Out of Africa

HAS track distance running, particularly for men, become an East African monopoly? Have the dominant Kenyans and Ethiopians, reinforced by the handful of other nations that border on the Great Rift Valley, scared others off?

You could be forgiven for thinking so on the basis of the men's 10,000 metres at the world championships in Osaka.

One European entered — Alistair Cragg of Ireland — and, ultimately, did not compete, saving himself for the 5000 metres. And Cragg is South African-born, attended an American university, and took up his Irish qualification on the basis of heritage (he has Irish grandparents).

The non-African component of the Osaka field comprised three Americans, two Japanese, a Mexican, a Canadian and a New Zealander. Of that eight, two were African-born.
The annual Zatopek meeting is on at Olympic Park this Thursday, its focus the men's and women's 10,000 races that serve as the Australian championships and Olympic nomination trials for that distance.

The qualifying standards for Olympic selection for men and women are 27 minutes 50 seconds and 31:45, respectively. Up to three athletes can be nominated provided all have met that standard; one can be nominated who has met a B-standard of 28:10 or 32:20. With neither Craig Mottram nor Benita Johnson running, the chance of anyone achieving an A-standard on Thursday is slim.

Given the African domination and the likely performance standard on Thursday night, the question must be asked: is it all worth it anyway?

Many European countries already seem to have decided it is not. Osaka was one pointer and many European distance insiders will tell you the Africans are unbeatable.

European representation at this year's world cross-country championships in Mombasa, Kenya, was also down and the European Cup 10,000 metres a couple of weeks later saw the slowest men's winning time in its 11-year history.

No male ran an Osaka qualifying time in the event that traditionally produces half a dozen or more and just one female — Evlan Abeylegesse, Ethiopian-born but running for Turkey — got an A-standard.

Amid a generally gloomy picture for non-Africans, two things stand out: first, there is the relative success of the US, which had good results in Osaka, operating on principles Australia has followed for years.

Second, there is the women's 10,000, in which the first two home — Tirunesh Dibaba of Ethiopia and Abeylegesse — were Ethiopian-born, but the bronze medallist, six more of the first 12 finishers and 11 of the 19 finishers overall, were non-African.

For the past 40 years, Australian track distance running has been built around the Zatopek races. For the past 30, the world cross-country has been a second pillar. For all that time, a co-operative approach has been a feature.

Adopting a similar approach — boosted by the simultaneous flowering of three exceptional male athletes — the US filled the gap left by departing Europeans. Bernard Lagat, who won the 1500 and 5000 in Osaka, is Kenyan born; Abdi Abdirahman, seventh in the 10,000, is of Somali background.

The rest are home-grown. Matt Tegenkamp was fourth in the 5000, missing a medal by hundredths of a second.

Alan Webb, eighth in the 1500 final, and Dathan Ritzenhein, ninth in the 10,000, with Ryan Hall, who won the US Olympic marathon trial last month , all emerged from the same high school year of 2000.

Galen Rupp, last year's Zatopek winner, was 11th in the Osaka 10,000. On the women's side, Kara Goucher was third in the 10,000, Deena Kastor sixth and Katie McGregor 13th. Jennifer Rhines and Shalane Flanagan were seventh and eighth in the 5000.

"Some of it is dumb luck," Weldon Johnson says of the current US success, referring to the emergence of Hall, Webb and Ritzenhein in the one year.
Johnson is an elite distance runner himself.

With his brother, Robert, a coach at Cornell University, he is co-founder of LetsRun.com, an internet running site that draws 200,000 hits a month.

The net, says Johnson, is part of the explanation for the revival. "People started to talk on the internet," he says of the days when US distance running was on a low, "and said 'hey, we can do better'."

Then they started to race. Much in the manner that Australians all run the Zatopek, and target several other track distance races through our season, Americans started to pick key races.
The primary target is Stanford University, California, where top college coach Vin Lannana (now at another college distance centre, Oregon) was based.

Stanford's invitational distance races became the place to chase qualifying times, with good entries and pacemakers.

"People started to realise you can run fast in Stanford in the spring," Johnson says. Gradually performances improved. "It slowly raises the bar for everyone."
While this year's European Cup 10,000 produced no men's qualifier, the Stanford 10,000 saw 11 under 27:50.

