By Steve Landells for the IAAF
London, UK – World 5000m champion Meseret Defar will make a quick hop across the English Channel on Saturday following what she hopes will have been a successful attempt at her own World best for the track Two Miles at the IAAF Golden League meeting in Brussels, Belgium on Friday night (14) and will prepare to race over the roads at the 5km Hydro Active Women’s Challenge in London on Sunday (16).
Meseret Defar in Osaka [Getty Images]
The 23-year-old Ethiopian, who improved her own World 5000m track record of 14:16.13 in Oslo in June by nearly eight seconds, currently holds the World 5km best on the road with 14:46 and she may fancy a dart at this mark on the undulating course with a slight downhill finish at Hyde Park.
Defar will be heartened by the fact British athlete Paula Radcliffe set a then World best of 14:51 in the same race in 2003 as she seeks to become the third successive Ethiopian winner of the race after Derartu Tulu and Berhane Adere triumphed in 2005 and 2006, respectively.
There is little word from the Defar camp on whether the Ethiopian will be making a record-breaking attempt but with an ability to not only sustain a furious early pace and boasting a blistering kick-finish she boasts all the ammunition to lower her mark of 14:46.
Leading the home challenge in the London race, which has attracted 20,000 entries, is Jo Pavey, the fourth-placed finisher in the 10,000m at the World Championships in Osaka. Pavey, a runner-up last year behind Adere, will seek to go one place better in her home city.
The international challenge also includes 2004 IAAF World Cross Country champion Benita Johnson. The Australia tripped and fell in the final of the 10,000m in Osaka – finishing 17th – and will have a point to prove at Hyde Park.
Watch out, too, for Lauren Fleshman of the USA, who returns to the English capital seeking a positive 5km outing after triumphed over 3000m in 8:43.92 at the London Grand Prix in August.
European 10,000m champion Inga Abitova is also entered. The Russian finished 12th in the 10,000m final in Osaka and was ninth in April’s Flora London Marathon.
Hydro Active Women’s Challenge races also take place on Sunday morning in the cities of Birmingham and Liverpool and former World marathon record-holder Tegla Loroupe aims to defend her title in the latter city. The Kenyan is a big fan of the event and was a race winner in Liverpool in 2000 and Birmingham 2004.
The elite field in Birmingham includes Polish 5000m champion Karolina Jarzynska, who boasts a 5km road best of 16:28.