Tesfaye Cheru bags an unexpected win at the Meeting International Reims-Champagne-Ardenne
The Meeting International Reims-Champagne-Ardenne, the fourth stop of the Pro Athle Tour, produced some stunning results this year. The expectations of the local spectators were of course relying on French performer, Mahiedine Mekhissi-Benabbad. The Frenchman resolved to embark upon the European record set by the British retired athlete, Steve Cram, who had clocked 4:51.39 seconds back in 1985, or to at least takeover Mehdi Baala’s 4:53.12 seconds finish.
Benabbad had been an average performer at the start of his career. Kicking-off with his athletic career as a junior athlete back in 2004, he earned 61st position in the IAAF World Cross Country Championships. However, as time passed, he contemplated upon devoting more time to his trainings and gradually improved his performance over the track.
Finally, in 2006, while appearing on the field for the 1500m run at the European Cup, he managed to finish for an eighth position. Trusting his abilities to improve further, the selectors provided him a chance to represent the country in the 2006 IAAF World Cup, but he could not improve his results further and marked an eighth place finish once again.
At Reims this year, the start displayed by 26-year-old French track and field runner, who is primarily from Algeria and who usually appears at the 3000m runs, was rather quick as throughout the initial 1000m, he did maintain a pace of 2:26. However, peaking right from the start and mid of the run made him pay. Losing the breath after first 1km, he faded away to finish in five minutes and 0.17 seconds, to reach the finish line for a ninth position.
The unexpected winner of the event was young Ethiopian runner, Tesfaye Cheru. The victory that was claimed in a four minutes and 56.25 seconds finish and was a surprise for the 18-year old title holder, as this not only placed him on the top of the podium but also earned him a world junior record.
Overjoyed at a surprising win and sharing his feelings with spectators, the young Ethiopian said, “I’m very, very happy, I enjoyed a lot this race.” Looking determined to kick-off a strenuous march towards a bright athletic future, Cheru ended by saying that he was looking forward to emerge as a great athlete on the world sporting arena.
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