There's also been an injection of private sponsorship. One success has been The Hansons' running team, organised and backed by brothers Keith and Kevin Hanson from their running shops. The brothers' top graduate is world championships marathoner Brian Sell, who joins Hall and Ritzenhein in the US Olympic marathon team.

Two factors apply to the US market that do not apply here.

One is financial: the major shoe companies are based there and the bigger market makes it viable to support domestic athletes.

The US system also guarantees selection of qualified athletes, not only for the Olympics and world championships, but also for world cross-country and world road championships.
"You make a team, you know they're going to send you," says Johnson, describing as "crazy" Australia's system, where achieving qualifying standard is but one part of the process.
Tim O'Shaughnessy, Australia's national distance co-ordinator, sees merit in what the US has done and how it mirrors much of what traditionally happened here. Resources are an issue, he agrees, but the group philosophy does not rely on resources alone.

"Success breeds success," O'Shaughnessy said.

The east African presence ensures any distance success will be hard-won, but it is even harder to achieve anything if you are not in it.


For the past 40 years, Australian track distance running has been built around the Zatopek races. For the past 30, the world cross-country has been a second pillar. For all that time, a co-operative approach has been a feature.

Adopting a similar approach — boosted by the simultaneous flowering of three exceptional male athletes — the US filled the gap left by departing Europeans. Bernard Lagat, who won the 1500 and 5000 in Osaka, is Kenyan born; Abdi Abdirahman, seventh in the 10,000, is of Somali background.

The rest are home-grown. Matt Tegenkamp was fourth in the 5000, missing a medal by hundredths of a second.

Alan Webb, eighth in the 1500 final, and Dathan Ritzenhein, ninth in the 10,000, with Ryan Hall, who won the US Olympic marathon trial last month , all emerged from the same high school year of 2000.

Galen Rupp, last year's Zatopek winner, was 11th in the Osaka 10,000. On the women's side, Kara Goucher was third in the 10,000, Deena Kastor sixth and Katie McGregor 13th. Jennifer Rhines and Shalane Flanagan were seventh and eighth in the 5000.

"Some of it is dumb luck," Weldon Johnson says of the current US success, referring to the emergence of Hall, Webb and Ritzenhein in the one year.
Johnson is an elite distance runner himself.

With his brother, Robert, a coach at Cornell University, he is co-founder of LetsRun.com, an internet running site that draws 200,000 hits a month.

The net, says Johnson, is part of the explanation for the revival. "People started to talk on the internet," he says of the days when US distance running was on a low, "and said 'hey, we can do better'."

Then they started to race. Much in the manner that Australians all run the Zatopek, and target several other track distance races through our season, Americans started to pick key races.
The primary target is Stanford University, California, where top college coach Vin Lannana (now at another college distance centre, Oregon) was based.

Stanford's invitational distance races became the place to chase qualifying times, with good entries and pacemakers.

"People started to realise you can run fast in Stanford in the spring," Johnson says. Gradually performances improved. "It slowly raises the bar for everyone."

While this year's European Cup 10,000 produced no men's qualifier, the Stanford 10,000 saw 11 under 27:50.

There's also been an injection of private sponsorship. One success has been The Hansons' running team, organised and backed by brothers Keith and Kevin Hanson from their running shops. The brothers' top graduate is world championships marathoner Brian Sell, who joins Hall and Ritzenhein in the US Olympic marathon team.

Two factors apply to the US market that do not apply here.
One is financial: the major shoe companies are based there and the bigger market makes it viable to support domestic athletes.

The US system also guarantees selection of qualified athletes, not only for the Olympics and world championships, but also for world cross-country and world road championships.
"You make a team, you know they're going to send you," says Johnson, describing as "crazy" Australia's system, where achieving qualifying standard is but one part of the process.
Tim O'Shaughnessy, Australia's national distance co-ordinator, sees merit in what the US has done and how it mirrors much of what traditionally happened here. Resources are an issue, he agrees, but the group philosophy does not rely on resources alone.

"Success breeds success," O'Shaughnessy said.

The east African presence ensures any distance success will be hard-won, but it is even harder to achieve anything if you are not in it.

Source: TheAge.com