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Oct-20-2005
Ethiopian Stars to Compete in New York
by David Monti
(c) Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved
The New York Road Runners announced yesterday three top Ethiopian stars,
including the legendary two-time Olympic gold medalist, Derartu Tulu, would
be running the ING New York City Marathon on Nov. 6. Tulu will be joined by
multiple Olympic medalist, Gete Wami, and the reigning BAA Boston Marathon
champion, Hailu Negussie.
"Individually they are all stars, but together they make a galaxy of
greats," said race director Mary Wittenberg who is also the president and
CEO of the Road Runners. "This is as good as it gets."
Tulu, 33, set an unexpected marathon personal best time at the IAAF World
Championships marathon last August (2:23:30). She finished only 11 seconds
behind Romania Constantina-Tomescu Dita, and some observers said that Tulu
might have caught her had the race been a little bit longer. In any event,
Tulu already has three Olympic medals to her credit, including two golds in
the 10,000m. The first, earned in 1992, was the first-ever Olympic medal
earned by a black African woman.
Wami, 30, won Olympic medals at 5000 meters (bronze, 2000) and 10,000 meters
(bronze, 1996; silver, 2000) and is the Ethiopian marathon record holder
(2:22:19, Amsterdam 2002). She is also one of the most decorated athletes
in the history of the IAAF World Cross Country Championships with seven
individual medals, including three golds.
An Ethiopian women has never won the ING New York City Marathon.
Negussie, 27, trimuphed at this year's edition of the BAA Boston Marathon in
warm conditions, becoming the first Ethiopian man to win Boston since Abebe
Mekonnen in 1989. Only one Ethiopian man has won New York: course record
holder Tesfaye Jifar who won in 2001. He will also be running in New York
this year, making a comback after a stomach ulcer thwarted his training and
racing beginning in 2002.
New York Road Runners officials also announced that reigning two-time men's
world marathon champion Jaouad Gharib of Morocco has withdrawn, citing
difficulty in recovering completely after winning his second world marathon
crown in Helsinki in August.
In an e-mail to race officials, Gharib's manager, Gianni Demadonna, wrote,
"The training is not going how he and his coach would like, and they were
forced to take the decision to cancel his participation. He is very sad
because he was very confident after the World Championships but now that the
marathon is approaching he feels day after day that he cannot be ready, and
as a serious professional runner he doesn't want to spoil his name with a
bad race."
The men's race remains very strong, however, with world record holder Paul
Tergat, reigning ING New York City Marathon champion Hendrick Ramaala,
reigning Flora London Marathon champion Martin Lel, and Olympic silver
medalist Meb Keflezighi all in the hunt for the 2005 title.
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