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Ethiopia finishes 9th in African Athletics Championships

Ethiopia had to settle for 9th place in the just concluded 2010 African Athletics Championships held in Nairobi, Kenya. Ethiopia's sole gold medal was won by Double Olympic champion Tirunesh Dibaba in the 10,000m race finishing in 31 minutes, 51.39 seconds. Ethiopia had a total of nine medals with 1 gold, 4 silver and 4 bronze, which places it as 9th overall in the medal table. Host nation Kenya tops the medal table with 25 medals including 10 gold medals, the best showing of any country.

Ethiopia was with out its world and Olympic champion Kenenisa Bekele, who did not compete due to injuries.

More than 700 athletes from 53 African countries took part. Nigeria finished second with 18 medals and South Africa was third with 9 medals.

Ethiopia's Tirunesh Dibaba celebrates AFP

Ethiopia's Tirunesh Dibaba wins women's 10,000m

Source: AFP

NAIROBI — Double Olympic champion Tirunesh Dibaba restored Ethiopia's track pride when she won the women's 10,000m at the African athletics championships here on Saturday.

The 24-year-old proved she has overcome the injuries that decimated her entire 2009 season when she lead compatriot Meselech Melkamu to gold and silver - the two precious medals that have eluded Ethopia in this competition.

Dibaba won in a relatively slow time of 31min 51.39sec while Melkamu, the world silver-medallist, clocked 31:55.50.

Kenya's world champion Linet Masai, who did all the front running only to be overtaken by the two Ethiopians on the bell, took the bronze medal in 31:59.36.

The Kenyan, however, took her defeat graciously.

"I think I have to go back and work on my finishing kick - that's why I came third," said Masai, who added that she lacked team tactics after her team-mates Doris Changeiywo and Pauline Korikwiang fell way behind after the trio made their move halfway through the race.

The Ethiopian success, coming days after their men lost the 10,000m race to the Kenyans, silenced the capacity home crowd rooting for a Masai victory to keep the pressure on defending champions South Africa in the medals hunt.

But the South Africans, bouyed by three field medals and a track bronze in the men's 110 metres hurdles, took their total tally to 16 to top the standings, going into the final day of competition on Sunday.

South Africa cemented their domination in the women's javelin with defending champion Sunette Viljoen taking gold ahead of compatriot Justine Robbeson.

Viljoen threw of 63.33 metres, while Robbeson achieved 60.24 and Egypt's Ramada Hassan taking bronze with 55.14.

Nigeria's Oke Tosin won the men's triple jump to take his team's gold medal tally to five for a total of 11 medals, to put them joint second with Kenya.

Team Ethiopia

Kenya, Ethiopia showdown looms at the Africa championships

Source: KBC

Kenya and Ethiopia are set to renew their legendary rivalry during the 17th CAA African Senior Athletics Championships that got underway on Wednesday at the Nyayo National stadium.

Over the years, the two East African neighbours have dominated long distance running globally in a show of rivalry akin to that of Jamaica and America in the sprints.

In fact it is whispered that the two nations contributed highly to the diminished interest among nations in the World Cross Country Championships that they dominated like the proverbial colossus and which has since assumed biennial status.

The women's 10,000-meter race is a must-watch event that will pit Olympic Champion Tirunesh Dibaba against World Champion Linet Masai.

Masai won the event in Berlin in the absence of the Ethiopian running machine who skipped the championships due to an injury.

The 5,000m women's race will also be a crowd puller that will pit the Kenyan trio led by world champion Vivian Cheruiyot against Dibaba, who will double, and former world champion Meseret Defar.

These two events will have the making of World or Olympic Championship clashes as it is the same runners who race against each other in the finals of the international events.

In the absence of Olympic and World Champion Kenenisa Bekele, the men's 5,000m will be a clash between the battle-hardened former world champion Eliud Kipchoge against Kenenisa's younger brother Tariku Bekele.

Chris Dunn, cdunn@ajc.com Gebre Gebremariam (right) of Ethiopia defeats Peter Kirui of Kenya by a half step for first place finish in the AJC Peachtree Road Race on July 4, 2010. It was one of the closest finishes in the race’s history. Gebremariam won in a time of 27 minutes, 56 seconds.

Ethiopia - Gebre Gebremariam wins Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta

Ethiopia's Gebre Gebremariam won a sprint to the finish by a half-step over Peter Kirui of Kenya to win the Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta, Georgia. Gebremariam’s time was 27 minutes 56 seconds for the 10-kilometer, or 6.2-mile, race. This was only Gebremariam’s second 10K street race.

The top woman was the defending champion, Lineth Chepkurui, in 30:51. An estimated 55,000 runners finished the race, according to media reports.

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Peachtree Road Race ends with thrilling finish

With eyes affixed on a finish line banner and two men approaching side-by-side, fans craned their necks to identify the victor of an electric Peachtree Road Race.

And with an equally minute shift of Gebre Gebremariam’s own body, he managed to steal victory.

Despite sharing a time of 27 minutes and 56 seconds with runner-up Peter Kirui of Kenya, Gebremariam emerged as the sole victor in one of the closest finishes in the race’s history.

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Shewarge Amare of New York City, runs on the lower part of the course during the 50th annual 2010 Mt. Washington Road Race held Saturday, June 19, 2010. Amare won the women's division in a record time of 1:08:21.(AP Photo/Gil Talbot)

Ethiopian Woman sets a new record in NH's Mt Washington Road Race

MOUNT WASHINGTON, N.H. -- A 23-year-old woman from Ethiopia who had to borrow a pair of running shoes just before the start of the Mount Washington Road Race set a new women's record Saturday for the uphill course to the summit of the Northeast's highest peak.

Shewarge Amare (Sheh-WAR'-guh AM'-are-ay), who currently lives and trains in New York City, raced up the 7.6-mile course in one hour, eight minutes and 21 seconds Saturday. The previous record for a female runner was 1:10:08.

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