Big win for Abebe Dinkesa in Edinburgh (© Mark Shearman)
Ethiopia’s Abebe Dinkesa hopes his surprising cross country victory in Saturday’s Great Edinburgh International – IAAF XC permit - will help propel him towards marathon success this spring.
While many pundits preferred to concentrate pre-race on the match-up between 2007 World Cross Country champion Zersenay Tadese of Eritrea and the Olympic 5000m silver medallist Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya, it was Dinkesa on the day who grabbed decisive control of the Edinburgh race on the penultimate lap, shocking many observers by claiming a three-second win.
However, when studying the statistics a little closer Dinkesa has always possessed the ability and his pedigree stands comparison with some of the best in the world.
Born in the rural Ambo area Dinkesa started running at the age of 15, inspired by the feats of his compatriot Haile Gebrselassie, and first made his mark internationally in 2004, landing victory in the Great Ethiopian Run and grabbing a silver medal in the 10,000m at the African Championships.
The 2005 season witnessed more progress as he finished an impressive fourth behind his countryman Kenenisa Bekele at the World Cross Country Championships in France and recorded a stunning 26:30.74 over 10,000m in Hengelo – a time which still ranks fifth on the all-time lists behind Bekele, Gebrselassie, Paul Tergat and Nicholas Kemboi.
But just as he appeared on the cusp of an outstanding career his ambitions were derailed by a persistent two-year Achilles problem.
A below-par Dinkesa battled on but struggled to a lowly 71st at the 2006 World Cross Country Champs in Japan and he was forced to drop-out mid-race from the 2007 event in Mombasa which ended his competitive season.
“I did think that I would never get back,” said Dinkesa of the frustration he suffered in 2006/07 “But I have come back stronger and now my mind is free.”
His agent, Valentijn Trouw, insisted he spent a lot to time in Europe undergoing treatment and many lonely hours in the gym on the road to recovery, but last year Dinkesa gave some indication of a welcome return to form.
Last February he landed the Ethiopian cross country title, although an untimely bout of flu wrecked his World Cross Country bid in Edinburgh and he wound up a disappointing 41st.
On the road he ran a personal best of 60:03 when taking seventh place over the half marathon in Rotterdam and he finished in the same position behind Tadese at the World Half Marathon Championships in Rio.
Further encouragement came when he landed a lucrative first prize of $50,000 for winning the 11.5km Obudu Ranch Mountain Race in Nigeria by 51 seconds in November, so he approached the Edinburgh race full of confidence.
And Dinkesa then demonstrated his ability by bursting clear of the pack on the penultimate lap and enthusiastically attacking the steep and testing ‘Haggis Knowe’ to destroy a world-class field.
“I am happy to win this,” he said of the race win in the Scottish capital. “I win this easy.”
So what of the future for the amiable 24-year-old?
He admitted he needs to discuss with his federation about whether to target the 2009 World Cross Country Championships in Amman, Jordan on Saturday 28 March but his goal is also to make his marathon debut in the spring.
Trouw confirmed: “His focus now is the marathon. He is very much convinced he will be able to be a strong marathoner in the near future. Abebe has absolutely the right focus of the marathon. After struggling for two years he has now rediscovered the joy of training and competing and this will take him far in the coming years.”
Steve Landells for the IAAF
