Well, who would have guessed, Kenenisa Bekele can trash talk? It isn't exactly 'trash talk' by any stretch of the imagination of a sprinter's standards or even that of Australia's Craig Mottram however for the Ethiopian to dismiss Mottram in the manner he has, places some fuel to the fire.
Bekele has stated that he doesn't consider Mottram a serious rival and actually he may have a point, and now Mottram may have a point to prove. The King of Track and Cross Country has not had exactly the most delightful year, to put it lightly. Having failed to defend his XCountry title for the 6th time in Kenya this year, seemed to diminish the awe of invincibility that befell athletes lining up against him.
The loss was no doubt painful in Mombasa and the road back has probably been quite tough for an athlete of such enormous expectations. It must be remembered that in the build up to the X-Country World Champs, he continually stated that he had no interest in defending his title. However, after the pressure of his country's athletic association he toed the line and faced defeat for the first time in a World X-C Championship having won as a junior before notching up 5 doubles of the short and long distance course titles. Hopefully the authorities leave this enormous talent to further fulfil his own destiny without them trying to plot his map.
Bekele approaches Japan with fine form and his recent sub 7:30 runs over the 3000m distance show he is in fine fettle. The pressure is on Mottram to win Gold in Osaka, if he wants to consider himself as any form of competition to the East African athlete. If Bekele was to do the double in Osaka, we would certainly be in for a treat, as the fuel has been added and all that is needed is the starter's gun.
Oh happy days if this was so because we can assure you the Aussie known as Buster will no doubt retort something in reply.
To Osaka and the World Athletic Championships
TheEd.
