Gelete Burka wins the women's junior race in St-Etienne/St-Galmier (© Getty Images)
Ethiopia’s World Junior Cross Country champion Gelete Burika Bati is the star of the women's division, while Algeria’s Ali Saïdi-Sief will face the strongest possible local opposition in the men's race at Sunday’s (18 Dec.) 26th Cross Internacional de Venta de Baños in Spain.
Among others, top Spaniards on the bill include Alberto García, the European Championships silver medallist, Juan Carlos de la Ossa, José Ríos and José Manuel Martínez.
At the pre-race press conference, race organiser Miguel Alfambra said, "Last year we reached our peak with the signing of Kenenisa Bekele. We have tried his entry this year too but it has not been possible. To compensate for his absence," Alfambra, added, "we have prepared a very balanced line-up which includes a world star like Ali Saïdi Sief alongside the crème of Spanish athletes on cross country."
García, De la Ossa, Ríos, Martínez…who is the Spanish number one?
The 27-year-old Saïdi-Sief was a notable fifth in the 5000m at the World Championships in Helsinki last August, but his cross country ability remains in question. His best result on this surface came at the World Championships in Vilamoura, Portugal, where he finished 16th in the short race back in 2000. By contrast, the top Spaniards proved to be in great shape at the European Cross Country Championships last Sunday in Tilburg. The Spanish squad took the silver team medal, thanks primarily to runner-up García, De la Ossa (ninth) Ríos (tenth).
García, the reigning European 5000m champion, succeeded De la Ossa as the continent’s silver medallist in Tilburg, finishing behind the Ukrainian Sergiy Lebid who snatched his fifth consecutive title and sixth overall in the Dutch city. Both runners have trained normally this week - De la Ossa says he still feels some discomfort in his left Achilles tendon - and they confess to be “a little tired” after their very demanding race last Sunday.
To add further interest to Sunday’s race, European 10,000m champion José Manuel Martínez will also be in contention. A 13:13.57 (5000m) and 27:30.56 (10,000m) runner, Martínez was controversially omitted from the national team competing for Tilburg and he is now eager to show he deserved a berth on that team. Both García and Martínez will use this Venta de Baños permit as a stepping stone for the ‘San Silvestre Vallecana’ 10Km road race in Madrid on New Year’s eve.
Portugal’s Fernando Silva (11th at the recent Europeans), Italy’s Gabriele de Nard (15th) and the British pair of Mohammed Farah (21st) and Michael Skinner (35th) should also be in the hunt for a top-ten place along with Spain’s former (1998) European 5000m champion Isaac Viciosa who will soon celebrate his 36th birthday. This will be Viciosa’s final appearance in Venta de Baños as he announced that his illustrious athletics career - he was the first European to dip under 7:30 at 3000m - will come to and end next summer.
Burika is the woman to beat
Ethiopia’s reigning World Junior Cross Country champion Gelete Burika Bati heads the women’s field. The 19-year-old is the latest product of Ethiopia’s phenomenal long distance running production line. In addition, she has shown an interesting track pedigree with an eighth place over 1500m at last year’s World Championships in Helsinki and has a sub-4:00 performance at that distance to her credit already.
Expected to give chase are Britain’s Liz Yelling, fresh from an eighth place in Tilburg and the in-form Spaniard Rosa Morató who finished just one spot behind Yelling at the Europeans. Not to be discounted to make the podium is Spain’s reigning European 5000m champion Marta Domínguez who was born in Venta de Baños and will obviously have the strongest support from the local crowd. Fully recovered from the injury which led her to miss the 2004 Olympics, the 30-year-old 2001 and 2003 World 5000m silver medallist (14th in Helsinki) is determined to tackle the 10,000m in 2006 and will be seeking the European crown at that distance in Gothenburg next summer.
Emeterio Valiente for the IAAF
