BLOGGER/ADDISThe news that Ethiopian Olympic champion and record holder Haile Gebresselassie has been snubbed by the IAAF annual awards was shocking to many Ethiopians. First it was the Athlete of the year award that Haile lost and then second it was the Performance of the Year award. Ironically, Haile broke the grueling Marathon world record by more than 20 seconds by finishing it in 2 hours, 4 minutes, 26 seconds. But instead of Haile taking the award, once again IAAF snubbed another Ethiopian athlete by giving the award to Asafa Powell, the 100 meters runner from Jamaica.
Even though it is debatable, Haile might not have entirely deserved the Athlete of the year award since Haile didn’t finish some competitions this year. Other than the Marathon in Berlin, the New York City Half Marathon was the other significant victory for him. But the Best Performance of the Year award is not debatable. It belongs to Haile. He broke a record that is not easily and not frequently broken by lowering the Marathon record time almost half a minute! One has to wonder what was in the minds of the IAAF committee to make such huge mistakes in response to a legendary performance by the aging Ethiopian hero. The performance by Haile was one of the perfect signatures and ending performances for Haile. We don’t know if his ailing legs will let him compete in the coming Olympics but one of his last great performances not being honored by the IAAF was disappointing.
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Haile himself said he is deeply unhappy with the IAAF decision. The sad thing about all of this is that the IAAF made the Marathon worth less than the 100 meters. It is not just that Asafa Powell broke the 100 meters world record by just 0.03 seconds but these 100 meter records are frequently broken by men and women sprinters that it has lost (at least minimized) its worth. Even worse, many sprinters take drugs to help them lower those small seconds OFF their 100 meters performance. For example, the 100 meters and 200 meters women’s world record holder Marion Jones was recently found using drugs to enhance her performance in the sprints. Before her drug use was exposed, she was labeled the “greatest woman athlete in the world” for winning the short 100 and 200 meters. But now, all her medals and awards are stripped from her. She was able to evade the drug test for many years and win many Olympic and other medals thus indicating that success in the sprints has become unreliable and questionable.
Of course, nobody can say Asafa used any drugs but the fact that the IAAF compared the world record performances of 100 meters with the Marathon, and choose the 100 meters is very disappointing.
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The writer lives in America and he can be reached by ethiom842@ yahoo.com -------------------------------------------------------------------
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