Above: Ethiopian marathon runner Berhane Adere poses for
photographers in front of Tower Bridge in London on
Thursday, April 10, 2008.
Top Ethiopian female athlete Berhane Adere will grace today’s Safaricom Sportspersons of The Year Award (SOYA) Gala Night at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre.
The Ethiopian wondergirl will be the star guest at the function, replacing Mozambique middle distance runner, Maria Mutola, who can not make it due to personal commitments.
The former world and Olympic 800m champion, who was expected to arrive yesterday called the Soya chairman, Paul Tergat to apologise for the last minute pullout.
Adere joins a list of star guests who have graced this premier sports event. Others are her compatriot Haile Gebrselassie, Ramaala Henrick of South Africa and Nigeria’s Daniel Amokachi.
Top stars
“I would have really liked to be with you during this occasion to fete your top stars, but something has cropped up at the last minute,” she said in a note to Tergat.
“I received a call from Mutola that she cannot make it to the function due to unavoidable circumstances. I believe she has good reasons for her move and we respect it. Everything else is up and running and we are looking forward to the function,” said Tergat.
Adere’s career spans more than a decade. She was the African champion in the 1993 10,000m, and competed in the IAAF World Championships in 1995.
At the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games and the 2000 Athens Olympics she was 18th and 12th in the 10,000m respectively.
In 1998 she was the African Champion and third at the IAAF World Cup.
Among the top favourites for the awards are Olympic champions Samwel Wanjiru (marathon), Wilfred Bungei (800m), Pamela Jelimo (800m), Nancy Jebet (1,500m), silver medallist Janeth Jepkosgei, Harambee Stars and Rugby 7s team.
Branding Kenya
Meanwhile, Brand Kenya Board joined the Soya sponsors’ stable yesterday with a Sh500,000 donation.
CEO Mary Kimonye said her body, which is tasked with selling Kenya’s image abroad, will partner with sportspeople by branding them as a way of boosting Kenya’s image.
That’s a very good news.