Gezahegne Abera (ETH) just clinches World Championships Marathon title ahead of Simon Biwott (© Getty Images)
Addis Ababa, EthiopiaWith the start of the 9th IAAF World Championships in Athletics, Paris 2003 Saint-Denis (23-31 August) less than a week away, the reigning men’s Marathon champion Gezhagne Abera says he is ready to defend his title and write himself in the history books alongside the all-time elites of distance running.
If the World and Olympic champion Abera can pull off another triumph in Paris he will equal Spaniard Abel Anton’s feat of winning back-to-back World Championship Marathon victories. But his achievement would be unique given that he has won an Olympic title in between.
In an exclusive interview for the IAAF Internet, the 25-year old athlete said that he expects his title defence will be a lot harder this year than his victory over Kenyan Simon Biwott in Edmonton two years ago.
”I am afraid I have to be wary of the weather in Paris at the time of the championships more than any thing else,” Abera confirmed. “With the Marathon starting at 2 o’clock in the afternoon, it is rather worrying. We will be having drinks and will run through showers when we compete, but we do not want to consume a lot of liquid to avoid any unexpected pains.”
In what was dubbed as the one of the greatest sprint finishes in general Marathon, let alone London Marathon history, Abera out sprinted Italian Stefano Baldini to take his first title in the British capital this spring.
Baldini, who won Bronze two years ago in Edmonton, will again be challenging for honours.
“We must understand with every edition of the championships, another athlete pops up and only God knows who will it will be this time around. Some athletes that I know already like the Italian Baldini will be there and do not forget the Kenyans. The weather will also give athletes from Spain and Portugal an advantage in the heat.”
Since his victory in London, Abera has tied the knot with fellow marathon runner Elfinesh Alemu, who finished fifth at the world championships in Athens’97. In what is very much now a family running affair, Abera has been quick to point out the significance of Marriage on his personal and professional life.
”I had begun looking at life more differently and marriage has kept me focused more,” Abera said. “I no longer wonder what life holds for me in the future. Now I have my concerns under one roof and with Elfinesh, I have someone to share them with.”
Abera’s wedding, which was attended by nearly 25,000 guests in a ceremony held at the Addis Ababa Stadium, was one of the major events in Ethiopia over the past year, and arguably the largest documented wedding in Ethiopian history.
Elfinesh Alemu’s 600m wedding veil broke the Guinness Book of World Records mark previously set by the late Princess Diana. About 300 students from government and community schools around Addis were needed to carry it, as it flowed around the running track in the stadium. It was a ceremony filled with excitement and was attended by high government officials including the country’s President Girma Woldegiorgis and Kenya’s five-time World Cross Country champion Paul Tergat, who is a friend and rival of Abera.
After the euphoria of the wedding bash, Abera headed straight back to his business of running to kick start the defense of his World title, but he admitted that it had been difficult settling back to his rhythm.
”The process of arranging the Wedding was very time consuming,” he said. “We had problems trying to get permission to have the event inside the stadium and we had meetings almost every other day with officials. Afterwards, it took me some weeks to settle back into my rhythm, but I am comfortable now.”
The duo will become the first married Ethiopian couple to compete at the World Championships. It is a unique achievement considering that the wedding was delayed eight months because Abera suffered a knee injury when he was training for the 2002 London Marathon. He was ruled out of action for rest of the year, but came back strongly to win his third Fukouka Marathon title in Japan towards the end of last year.
Abera has been working hard to shake off any surprises in Paris and says that he finds himself in top form at the moment.
“For us [Marathon runners], the training is much harder than the competition itself. I have been in rigorous training for many months now and we have gotten used to doing 30 kilometers everyday throughout the week. I think this tough training will make the competition in Paris a lot easier, where I, with the help of God, hope to defend my title in Paris.”
With the title defence his main priority this summer, Abera has also found time in his busy schedule to train with his wife Alemu. The 28-year old carries the country’s best hopes of a medal in Paris and Abera says that she is in the sort of form to final achieve that for Ethiopia.
“She is more settled just like me after we married,” he said. “She is a very good endurance runner, but she had problems with her sprinting. I have tried to work with her so that she can improve on that. She has been in very good shape for Paris and I think, with the hope of God, she is capable of achieving something this season.”
If Alemu can shake off the demons that have been haunting her countrywomen for the last 20 years and finally grab a World Championships gold or even a medal along with her husband in Paris, then the couple could be become the first couple to actually win medals competing at the same distance. As Abera always likes to point out, “it is the will of God!”
