Sule Utura of Ethiopia (© Nahom Tesfaye)
When Ethiopian youngster Sule Utura steps on the starting line for the girls’ 3000m at the 5th IAAF World Youth Championships in Ostrava, Czech Republic (11-15 July 2007), she will confirm her meteoric rise in junior athletics.
“This time two years ago, I was in my home town of Bore [400km south of Addis Ababa] and was only thinking about how I would become a nuisance to my family and help them with their housework,” she says. “It even amazes me that I have reached this far in such a long time.”
Virtually unknown until February this year before taking a surprise victory in the junior race at the 24th Jan Meda Cross Country Championships in Addis Ababa, Utura has a fourth place in finish in this year’s World Cross Country Championships in Mombasa; a 5000m silver in the Ethiopian national championships; and a 5000m personal best of 15:21.70 set in Hengelo in May this year.
“I am happy about my achievements so far,” she says. “By the help of God, I hope to win gold in Ostrava.”
Large family
Born into a large family of 40 children (20 brothers and 19 sisters) nearly seventeen years ago, Utura had always thought of an upbringing through education. “I have always been a good student,” she says. “I hoped to go to college after elementary and high school.”
But the opening of the Ethiopian Athletics Federation (EAF) youth development project very near her home in the winter (European summer) of 2005 changed her perception towards life. “They promised us training equipment,” she says of the childhood lure that attracted her towards the sport. “After seeing that some kids got equipment for training in the project, I decided to give it a try.”
It did not take long for her to realize her talent. In January 2006, she competed in the Oromiya regional cross country championships finishing third over the senior 4km and 6th over the junior 6km.
But she managed to upturn the results in the Ethiopian cross country championships two months later. She easily won the regional junior 6km, but was beaten out of a place in Ethiopia’s team for the 34th IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Fukuoka, Japan.
“I was not expecting too much in that race, but getting close to qualification convinced me that I had a future in running,” she says. “I did not hesitate when the Defence sports club signed me two days after the race.”
Utura joined tens of other hopefuls in the Defence sports club’s training camp in April 2006. A month later, she made her first trip outside Ethiopia to compete in the 2006 Pan African meeting in Khartoum, Sudan where she won the 3000m.
National trials
But it was in this year’s national cross country trials that Utura really left her impression on the domestic running scene. Experienced runners like Emebet Etea (2005 Confidence Women First 5km silver medallist) and Bezunesh Urgessa (2005 African junior 1500m silver medallist) were left in her wake as she dominated the junior women’s 6km at the Jan Meda race course.
“I love running in Jan Meda or any other open field,” says Utura. “I felt comfortable throughout the race and did not feel any fear towards anyone. I was not afraid of anyone because I really did not know the rest of the runners.”
Her victory assured her a place in Ethiopia’s team for the 35th IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Mombasa, Kenya and a chance to train and live with the country’s top athletes in a hotel for a month. “It was an enjoying and motivating experience being in the same team with Tirunesh [Dibaba] and Gelete [Burka],” she says. “I love them all, but my role model is Tirunesh.”
Mombasa experience
A month later, Utura entered the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Mombasa, Kenya with an outside prospect of victory. “I do not have fond memories of Mombasa,” she says replicating the frustration of her compatriots who found the heat and humidity in the Nyali golf course too much to handle. “When I put ice on my body after the race, it felt like fire. I tried taking lots of liquid during and after the race, but I was ill for the whole evening after the race.”
Utura probably showed that she survived the conditions better than many other Ethiopian athletes by finishing an encouraging fourth in her first World Cross Country Championships, but says she was upset at not fulfilling her medal ambitions.
“I felt I was at least worth bronze,” she says. “The competition was not very tough and not very easy. But the heat was too much.”
Track recuperation
Utura made a quick recovery a month later when she took a close second behind former national junior cross country champion Werkitu Ayanu in the national championships in Addis Ababa.
She also made a name for herself in the international track circuit finishing tenth in a personal best time of 15:21.70 over the 5000m in Hengelo; second over the same distance in Belgrade, Serbia; and winning a 1500m ‘speed trial’ in Trento, Italy.
“I could have won in Belgrade had a Kenyan runner not kicked my toes in the beginning of the race,” she said. “I had a huge cut and was bleeding until the end.”
After her escapade in the European track season this year, Utura is now looking forward to Ostrava where she is targeting ‘nothing, but gold’.
“With the help of God, I do not want anything else,” she says.
Elshadai Negash for the IAAF
