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Uganda falls short, again

BLAME MASTERS: Boniface Kiprop (right) could not handle the heat, while Wilson Kipkemei (left) blamed a pair of shoes for his 15th place finish. Photo by Mark Namanya

2007-08-28
Uganda falls short, again August 28, 2007 Fading Kiprop admits he can't run in heat, while Kipkemei blames new shoes 1. Kenenisa Bekele (ETHIOPIA) 27:05.90 2. Sileshi Sihine (ETHIOPIA) 27:09.03 3. Irungu Mathathi (KENYA) 27:12.17 10. Boniface Kiprop (Uganda) 28:30.99 15. Wilson Kipkemei (Uganda) 29:24.72 Uganda's next races Thursday 1:40 p.m. Abraham Chepkirwok 800m 2.40pm. Moses Kipsiro & Stephen Kiprotich 5000m BLAME MASTERS: Boniface Kiprop (right) could not handle the heat, while Wilson Kipkemei (left) blamed a pair of shoes for his 15th place finish. Photo by Mark Namanya. THE optimists will try to evoke memories of the All Africa Game where Uganda landed a 5000m gold on the very last day of the event. But such thoughts are too frail to mask another poor showing by Uganda at an international meet. Boniface Kiprop and Wilson Kipkemei Busienei yesterday despondently coiled in the Nagai stadium where Kenenisa Bekele confirmed himself as the greatest 10,000m athlete of his or any other generation. Kiprop clocked a time of 28:30.99 to finish a piteous tenth while Kipkemei, who was palpably not expected to end anywhere near the tails of the podium, registered fifteenth position in 29:24.72. That Bekele, who ran a season's best of 27:05.90, was going to scoop gold was never a point of debate. However, whereas the Ethiopian great has continued to improve, question marks have got to be asked about Kiprop despite his relative youthfulness. It can't be ignored that the Kapchorwa athlete's career is in apparent recession. “My body cannot run where there is heat,” he confessed to Daily Monitor. “The heat is simply too much and I can't handle it. I tried to push on but I failed.” The other eight runners who beat Kiprop - the invincible Bekele excluded - were dueling under the same conditions and clearly seemed to have adjusted much better to the somewhat favourable night temperature. Kiprop and Kipkemei started fairly well and stayed on the periphery of the chasing pack for long spells. After 13 laps, only Kiprop trailed the nine-man leading pack that had Eritrea's Zersenay Tadese, The Ethiopian duo of Sileshi Sihine and Bekele, and Martin Irungu Mathati among others. With 7 laps to run, Kiprop had already been phased out of the race, a bit like Kipkemei. The latter explained that the new Reebok shoe he wore let him down. Why he wore new shoes in the biggest race of his career is befuddling. “The fitting failed me after sometime and badly affected my running,” Kepkemei stated. Uganda's next races are on Thursday where Abraham Chepkirwok will compete in the 800m heats while the pair of Stephen Kiprotich and Moses Kipsiro will duel in the 5000m heats. With Alex Malinga, Amos Masai, Justine Bayiga and Benjamin Kiplagat all finishing empty-handed in earlier competitions, the country's hopes of at least a medal solely rest on the three running on Thursday. Earlier, Russians completed a one-two in the 3000m steeplechase women's final to dethrone Dorcus Inzikuru. Yekaterina Volkova clinched gold in a time of 9:06:57 ahead of teammate Tatyana Petrova who settled for silver. Kenya's Eunice Jepkorir took bronze after settling for third place.


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