Abera completes historic double

By K.P. Mohan

EDMONTON, AUG 4. Gezahegne Abera completed a historic marathon double by winning the first gold medal in the eighth World athletic championships here on Friday. In an edge-of-the-seat climax, the Olympic champion from Ethiopia outkicked Kenyan Simon Biwott from 200 metres out to win by a mere second, the closest margin in championship marathon history.

No one had ever held the Olympic and World titles together in marathon. The 23-year-old Ethiopian now has that distinction. ``What more can you ask for'', the question was posed to him in the `interview tent'. ``I want to win the next Olympic Games and the next World championships as well,'' came the reply.

Simplicity marks Abera's approach, even his running. He seemed to have prepared thoroughly for this event on a slightly up and down course. And the Ethiopians, working as a team, just held onto the front-running bunch after Moroccan Abdelkader El Mouaziz led well past the 30km mark before slackening the pace and gradually running out of contention.

Then on, Abera allowed the others to dictate the pace, keeping himself within striking distance all the time along with team- mate Tesfaye Tola, the Olympic bronze medallist. When Biwott, who won the 2000 Berlin marathon after being designated a pacemaker, stepped up the tempo a little past the 38km mark, Abera ground his teeth and pursued him like a cheetah after its prey.

The Ethiopian who beat another tall Kenyan, Eric Wainaina for the Sydney Olympics gold, broke loose after that only to find Biwott catching up. But once the pair crossed the 40km mark it was clear that Abera would win, for, he had the finishing `kick'.

That last surge by Abera was too much for Biwott to handle. Still, the 31-year-old Kenyan tried. He staggered on the home straight but managed to steady himself and finished just three metres behind the Ethiopian. ``I just tried to do my best. Abera was very strong with his kick,'' said Biwott.

``When we reached the stadium together, I knew I was going to win. I was confident about my sprinting ability,'' said Abera.

Close finishes have marked Abera's exploits on international circuit. He won the 1999 Fukuoka marathon by one second from Mohammed Ouaadi of France, was credited the same timing of 2:09.47 with Kenyan Elijah Lagat at the 2000 Boston marathon but placed second, and in Sydney last year, he managed to beat Wainaina by 20 seconds.

Biwott was not disappointed that he could not get what at one stage looked to be within his long-striding reach. ``I am grateful for the silver medal. I am very happy. I did not know much about racing against Abera. I have never run in this type of races before. The finish was very tough and very fast.''

It was one of the best fields ever assembled for a marathon. But by the time the 35km mark was passed, only six men were in contention. Apart from Abera and Biwott, the others were Italian Stefano Baldini, who eventually finished with the bronze, Tesfaye Tola, Japanese Shigeru Aburaya and El Mouaziz.

Once Mouaziz, the 1999 and 2001 London Marathon winner, let slip the advantage he had build up so painstakingly, the battle seemed to revolve around the Kenyan and the Ethiopians. The Japanese kept up for some time, but slackened around the 38km mark while Tola, who looked the most composed throughout, somehow could not step up the pace to match that of Biwott and his team-mate.

Baldini made a brave attempt for some time to take over the lead during the final stages but gave up. He seemed to be pretty pleased with the bronze eventually.

The big names ? World record holder Morocco-born Khalid Khannouchi of the U.S., who had injury worries in the final build-up for these Championships, dropped out around the half-way mark. South African Gert Thys also gave up around the 28km mark. The 1996 Olympic champion, Josia Thugwane of South Africa did not start, while the Korean, Lee Bong-Ju who lost to Thugwane by a mere three seconds in Atlanta, and who won the Boston Marathon this year, quit just past the 30km stage.

In the team standings for the World Cup, held concurrently, Ethiopia easily beat the rest. Japan, thanks to Aburaya's fifth place finish plus Yoshiteru Morishita's eighth and Atsushi Fujita's 12th, took the second place while Italy came third.

