When Kenyan distance runner Moses Masai was asked yesterday morning how his younger sister Linet would fare in the women’s 10,000m he said he thought she’d do well. “But whatever she does,” he added. “I’ll do better.”After his 19-year-old sibling’s sensational victory over the mighty Ethiopians in last night’s final he’ll have to produce one hell of a stunning performance in the men’s race on Monday to outdo her now. Not that the softly-spoken shy girl of Kenyan distance running is worried about that. Indeed, she believes her gold medal is a good omen for the Masai family.
Like sister, like brother?
“In Beijing both of us were fourth,” she says, referring to last year’s Olympic Games when she and her brother came agonisingly close to medals. “This year I am the champion and I believe he will be the same.”
Of course, Moses will have to overcome the triple champion and World record holder, Kenenisa Bekele, to match his sister’s achievement. And, no doubt, some will claim Linet’s win was devalued by the absence of Tirunesh Dibaba, the reigning champion and double Olympic gold medallist, who pulled out of the event a few days ago with a leg injury.
'It doesn't matter that Dibaba wasn't here'
Not surprisingly, Masai doesn’t see it that way. After all, she destroyed the Ethiopian in New York earlier this summer over 5000m, a performance that gave her the belief she could win again in Berlin’s Olympic Stadium, even though the Ethiopian great was below her best at the time.
“It doesn’t matter that Dibaba wasn’t there tonight,” she says. “This year I have beaten Dibaba already so I don’t think it would have made any difference.”
In fact, Masai’s victory over the remaining Ethiopians – Meselech Melkamu, the world number one and second fastest all-time, Meseret Defar, the reigning 5000m champion, and Wude Ayalew, who took the bronze medal – was no matter of chance or luck.
The Kenyan team devised a plan to end Ethiopia’s decade-long dominance of this event, and Masai made it work to perfection.
Initially, she was the only Kenyan runner named for the event but the federation later granted the World Cross Country champion, Florence Kiplagat, and African 5000m bronze medallist, Grace Momanyi, wildcard places in the team.
“We saw it would be unfair for Linet to compete against the Ethiopians alone at the World Championships, and coaches recommended to Athletics Kenya that they include Grace and Florence,” new national head coach, Peter Mathu, explained at the time. “I believe now we have a strong team to take on our rivals since Linet has runners she can work with.”
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