Bekele's hopes may rest with short-course race

Athletics/World Cross Country Championships: It's been eight years since the IAAF introduced the 4km short-course race to go along with the traditional World Cross Country.

First impressions weren't bad - especially from an Irish viewpoint after Sonia O'Sullivan won both titles in 1998 - but having the two races has gradually watered down what was once the greatest annual test of distance running.

One of the reasons the IAAF expanded the event was to try to break the African domination, or in other words give the Europeans more of a chance in the shorter race. In fact it's done the opposite. Last year the Ethiopian team won 14 of the 18 medals on offer. And with many Kenyans now running for Qatar there's very little room for the non-Africans to have a say in either race.

Not surprisingly the IAAF will revert to the one championship race in 2007, and the winner-takes-all scenario will end confusion over who is king of the country - the short-course winner or the long-course winner?

Kenenisa Bekele has at least eased the confusion on the men's side. The 22-year-old Ethiopian has won both titles for the past three years. In 2001 Bekele won the junior title, and also finished second in the senior short-course race. Since then he hasn't lost a cross-country race, with a run of 20 straight victories.

And yet Bekele has come to St Etienne, France, this weekend with a question mark over his invincibility. He's only raced once over the country, winning in Portugal last December, and since then was beaten in two indoor races over 3,000 metres - losing to Alistair Cragg - and two miles, while obviously burdened by the sudden death of his young fiancée on January 4th.

Still, he's intent on retaining at least one of his titles. He has entered both races, starting with this afternoon's short-course race. That probably offers Bekele's best chance of winning, as Kenya's great threat Eliud Kipchoge is focusing on tomorrow's 12km long course and sensible gamblers will have their money on him to win.

The main Irish interest was set to lie in that short-course race, but following Cragg's withdrawal because of a back injury there won't be many green vests to the fore of any of the six races. Jolene Byrne heads the challenge in tomorrow's short-course race for women, while the senior men - who are taking on the longer race - will aim for a respectable team placing among the Europeans.

Neither team have any chance of getting into the medals. But it is worth watching out for the Kenyans in the senior men's long-course race. Their quest is to win back the team title from Ethiopia, who ended Kenya's 18-year winning streak from 1986 to 2003.

There could, however, be some Irish influence on the title winners. Australia's Benita Johnson, the long-time training companion of Sonia O'Sullivan, is looking to defend her long-course title.

Fellow Australian Craig Mottram, who like Johnson is coached by O'Sullivan's partner, Nic Bideau, is also looking for a high finish in the men's long-course race.

Mottram has also paid tribute to Cragg's attitude, and how he refuses to be intimidated by the Africans. Together they had hoped to break that supremacy, but it now seems only the 24-year-old Australian can make any impact on that domination.

And here's a brief reminder of how dominant they have been. African-born men have won every long-race title since 1985, and every team gold since 1980. And on the track the 30 fastest people ever over 10,000 metres are all African, and of the 40 men who have broken 13 minutes for 5,000 metres, only three were born outside Africa. That's what Mottram and company are up against this weekend.