Barcelona Press Points – Tirunesh Dibaba and Elena Meyer
Barcelona, Spain – Olympic 10,000m championTirunesh Dibaba and 1992 Olympic 10,000m silver medallist Elana Meyer appeared at the press point at the IAAF Centenary Gala in Barcelona. These were some of the highlights.
Tirunesh Dibaba (ETH)
You are best known for your many track successes but recently started to move to road racing. Do you plan to move more into road racing and the Marathon in future?
TD: I am not leaving the track and at the next World Championships I’ll run a 10,000m. I will try the Marathon, but I will not leave the track completely.
You have won many titles, but what is your opinion on having never won the IAF Athlete of the Year?
TD: I was hoping to win after taking the 5000m and 10,000m in Beijing and I went to Monaco confident I would be elected. I never understood how after winning two special gold medals that they selected somebody else.
Do you plan to run the marathon at the Rio Olympics?
TD: I don’t know, but if I am healthy I’ll try to run the Marathon.
You have suffered many injuries since 2008. Was London your greatest ever triumph?
TD: I was injured for the three years before London and I was not sure I was going to win in London. The Olympics is special for the Ethiopians, so everyone was expecting a good result. Even though I didn’t train a lot, I still won.
Is the World record 10,000m record of Wang Junxia a target?
TD: Before I got injured I was hoping and I had the belief I could beat that World record, but after my injury I don’t really think of breaking the record. Read more
