The Ethiopian National Athletics Federation selected six men and six women to the marathon team for IAAF World Championships in Berlin based primarily on their time-performances during the last 10 months. Other criteria included their recent performances as well as their Olympic Games performances.World marathon record holder and the only man under 2:04, Haile Gebrselassie, is not included on this team for Berlin, the same city where he has twice broken the world record. Rather, Haile has started to prepare for the Berlin Marathon in September. There is no further information regarding what the Ethiopian Federation has discussed with Haile, but he is not on the list for the marathon team.
Leading the way for Ethiopia is the Beijing Olympic bronze medalist and second-place finisher in the 2009 FLORA London Marathon behind Kenyan Sammy Wanjiru, 22-year-old Tsegay Kebede. Kebede is one of the caretakers of Ethiopian gold demand at this World Athletics Championship marathon.
2009 Houston and Boston Marathon Champion Deribe Merga is another strong contender as his road race times in the past months have been near the best in the world. Merga is an unforgettable competitor. In Beijing he lost a marathon medal in the entrance to the Birds Nest track. Merga's performance in Berlin will be highly anticipated as his training has been very strong recently.
Other members of the Ethiopian team are below. They will help answer the critical question in Ethiopia of marathon medals.
Ethiopian Men's Marathon Pool - Berlin 2009
2:05:20 Tsegay Kebede ETH 2 London
2:07:52 Deriba Merga ETH 1 Houston
2:06:30 Yemane Tsegay ETH 4 Paris
2:07:54 Deressa Edae ETH 2 Dubai
2:08:30 Dejene Yirdawe ETH 2 Seoul
2:09:01 Negari Terfa ETH 2 Xiamen (alternate)
READ ON...
ShareThis