Merga gets a rare taste of victory - Men’s senior race report – Punta Umbrìa 2011

Imane Merga doesn’t win too many races, in fact he only won two of his 10 outings on the track in 2010 and a handful of road races but he chose the right moment to grab his first victory of this year.

With a turn of speed over the final 200m that he sometimes showed in the Samsung Diamond League 5000m races last summer, Merga shook off his three rivals from Kenya to take the gold medal and a cheque for US$30,000 at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Punta Umbria, Spain.

He crossed the line after 12km of running in 33:50 with Paul Tanui, last year’s gold medal favourite after his performances in Kenya before coming slightly unstuck in Bydgoszcz and finishing eighth, winning the battle for the silver medal and arriving at the finish two seconds in arrears of Merga.

Vincent Chepkok, last year’s second fastest man over 5000m, was third in 33:53 while the team gold medal was clinched for Kenya, when Matthew Kisorio finished fourth in 33:55. Ethiopia regained the silver medal they lost to Eritrea last year, while Uganda got the bronze medal.

(Photo by Sam Wennerlund - licence)

IAAF website