Headline act delivers at home

CROSS COUNTRY/World Championships: Every stride counted, every cheer was heard, and so the Irish got what they wanted. As a race, too, the World Cross Country Championships has rarely delivered better.

All weekend the Irish women in the short-course event were awaited as the headline act in Leopardstown, and even if Sonia O'Sullivan had won the race outright it wouldn't have raised more noise than when news finally came through of their team bronze medal.

Six to run, four to score, and all of them with heroic efforts. O'Sullivan again defied logic to take seventh, as did Anne Keenan-Buckley three places back in 10th. Rosemary Ryan lifted herself to take 19th and Maria McCambridge emptied her heart to take 62nd.

Together, they beat the Russians by a single point. Taking out non-scoring team runners and individuals (a recent rule change), the Irish finishes totalled 85 (7, 10, 18, 50). The Russians totalled 86 (14, 22, 23, 27).

The difference between bronze and oblivion, but the Irish earned their luck.

From the gun O'Sullivan and Keenan-Buckley put themselves at the front.

Around half-way through the 4km race an African trio started to pull away, and Edith Masai of Kenya surprised no one by going on to win in 13 minutes 30 seconds, just ahead of Ethiopia's Werknesh Kidane. The top two teams were reversed, with Ethiopia edging out Kenya 32 to 34.

O'Sullivan still chased hard and seventh place was hard-earned.

"It was definitely tough up that hill the third time," she said. "The first lap was really easy, and I was thinking I could win this. But off three months training it just wasn't enough for the second lap, and that's where they got away really. If you're not fit enough for the middle part then you're just not going to be there at the end."

The heart-breaking finishing straight, like biking up a hill in top gear, didn't slow Keenan-Buckley, and at aged 40 she had clearly run the race of her life.

"Yeah, tell me about it," she laughed. "But I knew I was in good shape coming here, and I felt myself I was capable of being up there. A lot depends on how you feel on the day, but I came here to run hard.

"I felt the team was going well too, because I wasn't far off Sonia. But the fourth finisher was going to be very important and thank God we had just enough."

Ryan has never run a more strongly paced race and her 19th place was crucial. So the wait for the fourth runner, and after what felt like an eternity came McCambridge. Passing two runners in the last three strides, including team-mate Valerie Vaughan, she took 62nd.

"Well my own race was a little disappointing," she said, "and I didn't feel great on the day. But the team makes up for that. I'm so delighted about that."

It was that recent rule change (decided in Edmonton last summer) that brought the Irish into bronze medal position. The Russians, led home by Olga Romanova in 14th, had packed better but would only improve three points from non-scoring runners. The Irish would gain 13 points (on the previous scoring the Russians would have won 89 to 98).

So much, though, of O'Sullivan's motivation in her return from the birth of her second daughter 13 weeks ago was the team race.

"Well, I knew Anne was fairly close behind me, because I could hear them shouting for her as well. But bronze is fantastic, because the first job here was to help the team.

"And I feel like I've done the job now. The team race was in the back of my mind the whole way around. I mean, we were third before in Turin (1997), but third in Dublin is 10 times better."

Leopardstown was the perfect setting for such a feat. From a long way out the crowds in the stand could encourage the Irish finishers, and none of the four denied that home advantage was a player. The other two finishers, Vaughan in 64th and Maureen Harrington in 92nd, were also rewarded with the bronze medals, and their share of the $12,000 prize money.

Team manager Jerry Kiernan admitted bronze couldn't have got any closer, too close to allow his relief surpass his joy.

"I was very nervous watching them on the last lap, and I didn't think we could get it. I was starting to rue the absence Breda Dennehy-Willis, because you just have to have your best team possible in a race like this.

"Some of the Irish selectors showed a remarkable lack of foresight, and almost blew our medal chances here. And if I'm going to be considered for team manager again, then I'll have to have the final say in team selection whenever there are any doubts."

It was also a race where the African dominance was watered down on recent years. Benita Johnson (formerly Willis) of Australia took fourth, and Suzy Favor-Hamilton of the US surpassed her cross country credentials to take fifth.

There was no African let-up, however, on the men's side. Kenenisa Bekele did what he said he'd do and came out 24 hours after winning the short-course title to do likewise in the long-course race. He covered the 12km race in a breathtaking 34.52, though he seemed barely out of breath at the finish.

Still only 19 (though some say 20), he is now the clear successor to his great Ethiopian countryman Haile Gebrselassie. Only one other athlete has achieved a short-long double before (Sonia O'Sullivan in 1998), but no one would bet against Bekele repeating the double a couple of more times. Remember the name.