Bekele to set pace yet again

Athletics World Cross Country: On one level the World Cross Country has now come down to one man against the rest of the world. Central to this weekend's event in Brussels is the Ethiopian Kenenisa Bekele and his attempt to win a third consecutive double in the long- and short-course races. And this from an athlete who doesn't turn 22 until June.

On another level there is still no race on earth that better gauges one's ability in distance running. From an Irish point of view then success won't necessarily be measured in the winning of medals. For most it's that chase to get as far up the world scale as possible.

The one athlete most determined to do that this weekend is Alistair Cragg, who for only the second time will run for Ireland since declaring from South Africa three years ago. At 23 Cragg is about to make the transition from being an exceptional college athlete in America to being a real contender on the world stage. People who know Cragg well say he can win a world championship title. It just probably won't be in Brussels.

Yet he goes into this afternoon's short-course race gunning for a place in the top 10 and that, at his age and level of experience, would be an excellent run. The 4,000-metre distance should be ideal considering just last weekend he won a 3,000-5,000 double at the NCAA championships on his home track at the University of Arkansas.

Of course he'll have Bekele for company as well as several other Ethiopians and Kenyans, any of which is also capable of winning on the day. Cragg is intent on going out fast and hanging on and if it all goes to plan he'll definitely be the top Irish finisher of the weekend. Dundrum's Rob Connolly is the only other Irish interest here.

Later today the women's long-course race takes centre stage but the late withdrawal of Britain's Paula Radcliffe through injury has killed much of the interest. One of the reasons her presence was so anticipated was that she hadn't been running well in recent months, and this was going to be a difficult test ahead of the Athens Olympics next August.

So again the Africans look set to dominate, with Ethiopia's Werknesh Kidane, the defending champion, hoping victory will be part one of the same long-short double her compatriot Bekele aspires to.

True lovers of cross-country - and they love their cross-country in Belgium - will be watching a little farther back the field for the green vest of Catherina McKiernan. Now aged 34, the Cavan athlete has defied predictions to get back to this level of competition and while medals won't be on her mind this time (she won four consecutive silvers from 1992 to 1995) the same hunger to compete with the best will be.

It will in fact be her tenth appearance in the World Cross Country, her debut taking place in Stavanger, Norway, back in 1989. That day she finished 76th. McKiernan's last run was in Turin in 1997, when she led the Irish team to the bronze medals with her seventh place.

This year's main target is Athens and if she gets into the top 20, not an easy feat by any means, then McKiernan would be well set up for that Olympic qualification. With Sonia O'Sullivan by-passing the event, our women's team won't be medal contenders, and the other five - Rosemary Ryan, Pauline Curley, Fionnuala Britton, Niamh O'Sullivan and Jolene Byrne - will set out with their own individual aspirations.

With the young Azmera Gebrezgi denied the chance to run the junior women's race because the Eritrean federation refused to clear her to run for Ireland, tomorrow's men's long-course race will conclude the main Irish interest.

The real blow here is the withdrawal of national champion Séamus Power, whose mysterious back injury now threatens his hopes for next month's London marathon. Peter Mathews is also training for London and should lead home his team-mates, Dermot Donnelly, Mark Kenneally, Killian Lonergan and Vincent Mulvey.

BBC television, assuming Radcliffe would be to the fore, set up live coverage of this weekend's races, starting this afternoon at 12.45 on BBC2.