Tirunesh Dibaba (ETH) shows her women's World junior gold medal with pride (© Getty Images)
Upon first encountering Tirunesh Dibaba you might believe she is no different from any Ethiopian youngster who dreams of a better tomorrow. Yet after winning the IAAF World Junior Cross Country title in Lausanne last month, there is already an air of confidence in Ethiopia that she might be the next Derartu Tulu or Gete Wami.
Born in the Chefe Kebele in the province of Arsi some 17 years ago, Dibaba was the third child in a family of five. However, her upbringing was very much different to other Ethiopian athletes, who start running from their home town to school.
“My school was only a fifteen minutes walk from our house,” she said. “I never really needed to run to get there, except at times when I was late.”
She says that Athletics was not a childhood ambition until her cousin Derartu Tulu won the Olympic gold medal in the 10,000m in Barcelona’92.
”That is when it really hit me,” says Dibaba who was only seven years of age when Tulu achieved her feat. “However, even then my main target was primarily education.”
It was not until seven years after Tulu’s triumph that Dibaba became involved in Athletics and she recalls that is was not out of choice.
“I came to Addis in 2000 to live with my sister Ejigayehu (also an athlete) and go to school,” she says. “But I missed the high school registration deadline by six days and I was told that I would not be able to enroll in school.”
The capital city Addis Ababa was not unknown to her as she used to come to visit her sister during the summer break but the decision left her with few alternatives, and so rather than going back home to Arsi on the next bus, she joined the Maremia or Prison Correction athletics club.
“I did not mean for things to happen this way and many people told me I was too young for this,” she says. “But I guess things turned out rather well.”
A year later, she made her first appearance in the World Cross Country Championships in Ostend (2001), but could only finish 5th in the 6km Junior race. Since then, she has made a steady improvement by finishing runner-up last year, and now in 2002 winning the event in Lausanne.
Lausanne is undoubtedly the highest point in her relatively short career so far and she is more than happy to relive her sweetest moment. “I came in second in the qualifiers (Ethiopian) early in March, but I always felt that a win was not beyond me,” she says.
“The atmosphere was great. The turf was impeccable for distance running. We were told when we left from here that it would rain, but it turned out to be a bright sunny day.”
However, Dibabas says she learned many lessons from Lausanne and now recognises that it will take some time before hre diminutive figure can emulate the success of Tulu, Wami, or other Ethiopian distance runners at senior level.
“I knew that the 4km would be difficult and as I expected, I could only finish seventh,” she says (Dibaba also ran the senior women’s short course 4km race the day after her junior triumph in Lausanne). “I know that I will need to work harder for Paris and subsequent championships.”
Now that the euphoria of the World Cross is over, Dibaba is in vigorous training for the Ethiopian (track) Championships, one of the qualifying events for the World Championships in Paris. She says that she is now in the transition phase from the grassy surface of the cross country to the track. “I am training once a day early in the mornings,” she says. “I hope to qualify for Paris and bring Ethiopia success like Derartu.”
Dibaba cannot help, but mention Derartu Tulu in almost every sentence. Indeed, she confirms that the two-time Olympic 10,000m champion has had a positive impact on her. “She is a great athlete and her advice has been very important.”
At only 17, Dibaba has a bright future ahead of her and has already sent a message to the world by winning in Lausanne. It may take her sometime to achieve Olympic gold and even more, but do not bet against her doing it.
