By Mwangi Ngamate
Following the controversy of whether South Africa’s new 800-metre world champion Caster Semenya is male or female, Africa is receiving another blow by other countries refusing to participate in cross-country races since they are dominated by either Kenya or Ethiopia.
European countries are now boycotting the cross-country race on the grounds that the winners of the races are predetermined and therefore no competition was needed since the opposition was insurmountable.
According to press reports, the International Association of Athletics Federations ruled that the World Cross Country Championships will now be held once every two years rather than annually.
The IAAF council members argued that this would allow the continents to organize continental championships on the alternate years.
But what is now emerging is the shift of goal posts; Africa, as a powerhouse in cross-country, will have to watch helplessly as this happens.
Despite Brazil and Germany having dominated the World Cup since 1950, the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) should not argue to postpone the World Cup to ten years to allow other continents “to organize continental championships”, since it is almost predetermined that only 4 countries make it to the semi-finals.
Brazil has made it 5 times as champions; Italy has taken the title 4 times while Germany 3 times, yet the continent of Africa has always sent representatives to the competitions. Out of 18 tournaments Brazil has always been a factor in 10. Italy has been in the last four for 8 times and Germany also 8 times. No one would be justified in saying that Uruguay, England, Argentina and France are outcasts since they are the only countries that have tainted this record.
Press reports noted that Gianni Merlo, the Italian president of the International Sports Press Association, agreed with the IAAF supreme, saying European countries were no longer interested in competing for the minor positions at the World Cross Country Championships.
“The problem is also that the teams are too large. It would have been better to, perhaps, have three runners in each team, but with as much as six runners per country per race, Ethiopia and Kenya will automatically take the first 12 places and the rest will compete from the 13th place,” Merlo, an editor with leading Italian daily sports newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport, said.
“European broadcasters are no longer interested in covering these championships and some European federations are no longer interested in sending athletes to these competitions. Why should they invest to fight for 13th place?” wrote Elias Makori.
When Chidi Imo of Nigeria broke the 100 m world record 22 years in the All-African Games, the race was dismissed as a wind-assisted race despite the devices used then saying otherwise.
What would happen to the 100m if Jamaica and other Caribbean countries wrest the race from the grip of the Americans?
Kenyan and Ethiopian runners made their mark in the world through cross-country debut in Madrid in 1981 when Kenya finished third overall.
Spain’s Pierre Casacuberta was the last man from outside East Africa to win the junior men’s race in 1984, while John Ngugi became the first Kenyan to win the senior men’s title in 1986 in Neuchatel, Switzerland, the first of his five global titles. Bekele Debele of Ethiopia, 20, became the youngest World Cross champion, with Kenyan Some Muge taking the bronze.
Kenya’s Paul Tergat has also won the World Cross title five times while Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele won his seventh 5,000m world title at the Berlin Olympic Stadium on Sunday.
Whether it is Semenya having testetorone that is three times that of females or Ethiopia and Kenya dominating the race for 28 years, goal posts should remain unchanged because an outcast would spoil it for them; that is what sports should
Cross-country should be a race that allows people to admire the scenic beauty of the country as they run; it should not change because more and more people will be having a chance to exercise, which is the advantage of these races.
Any human being who can walk can say, ‘I enrolled in the cross-country race and am happy that despite the fact I did not win, I competed with the world’s best’. Such was a good feeling when Kemar Hyman of the Cayman Islands competed against Tyson Gay in the just-concluded Berlin IAAF Championship games.
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