(03/01/2005)

Ethiopia's Tirunesh Dibaba will defend her International Cross Country title this month in Edinburgh.

Dibaba, the world 5,000m champion, will face Australia's world cross country champion Benita Johnson in the Scottish capital on 15 January.

The 19-year-old world junior record-holder (14:30.88 - 11 June 2004) won the event when it was hosted in Newcastle last year.

Britain's Hayley Yelling, the 2004 European Cross Country champion, will also be in the line-up for the women's six-kilometre race.

Race director Matthew Turnbull told the BBC: "It's always our policy to invite previous champions to return and I'm delighted Dibaba will be back.

"I was at the European Championships where Yelling was a revelation with her sprint victory.

"Some of the better-known stars she finished ahead of in Heringsdorf, fancying revenge, have asked if they can have a place in Edinburgh."

However, the men's field already includes world 3,000m steeplechase champion Saif Saeed Shaheen and Olympics 10,000m gold medallist Kenenisa Bekele.

"They don't come any bigger than him," said Turnbull of Bekele, who holds both the 5,000m and 10,000m track world records.

"Given Bekele has also won both the IAAF World Cross Country long and short crowns for the last three years, his presence at the meeting is creating huge interest."