Yomi Omogbeja (02/10/2004)

Kenyan athletes are hoping to improve on last year’s lowly finish as a record number of 60 nations contest both individual and team honours at the 13th IAAF World Half Marathon Championships in New Delhi.

The seven times men and four times women’s titles winner was disappointing last year in Vilamoura, Portugal. Tanzania surprisingly beat the men while the women’s team finished in a lowly ninth place.

The men’s team includes the 2002 winner Paul Kosgei and last year’s fourth place finisher John Cheruiyot Korir, while the women will count on the experience of Leah Malot, 32, who was second in the spring Lisbon Marathon.

Kenya women have a lot to prove but will have to contend with the Romanians, who have six team victories to their credit in World Half team competition, and the defending team champions Russia who despite missing all their winners from 2003, is still a potent force.

Their neighbours Ethiopia will be led by World cross country championships short course Bronze medallist Teyiba Erkesso and African championships 10,000m silver medallist Abebe Dinkessa.

A team of four men and two women will represent Morocco. The men’s team includes: Rédouane Harroufi - 10th in Vilamoura 2003, Rachid Ghanmouni, Abdelhadi Habassa and Aziz Driouch. Hafida Izzem and Kenza Wahbi, 27th and 30th respectively in the Athens Olympic Marathon, make up the women’s team.

Last year’s silver medallists Fabiano Joseph will lead Tanzania, though the team will be missing the duo of Martin Sule and John Yuda who helped secure the team prize in 2003.

Little-known 23 year-old Wilson Busienei, will lead a young Ugandan team, to challenge for the title, and a Qatari squad led by former Kenyan Albert Chepkuri, now Abdullah Ahmad Hassan, the 2003 World 10,000m fourth placer, could pose problems for the Kenyans.

IAAF President Lamine Diack said the decision to award the event to New Delhi "follows the IAAF's policy of increasing the ‘universality’ of our sport".

"I am already very proud of the fact that athletics is a truly global sport, and the fact that we have 211 Member Federations around the world is testimony to that," he said.