at the top, Ethiopia took second place ten times and third place five times. Ethiopia has just handed Kenya a resounding defeat, and small groups of Ethiopians—team members who raced yesterday, fans, coaches—are singing and waving flags around the course at the success of this world championship. Consider Ethiopia’s overall meet in the six races: five team titles, 4 individual titles, and three 1-2-3 individual sweeps in the women’s junior race and the men’s 4k and 12k races. This is the meet that Kenya expected to have. Hard questions are about to be asked in one East African country while wild victory celebrations happen just to the north.

In early February, at the national championships in Nairobi, I heard Athletics Kenya General Secretary David Okeyo tell the team and the seven newly-selected coaches, “If we fail, we shall blame you, the coaches.” Okeyo also said he hoped to see six team titles plus six individual titles. Kenya’s title count after the world meet? One of each. The men’s junior 8k team won, and Edith Masai won the women’s 4k.

To be fair, Kenya at this 2004 meet won one title, earned four seconds and one third. At a world championship this is a sterling showing, and for most countries this would be considered an historic success story. But this is Kenya. Compare it to 2003, where Kenya won four team titles and earned two second places. Or the year prior in 2002, where Kenya also won four team titles, plus one second and one third place. This year’s showing in cross country will be considered a failure.

Olympic medals in the distance events this coming summer may ease the sting, but Kenya has taken a hard hit. The country still possesses vast depths of distance running talent—more so than any other country—but world competitions give medals to only a small handful of individuals. For two decades, the nation of Kenya has been glorified as the standard for distance running. Now, as much as Kenya hates to admit it, Ethiopia is the distance running world’s dominant nation in world competitions.

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After all the races and awards are concluded, I see Coach Sang in the team tent, and he agrees to talk briefly. He agrees that Kenya did not perform up to expectations—particularly in the two senior men’s races.

“I guess we expected more than what we got. We expected more. Some of the categories did very well: women’s 4k, women’s juniors, women’s 8k and junior men. I think they did what they could. But the men’s 4k was a disaster.”

Kirk Reynolds: Did you talk to the 4k men after the race?

“We tried, but everyone was noncommittal about what really happened. But we are getting more information now. I think some people had some small problems here and there that they did not disclose to us.”

KR: Physical problems?

“Physical, yes. We are hearing of two cases at the moment that I’m going to confirm. We had two athletes with injuries, but they didn’t talk about it. At the last minute, when you have selected a team, I think many people don’t want to say they have an injury.”

KR: Did you talk to the 12k team yet?

“No, I haven’t talked to them yet. I’ll talk to them later. But I think, generally, they tried. Of course Bekele was in a class by himself. But we expected something close to Bekele. But, you know, you can’t beat someone like that. In the 12k we have the material to challenge the Ethiopians. I think the way they prepare is a little different from us. So I think they prepared better than us.”

KR: After having an 18-year win streak broken in the men’s 12k, what does Kenya do now?

“Next year, we go back to the drawing boards and come up with a formula to go back to where we were.”