Athletics Weakly reports…
AMAZINGLY, I am the only British athletics writer in Bydgoszcz. If I had gone to the Aviva SIAB British Schools International in Cornwall this weekend, or the Home Countries cross-country event in Mansfield, I might have expected to be the only journalist in town. But this is the IAAF World Cross Country Championships - one of the greatest races in the world. So where is everyone?
Then again, there are no German athletes here at all. Nor any from Finland - a nation renowned for its distance running heritage. Mighty Russia has sent only a junior women’s team.
Belgium has just one (Ethiopian-born) representative. Holland’s sole competitor is a Kenyan-born woman. Ireland’s team consists of two runners. If you want to watch it on television in the UK – on the BBC or anywhere for that matter – it is not possible.
Given this, the first question that hit the IAAF at the pre-event press conference was a no-brainer. What is the IAAF going to do about the demise of this once-great event? The toughest footrace in the world – an event that matches the world’s best milers against the leading marathoners – has become an irrelevance, at least in the minds of the Western media.
Pierre Weiss, secretary general of the IAAF, cheerily charmed his way through a 90-second explanation. First, he acknowledged the problem by saying: “You are right. We do not have as many teams as in the past.
“In the past, Europe was 85 per cent of the participation in the world cross country championships. Today, most of the runners come from East Africa. But Europe has a very successful championships of its own every year in December. So the cross country in Europe is alive.
“The only problem is that when they (Europeans) come to compete in the world championships, they cannot beat the East African athletes. I would rather prefer to have here (in Bydgoszcz) a German team, more Belgians, more from the Netherlands.
“So cross country is still alive in Europe, but the weakest bit is the participation in the world championship. So I cannot be as negative as the question that you gave me.”
To combat the decline, the IAAF has decided the event will become biennial after next year’s event in Spain. They are also encouraging all continents to hold their own continental championship.
Lamine Diack, the president of the IAAF, added: “I am convinced European and Asian runners can compete with East Africans. You cannot say that it is not possible. But they have to learn from the Kenyans and Ethiopians.”
To be fair to the IAAF, they are obliged to ‘talk up’ the event, especially when speaking 24 hours before the races take place. Disinterest in the event is also almost solely caused by the inability of endurance runners from the Western world to live with their East African rivals - a situation that is far more to do with wider cultural changes than the IAAF.
Yet it is impossible to ignore the air of despondency that clouds this event. It is even mirrored by the weather, which was unseasonably warm on Friday but has quickly turned wet, rainy and incredibly grey during Saturday. Forecasts for race day are no better either.
What’s more, Saturday’s preliminary proceedings were also more than a little Borat-esque at times. Tirunesh Dibaba, the big name at the press conference, was more than an hour late. Although her place in the line-up was replaced by ‘Crossby’, a grey, scruffy-looking event mascot that looked a bit like a rabbit (although no one seemed sure).
Then, outside on the flat, twisty, rather unimaginative course, it became clear that runners would have to hurdle small, chunky hurdles – one of which was a large wooden animal that had been laid on its side to hide its face. On what seems to be some kind of children’s play park, runners also have to run past a bizarre-looking wooden crocodile.
Lamine Diack describes Bydgoszcz as ‘the capital city of athletics’, due to the number of events it has held. But the town is tricky to get to, with many, such as the GB team, enduring long road journies from Warsaw and Poznan airports - and then when you get here there is not much to do other outside the athletics itself.
Don’t tell all this to the athletes, though. Quite understandably, they live in a different world. The East Africans are delighted to continue their dominance and newspapers such as the Daily Nation in Kenya are quickly replacing Fleet Street when it comes to the most dominant media at this event.
Britain’s main hope, Mo Farah, and leading US athlete Shalane Flanagan were also in good spirits at the press conference and look determined to mix it with the Africans. On the good side, nations such as the United States, Canada and Australia have also brought strong teams. While the smaller-than-usual British team, with only four senior men for example, does not look so paltry when compared to other nations.
“This is a great opportunity to mix it with the world’s best,” said Farah, is keen to improve up on his 11th place in Mombasa in 2007. “Kenenisa Bekele is in a different class. But the big man is not here and that will make a big difference.”
Lapping up his every word was the East Kilbride Tartan Army of travelling athletics fans – they have been to every World Cross since 2002. They are self-confessed fanatics, but even their numbers have been hit this year.
The East Kilbride party numbers only seven this year compared to the usual dozen or more at previous championships.
- Jason Henderson has been putting his Wellies on to watch the World Cross since 1995 and has covered three Olympics for Athletics Weekly. See this Thursday’s Athletics Weekly for in-depth coverage from the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Bydgoszcz.