Ethiopian
women’s sweep is a first
Sabrina Yohannes for the IAAF
8 August 2001 - Edmonton - Derartu Tulu and Gete Wami have several world or
Olympic medals apiece, and have shared the Olympic or world cross-country
podium, but when Tulu led Berhane Adere and Wami to a clean sweep of the world
championship women’s 10,000 metres Tuesday night, it was a first for Ethiopia.
“It was very good, because we have never come in first, second and third,” said Tulu, who is now the reigning World and Olympic – not to mention London marathon – champion.
The trio’s feat won the praise of a noteworthy spectator in the stadium. “It’s a joy beyond comparison,” said Ethiopia’s 1980 5000- and 10,000-metre Olympic gold medallist Miruts Yifter, who now lives in Canada and came to Edmonton to watch the championships.
“We were the original ‘green wave’,” said Yifter, who heard the phrase being used to describe the green-and-red clad Ethiopian women, and recalled first hearing it at the 1983 world cross country championships when several Ethiopian men placed in the top ten places, although earning only one medal. “But first through third, this is the first time,” he said. “It’s historical. It’s joyful, not only for myself, but for all of the people of Ethiopia.”
But despite the desperate dash down the homestraight and the almost-photo finishes that decided the medals, the sweep was not a complete surprise to the medallists themselves.
“Our plan was to win,” said Wami, whose status of defending champion gave her an automatic entry and a fourth entrant, Aster Bacha, a place on the Ethiopian team.
“We worked for it and had even hoped to finish first through fourth,” said Tulu, who took her first world championship track title, after finishing second in 1995. “I have competed at the World Championships for many years, but I have never had the good fortune to win, until now,” she said.
The occasion also broke new ground for Adere, whose only global medal previously was a 1998 World Cup 5000-metre bronze, until her fierce chase down the homestretch after Tulu yielded silver. “The finish was a battle, and I’d thought I would just go with whoever took off,” said Adere, who first pursued Britain’s Paula Radcliffe in the last couple of laps before the bell, until Tulu eased up on the outside and took over.
The World Half Marathon champion Radcliffe, who in Sydney had set a fast pace only to lose out on a medal, figured in the Edmonton race long before her 22nd lap move to the front. “We talked about watching out for her before the race,” said Tulu. “Towards the end, I knew we had her.”
“But it was one of the two of them I expected to win,” she added of her teammates. “I didn’t expect myself to win.” After winning the 1992 Olympic 10,000 metres and two world cross country titles, Tulu was out of competition for over two years with a knee injury and motherhood, and had planned to move up to the marathon, which she had tried once. “I didn’t think I had the speed for the shorter distances,” she said.
A convincing win over Wami at the 2000 Ethiopian national and world cross country championships told her otherwise, but Tulu still pursued the marathon, running in London to obtain an Olympic qualifying time (and placing sixth). But she was persuaded to opt for the track in Sydney, and unleashed a devastating last lap to take her second Olympic gold. That accomplished, Tulu came back again to the marathon, winning London in April. “Since London, I did not compete and I have been training hard for the marathon,” she said. “I know my sprint is not the same as last year.”
Tulu held Adere off with a 63.36-second last lap, compared to 60.26 in Sydney. “She won with pure courage,” said Yifter, nicknamed “the Shifter” for his legendary shifts in gear.
To the mass of Ethiopians fans seated in one section of the stadium and cheering, with green, yellow and red flags aloft, Tulu is simply the double Olympic champion with a vicious kick and a dazzling smile – much like Haile Gebrselassie – and her eager approach towards their section after her victory was appreciated.
“She’s a great athlete,” said Haben Gedey, 26, an Ethiopian graduate student who came to Edmonton from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan to watch the championships.
“But I was also hoping the fourth one would catch up,” he said, of 14th-placed Aster Bacha. Not that he was dissatisfied with the sweep. “I don’t even have words to describe it,” he said—and then found a few. “It was awesome,” he said.
