Can Fidatov maintain her challenge?

March 14 1997

The women’s race at the 25^th IAAF Pirelli World Cross Country Championships on March 23rd is set to be a thriller. Can the team tactics of the Kenyans counter the individual brilliance of Ethiopia’s Geta Wami and Derartu Tulu and particularly Romania’s Elena Fidatov?

In the 11 events of the 1996/1997 IAAF Cross Challenge to date, Fidatov has been prolific, contesting seven races and winning six, most recently at Diekirch, Luxembourg on February 16. Wami, who is the defending World Cross Country Champion, finished second to the Romanian in Amorebieta and Seville, but beat Fidatov in Durham and also won the famous Cinque Mulini in San Vittore on March 9, which Fidatov didn’t run. But what has happened in the four months since the circuit started on December 22 matters less than who peaks perfectly in nine days time. Derartu Tulu, who was fourth in Amorebieta in her only 97 IAAF Cross Challenge appearance but beat Fidatov in an international race in San Sebastian, should not be underestimated. World Cross Country Champion in 1995 and the first black African woman to win an Olympic gold when she outsprinted Elana Meyer over 10,000m in Barcelona, Tulu has proved she can get it right when it matters.

The 25^th edition of these championships can already claim one record - for participation. 68 countries have confirmed they will attend, as compared with 65 in Cape Town last year, the previous record. In total, some 700 athletes have been entered for the races in Turin while 669 were present in South Africa.

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One serious threat to the Kenyans will be Romania's Elena Fidatov who has dominated the World Cross Challenge so far this season, winning six out of the seven races she has contested.