Tadesse benefits from better fit
By Ed Harris
Posted Tuesday, 7 March, 2006
ASMARA, March 7 - Eritrean runner Zersenay Tadesse first made an impression at the 2002 world cross-country championships even though his shoes were several sizes too large.
Now, with an Olympic bronze medal behind him and the benefit of sponsorship, better shoes and state-of-the-art training facilities in Spain, the modest Tadesse is looking ahead with confidence to next month's world championships.
His Spanish coach Jeronimo Bravo believes the 24-year-old Tadesse is one of the best athletes in the world.
"He is still improving, he is still growing," Bravo said. "The best is yet to come."
Tadesse started his sporting career in cycling but fell out with his team mates in late 2001 and switched to running instead.
In just a few months, Tadesse jumped from winning races at school to coming 30th at the 2002 world championships in Dublin, despite the shoe handicap.
"I was given some running shoes but they were the wrong size," he said of the 12-km race in which he came 30th with barely any training against athletes from all over the world.
FIRST MEDAL
Tadesse has since won Eritrea's first Olympic medal, a bronze in the 10,000m at the Athens 2004 Games, and second place in the 2005 world cross-country championships in France.
"God gives me the strength," he told Reuters, shrugging his shoulders.
Tadesse grew up in the high-altitude village of Adi Bana in southern Eritrea and spent hardly any time in the capital, Asmara, before going to the 2002 world championships and moving to Spain a month later.
"When I was a little boy, I used to play football and I used to run each way between home and school," he said, adding that the run in each direction was roughly 16km.
After his cycling colleagues booted him out of their team, Tadesse floated quickly upwards through the top ranks of Eritrean runners but stayed second to Yonas Kifle at Eritrea's national championships and in Dublin.
After Dublin, where Yonas finished eighth, Tadesse travelled to Spain, where he continues to benefit from a decent track, first-class treatment for injuries, and international competition.
"I was impressed by everything -- the shoes, the training, the facilities," he said, citing sponsorship from a Spanish sportswear firm.
At subsequent world championships, Tadesse progressed to finish ninth in 2003, sixth in 2004 and second in 2005. The first time he beat Yonas was at the 2004 world championships in Brussels.
TOUGH LIFESTYLE
Eritrea, Africa's youngest country, gained official independence only in 1993, after three decades of guerrilla warfare, and is still developing its athletics, officials say.
"We were a bit naive when we came from the field," said Beyene Russom, president of Eritrea's National Athletics Federation.
"We didn't know how to create, to build great athletes," he said, adding that Eritrea's altitude and tough lifestyle might produce a natural advantage.
"Most of the runners know hardship," he said.
Tadesse, who is liked wherever he goes for his easy manner and his modesty, returned last month to Eritrea for the national championships and the chance to see his family.
In the wind and the dust of Wekiduba just outside Asmara, 2,400 metres above sea level, Tadesse won the 12km race with ease while young spectators chanted his name.
Tadesse said he was working towards the April 1-2 world cross-country championships in Fukuoka, Japan, and the 2008 Beijing Olympics, where he has not yet decided which event to run.
"I prefer the 10km and 21km, but sometimes I run the 3km and 5km races," said Tadesse, who admitted he did not enjoy the track events. "They're good for speed."
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