Question mark over age of Ethiopian athlete

Ethiopian Adanech Anbesa won the womens 1500m title at the recent IAAF World U20 Championships in Bydgozcz, Poland. Her athlete profile gives her date of birth as being the 23rd of Jan 1998 which makes her 18 years old.

Someone questioned if this was her real age?

Abebe Bikila...the first African Olympic Gold medalist...

Mention any distance race today like an Olympic Marathon and it's almost a given that it will be won by someone from either Ethiopia or Kenya. Back in 1960, it was a different story as no African had ever won an Olympic Gold up to that point. All that changed in the Rome Olympics when Abebe Bikila from Ethiopia won the Marathon running barefoot in a time of 2h 15m 16s and became the first African athlete to win a Gold medal. Four years later in the 1964 Tokyo Games, Bikila defended his Olympic title by winning in a new world record time of 2h 12m 11s. Bikila had shown the way  for runners from East Africa and today, they tend to dominate all of the distance events.


Over the weekend, Ian O'Riordan from the Irish Times had an interesting piece on Abebe Bikila HERE

New film 'Town of Runners' to be screened in Cork on the 20th of June

Town of Runners is a new film following the lives of two young athletes in the small town of Bekoji in Ethiopia. Perhaps like it's Kenyan equivalent of Iten, this Ethiopian town is noted for having produced many of that countries world class athletes.

This film was screened in the UK and in Dublin recently but there was no showing of it in Cork. With that in mind, I made a few enquiries and am now able to confirm that the Gate Cinema in Cork City will be screening it thanks to Mahers Sports. The show will be on at 7pm on Wednesday, the 20th of June. (approx 90 mins)

Some points...
1) It doesn't clash with any football fixture in the European Championships!
2) I don't know what the cost will be but it's likely to be cheap.
3) Tickets......to be decided.

Considering that this has never been done before, it's hard to guess what the demand might be like. Should it be on in a large or small cinema? So to help gauge interest, you might complete the poll on the right hand side. Just click on the Yes button if you are interested in going.

New Film...Town of Runners

Town of Runners is a new film following the lives of two young athletes in the small town of Bekoji in Ethiopia. Perhaps like it's Kenyan equivalent of Iten, this Ethiopian town is noted for having produced many of that countries world class athletes.

Orla Barry on the Newstalk radio station has a ten minute interview with the film director Jerry Rothwell. The clip can be found below.....it starts at 6:00 and lasts until 15:21


Screenings......For those of you in Dublin, this film will be screened at the Lighthouse Cinema at Market Square, Smithfield, Dublin 7 on the following dates....

Tues 24 April (17:00), Wed 25 Apr (17:00), Thurs 26 Apr (17:00), Frid 27 Apr (18:15), Sun 29 Apr (18:15), Mon 30 Apr (18:15), Tues 01 May (18:15), Thurs 03 May (18:15)