Kamworor throws down gauntlet, dares Cheptegei

The 44th World Athletics Cross Country Championships - bringing together 450 athletes from 45 countries who will descend on the Mount Panorama motor racing circuit in this small city of 37,000 people - offers the toughest test of human endurance, grit, nerves, passion and national pride.

The races start from 7:30am (Kenyan time) on Saturday.

Kenya has a squad of 28 athletes with former world champion Geoffrey Kamworor being accorded a visiting star reception at the pre-race press conference yesterday which also featured his best friend but worst enemy in competition, defending champion Joshua Cheptegei of Uganda, a man he has vowed to dethrone in friendly banter.

The Kenyans are relaxed, internally contended with the offensive heat in Bathurst Saturday which will hit 34 degrees, the same sauna conditions they underwent at residential training camp in Kigari.

Friday’s pre-event press conference at the iconic Mount Panorama Motor Speedway circuit was like an African-themed occasion.

Cheptegei and Kamworor dominated the presser with five times world champion Paul Tergat in tow.

Athletics Kenya President Jack Tuwei observed from the sidelines in this Kenyan show.

Tergat confessed sharing the same cross country DNA with Kamworor who surprised the media by saying he is using the championships to prepare for the London Marathon in April, and was focused on the Job at hand.

World Athletics President Sebastian Coe, who visited Kenya last month at the height of surging doping scandal, urged and African countries to bid to host major athletics events as Kenya has done.

World Athletics has taken a deliberate effort to spread the sport far and wide.

Global warming

Noting that Bathurst will be highly hot in an event traditionally held in autumn, Coe said athletics events are facing hotter climates, a worrisome trend which confirms that global warming is real.

He said athletes faced similar challenges, including delays or change of venues, comparing the conditions in Bathurst to those in the Mombasa edition in 2007.

He thanked the New South Wales regional government for spreading the game further to smaller cities like Bathurst, prompting Tergat to comment that he will bid for his home area of Baringo to host the championships which are not fit for big cities.

“When I found out I was coming here, I said that I couldn’t come all this way without visiting Sydney where, 20-plus years ago, I missed out on a gold medal by the thickness of a vest,” said Tergat, who claimed silver in the 10,000 metres at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games behind his great rival Haile Gebrselassie.

“It was so emotional to be back there,” he said. “When I stepped onto the track, I had to go like this (raises hands triumphantly).

“And being here, at a World Athletics Cross Country Championships brings back a lot of memories to me. I have been to many World Cross Country Championships, and I won five of them. My only dream for the athletes competing here is that they give their best.

“I remember my first World Cross more than 30 years ago, which was also the first time I’d left my country,” said Tergat, who travelled to the 1992 World Cross Country Championships in Boston but was ultimately unable to compete due to injury.

“Simply being in the team for that event was very exciting, I couldn’t
sleep. It’s very emotional and difficult to explain. It’s unique.”

Kamworor told his teammates to note that the course will have barriers and obstacles like tyres with downhills being energy sapping. He disclosed that his greatest rival is Cheptegei who is also  his training partner in Kaptagat.

Tuwei later told the team to concentrate on individual strategy more than team tactics.

"Everybody is fearing you. But you must work hard,” said Tuwei at the team's Mantra Hotel.