What does the future hold for World Cross?
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Okoth Omulo The World Cross Country Championships is a great event, but which may lose its splendour for no better reason than monotony. Hugely popular in Africa and some European countries like Portugal where it enjoys national fervour, some officials from the continent have quietly been pushing for its inclusion in the Olympic Games. In Kenya, it attracts a huge crowd at the Ngong Racecourse. Many top Olympians and marathon runners have launched their careers in cross country. Names like Paul Tergat, John Ngugi, Kenenisa Bekele, Haile Gebrselassie, Carlos Lopes, Khalid Skah, Paula Radcliffe and Deenah Kastor come to mind. Others who did the east African nation proud in this event include Kipyego Kororia, the late Paul Kipkoech, Ondoro Osoro, Philip Mosima, Moses Tanui, Boniface Merande, and Some Muge. I watched a group of bare-feet school girls emerge from obscurity to conquer the world in subsequent years. Sally Barsosio, Pamela Chepchumba, Helen Mutai and Lidya Cheromei are among them. Launching Pad Many of them made a career in athletes, and their launching pad was cross country, a race run on difficult conditions like mud, barriers, sand and snow which favoured the Kenyan and Ethiopian runners. But what does the future hold for cross country, with some observers dubbing it a Kenyan-Ethiopian affair? Even before the global event starts, people already know the winners would come from Kenya or Ethiopia. Competitiveness "This kills the spirit of competitiveness. Sport becomes exciting due to the mystique that surrounds the English Premier League," says a sports scholar. In a bid to add interest in cross country, the global ruling body, International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) has done a lot. They introduced prize money, some Sh2.4m to the winner, which is every Blue Chip company CEO’s envy. On top of this is the team prize money to be shared by the six runners in every category, another close to Sh2m. There was the International Cross Challenge, which was set on a series of IAAF cross country permit meetings in Europe. The winners in more meetings designated as IAAF Cross Challenge meetings earned cumulative points, which qualified them towards a certain prize money. Ishmael Kirui, his brother the late Richard Chelimo, their sister Catherine Kirui and Hellen Chepngeno are among past winners of the Cross Challenge title. That was phased out in 1996 with the global event in Stellenbosch, Cape Town. Then the 4km races were introduced with the 1998 edition in Marrakech, Morocco. John Kibowen won the inaugural men’s 4km race and Irish Katerina McKiernan topped in the women’s race. Kenya and Ethiopia have dominated the event for the past two decades. Bekele won 12 individual and four team medals. Tirunesh Dibaba has 14 medals, five individual and nine team titles. Kenya has the most team gold medals, totalling 69 with at least one every year since 1986 in Switzerland, followed by Ethiopia’s 38. The most team medals is 105 by Ethiopia compared with 103 by Kenya. The most medals won by a junior female is Vivian Cheruiyot’s eight. The male counterpart is Uganda’s Boniface Kiprop. This thing is an East African affair and this has tended to dissipate global interest. Next year’s host, Bydgoszcz, Poland, was decided this week at the IAAF Council in Berlin. The withdrawal of Bekele, Dibaba, and Sileshi Sihine due to injuries dealt a major blow on the event. The IAAF and the sporting world must do everything within its means to retain the World Cross Country Championships and ensure it remains one of its premium events. —The writer is The Standard’s Sports Editor iomulo@eastandard.net