No Sibling Act

By Mutwiri Mutuota

The invincibility of Kenenisa Bekele erased a perfect ending of the enchanting tale of Kenya’s 10,000m sibling act at Berlin World Championships.

On Saturday, Linet Masai laid down the gauntlet to elder brother, Moses by storming to the women’s 10,000m gold. On a warm summer night two days later, Moses was forced to accept bronze in a season’s best 26:57.39.

"The race was difficult. I didn’t have enough endurance in the last 3,000m. My performance wasn’t bad considering I improved on my fourth place in Beijing when I was better prepared," Masai said.

Although Bekele won in a championship record of 26:46.31 for his fourth successive title, Eritrea’s silver medallist, Zersenay Tadesse (26:50.12) took the credit for destroying the field after taking off with 4,000m in to set devastating lap times of between 62 and 65 seconds.

"I was prepared for such pace and my body felt okay. It’s only that Bekele and Tadesse were too strong in the end and I could not win like my sister, but I did my best. Kenyans should not lose hope of men 10,000m victory.

Kenya’s Moses Masai (right) and Micah Kogo (left) and Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele in the 10,000m final on Monday. [PHOTOS: COURTESY OF IAAF]

"It can be achieved in the 2011 World Championships or 2012 Olympics. Nobody expected Linet to win in the women’s race," the bronze medallist added.

Disapppointing Finish

Lining up as a world 10k record holder, Olympic silver medallist, Micah Kogo, left the race disappointed with a seventh finish in 27:26.33.

"I’m disappointed with my performance. The pace was good. I was expecting that and my body didn’t have any problem, but I have no explanation of what happened," he said.

"Perhaps my body responds well to road running but I was hoping to do well on the track," said Kogo.

Fourth finisher, Bernard Kipyego (27:18.47) was elated by his performance in what was his first appearance in Kenyan colours since bagging bronze in Mombasa 2007.

"The heat was too much and the pace was crazy, but we had trained expecting such. I felt I had a chance in the first 12 laps, but when the pace was pushed even higher, I dropped off. Being my first track championship, I am happy with my performance and that will motivate me in the future," Kipyego said.

Silver medallist, Tadesse drove the handful of Eritrean supporters into orbit after bagging their first ever medal at track World Championships.

"Everybody was out there to win, but in the last 400m, Kenenisa proved to be strong. I’m happy to be the first Eritrean to win a medal at this event. I decided to push the pace from 4,000m to give me a chance," Tadesse, the 2007 World Cross champion said.

But Kenenisa was magnanimous, paying tribute to his competitors who laid the platform for his record-equalling fourth triumph that ties him with compatriot, Haile Gebrselassie, who is a world marathon record holder.

"The race was good, I felt strong and I was well prepared since everyone here was so strong. I look forward to winning more in future."

Few can bet against him based on yet another blistering display that saw all 14 best finishers finish in either championship record, personal or season’s best times.

 

 

Read all about: Berlin World Championships Linet Masai Micah Kogo Moses Masai

 

 

---