By Gary Smith
Caribbean Net News Sports Correspondent
Email: gary@caribbeannetnews.com
MOMBASA, Kenya: Guyana's Cleveland Forde will be among the lone rangers carrying their countries' hopes at the 35th IAAF World Cross Country, which starts in Mombasa, Kenya, on Saturday.
Not only will Forde be the only Guyanese athlete at the starting line in Mombasa, he is also the only Caribbean competitor registered to run in the championships.
Forde, aided by the International Olympic Committee sponsorship at the IAAF/IOC Kip Keino High Performance Training Centre in Eldoret, has been preparing in Kenya since 2004.
He will run the men's 12km event and, although he is not seen as a threat to Ethiopian five-time double world cross country champion Kenenisa Bekele, the Guyanese is confident in doing himself and his country proud in Mombasa.
Nicknamed 'Little Kenyan,' the Guyanese 2006 Sportsman-of-the-Year, gave his country a rare victory in the long distance when he won the men's 5000-metres title in national record 14:07.08 during the South American Under-23 Track & Field Championships at the Delfo Cabrera Stadium in Argentina, last year.
At the same meet he also won a silver medal in the 1500m behind Venezuela's Eduar Villanueva.
Forde’s 5000m performance Argentina improved the 14:11.82 set at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia, last March. The old mark before that was 14:57.00, set by George De Peana in 1959.
For his achievements Forde immediately received national fame and was honoured by the Guyana Olympic Association. In the process he received a golden chain and pendant. |
