Kipsiro finally grabs elusive medal
Mar 29, 2009
JAMES BAKAMA<br><b>I Say So</b><br><br>MOSES Kipsiro made my weekend. Images of the lean runner from the Elgon ranges striding to Uganda’s first senior men’s world cross-country podium finish will for long remain vivid in my mind.
JAMES BAKAMA
I Say So
MOSES Kipsiro made my weekend. Images of the lean runner from the Elgon ranges striding to Uganda’s first senior men’s world cross-country podium finish will for long remain vivid in my mind.
But Kipsiro’s silver at the Al Bisharat Golf course, 20 kilometers outside the Jordanian capital Amman, was also a classic case of one of those rare mixtures of joy and pain.
The bitter bit of his run was from the fact the he came tantalisingly close to winning the gruelling 12km race.
The race played in Kipsiro's favour. With multiple medal winner Kennenisa Bekele absent to set yet another of those mid race surges, the front pack kept together until the final metres. This, was in favour of Kipsiro's strong finishing-kick.
With the finishing tape in sight, Kipsiro, who had this time kept with the front pack, broke away but failed to engage a higher gear in the last 50 metres. That was his undoing.
With a combination of strength and speed, Ethiopia’s Gebre Gebremariam dashed past Kipsiro to win one of the closest senior men’s races.
But even then, we need not brood over spilt gold.
The silver was in itself very good for a country that had for close to a decade failed to transform its junior success to senior medals.
That Kipsiro and Moses Kibet, who won bronze in the juniors formed part of Uganda’s contingent, was yet more proof of the talent that abounds within our boundaries.
For coach Nalis Bigingo, there couldn’t have been a better crowning to a competition he first featured in as an athlete 32 years ago.
To Johnson Kasajja, the man who first gave Kipsiro specialised training, in 2001 in Bukwa, the silver was a dream come true.
"His determination and discipline were always bound to pay off," noted Kasajja
The silver should boost Kipsiro to even better fortunes at his specialty-the 5000 meters in the forthcoming World Championships in Berlin.
Kip it up Moses.
I Say So
MOSES Kipsiro made my weekend. Images of the lean runner from the Elgon ranges striding to Uganda’s first senior men’s world cross-country podium finish will for long remain vivid in my mind.
But Kipsiro’s silver at the Al Bisharat Golf course, 20 kilometers outside the Jordanian capital Amman, was also a classic case of one of those rare mixtures of joy and pain.
The bitter bit of his run was from the fact the he came tantalisingly close to winning the gruelling 12km race.
The race played in Kipsiro's favour. With multiple medal winner Kennenisa Bekele absent to set yet another of those mid race surges, the front pack kept together until the final metres. This, was in favour of Kipsiro's strong finishing-kick.
With the finishing tape in sight, Kipsiro, who had this time kept with the front pack, broke away but failed to engage a higher gear in the last 50 metres. That was his undoing.
With a combination of strength and speed, Ethiopia’s Gebre Gebremariam dashed past Kipsiro to win one of the closest senior men’s races.
But even then, we need not brood over spilt gold.
The silver was in itself very good for a country that had for close to a decade failed to transform its junior success to senior medals.
That Kipsiro and Moses Kibet, who won bronze in the juniors formed part of Uganda’s contingent, was yet more proof of the talent that abounds within our boundaries.
For coach Nalis Bigingo, there couldn’t have been a better crowning to a competition he first featured in as an athlete 32 years ago.
To Johnson Kasajja, the man who first gave Kipsiro specialised training, in 2001 in Bukwa, the silver was a dream come true.
"His determination and discipline were always bound to pay off," noted Kasajja
The silver should boost Kipsiro to even better fortunes at his specialty-the 5000 meters in the forthcoming World Championships in Berlin.
Kip it up Moses.