Forgettable Opening Ceremony

But for the drum beats that added to the tempo being set outside the stadium, on the roads, by the marathon runners, it was a largely forgettable Opening Ceremony on Friday.

Yet, the near-packed Commonwealth Stadium seemed to enjoy every moment of it as the Canadian Prime Minister, Mr. Jean Chretien, declared open the eighth World athletic championships.

The ceremony was attended, among others, by Prince Albert and Princess Sophie, and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) President, Mr. Jacques Rogge. Prince Albert in his short address on arrival conveyed the wishes of the Queen for the successful conduct of the championships.

Though the ceremony started off well, with the giant scoreboard showing a video presentation to welcome television audiences from nearly 200 countries, what followed tended to meander along rather than captivate the audience.

The card display was just about adequate while a majority of the choreographed numbers lacked in synchronisation. The athletes marched in on a newly-devised continental pattern. The fireworks in the end somewhat salvaged the show.

Denise Lewis pulls out

Meanwhile, even before the real track and field action has begun, the big showdowns are turning out to be non-starters. Joining the long list of champions on the sidelines on Friday was Britain's Olympic heptathlon champion Denise Lewis. Some stomach problem had placed her in the uncertain category a day before, but she finally gave up hopes and withdrew today.

``Obviously, I am very disappointed and sad about not competting,'' Denise Lewis said in a statement. ``I have been working all year to prepare myself for the World Championships. It is a bitter blow to come so far and not be able to compete but I guess it is part and parcel of life. I wil be doing my best to get fit again as quickly as possible and I hope to compete again this season,'' she said.

``I have been suffering on and off for the last 10 years with stomach problems. I am not sure what brings it on and it has never happened to me before at a major championships. I intend to go home as I will not enjoy it if I stay here. My decision has been made under doctor's advice,'' Lewis said. The battle between Denise Lewis and Frenchwoman Eunice Barber, the reigning World champion, who gave up in the Sydney Olympics due to injury, was going to be one of the high points of these championships. But now, it will not be there.

We will also not be able to see the Andre Bucher-Yuriy Borzakovskiy clash in the men's 800 metres and the Hicham El Guerrouj-Noah Ngeny duel in the 1500 metres. Borzakovskiy, the world indoor champion, decided not to compete here while Ngeny was dropped by Kenya for having failed to report at a camp.

``I don't know why Yuriy has decided not to run,'' said Bucher about the Russian's absence. ``After all, he ran in the Olympics and the World indoors and he certainly would be one of the favourites here abd would have had a good chance of winning a medal. Yes, it really is an odd decision and I can't understand it,'' said the Swiss runner.

If it sounds as though all the excitement is draining out of the championships even before the first report of the gun has been heard, Tim Montgomerie just provided the boost that the meet would have been looking for by declaring that he was ready to not only take over the sprinting mantle from Maurice Greene but also ready to smash the World record. Montgomerie who ran the fastest time in the world this year at Oslo (9.84s) said: ``I think that race improved my mental state by miles, In the past I have been a very quiet person, not as loud as other people. But now I feel like there is no way that I can be stopped,'' Greene might not agree with that assessment, no matter that he is nursing a worrisome knee injury.

Another key figure in the sprints, Ato Boldon of Trinidad, had forecast a couple of days ago that he, Greene, Montgomerie and Briton Dwain Chambers would be the main characters in the 100 metres with Kim Collins having an outside chance, while he, Greek Konstadinos Kederis and Ramon Clay of the US would be the real contenders in the 200m.

The results: 1. Gezahegne Abera (Eth) 2:12:42, 2. Simon Biwott (Ken) 2:12:43, 3. Stefano Baldini (Ita) 2:13:18, 4. Tesfaye Tola (Eth) 2:13.58, 5. Shigeru Aburaya (Jpn) 2:14.07, 6. Abdelkader El Mouaziz (Mar) 2:15.41, 7. Tesfaye Jifar (Eth) 2:16:52, 8. Yoshiteru Morishita (Jpn) 2:17:05.

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