Tergat excites attention and speculation

LONDON, APRIL 21. No marathon debutant in recent memory has excited as much attention and speculation as the elegant Kenyan Paul Tergat. Tergat will take to the streets of London for the first time on Sunday in the 21st anniversary of the world's best and biggest mass participation marathon. At the age of 31, Tergat has ruled supreme over the cross country, winning five World long distance titles in a row.

But for Haile Gebrselassie, possibly the finest distance runner of all time, he would also have won two Olympic and two World 10,000 metres titles. At last year's Sydney Olympics, Tergat ran Gebrselassie desperately close in a thrilling 10,000 metres final before announcing he planned to forsake the track for the road.

Although long odds with the bookmakers to win Sunday's race, Tergat, who has clocked 59 minutes six seconds for the half- marathon, has the potential to take the marathon into new territory.

``I think he can run a sub 2:04,'' predicted former world 10,000 metres record holder David Bedford, the man responsible for assembling the international field. ''We have never had anybody like him going up to the marathon. And don't forget he's already run half-marathons. It's not like he's stepping straight up from the 10,000 metres.``

The current world best of two hours five minutes 42 seconds is held by Moroccan-born American Khalid Khannouchi, who has withdrawn from Sunday's race in order to concentrate on the Edmonton World championships this year. The London course record is held by three times champion Antonio Pinto of Portugal, who clocked a European best of 2:06:36 last year.

Conditions were ideal for marathon running last April but rain is predicted for Sunday morning and the gusting spring winds at this time of year usually preclude fast times. Tergat has been training hard for Sunday, running up a 20 kms hill in the rift valley, but it will be asking a great deal of him to entertain thoughts of a world best over 42.195 kms.

''Paul is recognised as a great champion by everyone,'' Pinto said on Friday. ``He is a great runner and we expect him to run a great race on Sunday. But with the marathon you have to cope with the weather. If we have good weather like last year it will be a very fast time.''

Asked about the possibility of a Tergat victory, Spain's current World champion Abel Anton preached caution. ''We know Paul can do anything because he has all the capability to run a world record without any problems,'' Anton said. ``The problem is that he was beaten in a half marathon recently and the marathon is double the half marathon. He has got to be careful of the other athletes in the field. Anything can happen in a marathon.''

The women's race looks likely to be a three-way contest between Tegla Loroupe, the world record holder, her close friends Joyce Chepchumba, twice a winner in London and the Olympic bronze medallist and Romania's Olympic silver medallist Lida Simon.

Simon allowed Japanese Naoko Takahashi to open a large gap in Sydney last year but still lost by only eight seconds. She remains haunted by the memory. ''Before every race I watch the video to motivate me,`` she said. ''Probably I should have been braver, more ambitious.``

Loroupe also has unhappy recollections of Sydney where, weakened by food poisoning, she finished 13th. The Kenyan federation expressed their displeasure, saying they had expected her to win the gold, a reaction which angered Loroupe. ''It was very disappointing but there is nothing I can do except make London my new goal,'' she said this week.

- Reuters

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