Netsanet Gudeta a surprise winner in Valencia!

Gudeta a surprise winner

VALENCIA (ESP): Netsanet Gudeta’s manager, Gianni Demadonna, did not expect her to break the world half marathon record at the World Half Marathon Championships and said she was also a late addition to the Ethiopian team for Valencia, informs IAAF. “In truth, I am very surprised, and I think everyone in the Ethiopian federation would have been surprised. It was a great performance and she was in good shape, a personal best was our target, but the world record not something we were thinking about even a few days ago,” he said. Gudeta didn’t take part in the Ethiopian Trials which clashed with the Dubai Marathon where Gudeta was a DNF but she was still invited to train with the national team ahead of the event. “The Ethiopian federation decided that despite Netsanet not having competed in the trials they wanted someone with experience to train with the others and act as a mentor and guide. However, still there was no expectation that Netsanet was in the type of form that could challenge for the individual gold medal. The focus of attention during the training camp was on the team gold.”

RunBlogRun opines; This sport is truly, unpredictable. How does one see a great performance come after an athlete has had tough races? What is it in the human spirit that challenges a great athlete to put it all on the table and take the big victory? That is what makes our sport so fascinating!