Report for Junior races
Sean
Wallace-Jones reports from Turin
Victory take two for Kenya.
 In an amazing display of
speed the barefoot Elijah Korir led Kenya to
victory in the junior men’s event. With five
Kenyan athletes in the first six places -
Ethiopian Million Wolde succeeded in breaking
through the Kenyan ranks to take silver - the
race was dominated from start to finish by the
black and green shirts of the Kenyan team.
The strength of
the Kenyans belied the rigours of the course
which, despite the beautiful surroundings of the
Parco del Valentino in Turin was a demanding
trial for these young athletes (a 250 metre 11
degree grade following the home straight). With
the sun taking a rest behind light cloud cover
the high temperatures of the previous days gave
way to a cool breeze and an ambient temperature
around 10 degrees Centigrade.
Korir hung back
and followed the lead of compatriot Paul Kosgei
for the first six kilometres of the race, with
Wolde taking the lead around the 7 km mark before
dropping behind Korir who finished in a final
sprint: running the last kilometre in an amazing
2:42!
Intermediate
times: 2:45 (Kosgei); 5:32 (Kosgei); 8:22
(Kosgei); 11:08 (Kosgei) 14:01 (Kosgei); 16:51
(Kosgei); 19:47 (Wolde); 22:29 (Korir).
Kosgei took bronze
behind Wolde’s silver and Korir’s gold.
Fourth John Gwako (KEN), fifth Charles Kwambai
(KEN), sixth Patrick Ivuti (KEN), seventh Alene
Emre (ETH), Godfrey Nyombi (UGA) eighth, Gideon
Mitei (KEN) ninth, Yibeltal Admasu (ETH) tenth,
Ali Ezzine (MAR) eleventh.
Kenya heads the Junior Field once again
In ideal
conditions in the Parco del Valentino in Turin,
in front of what is probably one of the largest
crowds to have been seen at a World Cross Country
Championships in recent years, the Kenyans once
again proved their absolute control of this
event. Caroline Tarus of Kenya
took the lead at the start and led the pack for
the first two kilometres closely followed by her
compatriot Rose Koskei. The first kilometre fell
in a fast 3:05 and this pace was maintained
throughout the race with the subsequent
intermediate times of 6:13 (Tarus) 9:27 (Worku)
12:37 (Koskei).Ayelech Worku of Ethiopia ran a
good race but, despite a break through into the
lead shortly after the 2 ½ kilometres mark only
managed to hold the lead for a few hundred metres
before dropping back behind the two Kenyans with
Rose Koskei kicking strongly and taking back the
lead to finish in a fast 14:58, closely followed
by Prisca Jepleting (KEN) with 14:59 and Worku in
15:02.
Edna Kiplagat
(KEN) took fourth place eight seconds behind
Worku, Zenebech Tadese (ETH) in 15:11, followed
by Japanese athletes Kei Satomura and Emiko
Kojima. The initial leader Caroline Tarus had to
settle for eighth position behind the two
Japanese. Ninth and tenth places were once again
taken by Kenya with Jepchumba Kiptum and Agnes
Kiprop and Risa Tanaka of Japan came in eleventh.
The team gold went
to Kenya, with Japan taking a surprise silver and
Ethiopia the bronze.
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