Ethiopia will be represented by a 33-member athletics team to compete in the 15th World Athletics Championship scheduled to take place between August 22 to 30 in Beijing, China.
Ethiopia will participate in middle and long distance races including in the 800, 1500, 3000, 5000 and 10000 meters and marathon races in both sexes.
There is high expectation placed on some of the big names included in the squad including Genzebe Dibaba, Mohammed Aman and Meseret Defar (an IAAF invitee), who returns to the track after giving birth.
In recent years, Genzebe has been in exceptional form and is currently the world record holder in the women’s 1500 meters, clocking 3:50.07 in Monaco on July 17 breaking China’s Qu Yunxia mark of 3:50.46 set in 1993.
In Beijing, Genzebe will represent her country in the women’s 1500 and 5000 meters. The women’s 5000, where Meseret will also feature, should witness an exciting rivalry between the two athletes.
Mohammed Aman, who is the winner of the 800-meter final at the 2013 world Athletics championships in Luzhniki in Moscow, will also be among the athletes where high expectations are reserved for in the 800 meter.
The athletes have been preparing twice a day for about a month in preparations for the world championship, according to the Ethiopian Athletics Federation.
This year’s championship has been marred by a recent leaked report which alleged that more than 800 athletes – one in seven of those named in the files – have recorded blood tests described by one of the experts as “highly suggestive of doping or at the very least abnormal”. The leak has alleged that eight percent of the abnormal tests come from Ethiopia.
Asked about the allegations, Dube Julo, technical director of Ethiopian Athletics Federation (EAF), said that EAF follows “strict control” over doping issues.
“We do not have any reliable evidence to validate the leaked information by a responsible body yet. It will be something we will take measure once the information is verified by the responsible body. So, for now our focus is on the world championship,” Dube told The Reporter.
The world championships is a competition is an event organized by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) every two years.
In 2013, Ethiopia was represented by a team of 46 athletes during world championships held in Moscow, Russia. Ethiopia finished the competition ranked sixth in the medal table with ten medals in total – three gold, three silver and four bronze medals.
The 15th world championships will be held at the Beijing National Stadium (“Birds Nest”) and is expected to be the largest sporting event to take place at the Beijing National at the stadium since the 2008 Summer Olympics.
Source www.thereporterethiopia.com/