TWO-TIME OLYMPIC MARATHON SILVER MEDALLIST NDEREBA WANTS TO RUN IN LONDON DESPITE SELECTION DISPUTE – By David Martin

Two-time Olympic marathon silver medallist Catherine Ndereba is the latest Kenyan athlete who could be denied selection for the London Games this summer because of bureacracy.
 
Ndereba runner up at the last two Olympics in Athens and Beijing is adamant that she wants to have another attempt to lift the title but Athletics Kenya have offered the former world record holder no encouragement in her ambitions.
 
AK Kenya has already announced that Lucy Kabuu despite running a sensational two hours 19 minutes 34 seconds when runner-up on her debut at the distance in last month's Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon will not be considered.
 
The governing body is insisting they must stick with the six original provisional selections they have already made of Mary Keitany, Edna Kiplagat, Priscah Jeptoo and Sharon Cherop, Florence Kiplagat and Lydia Cheromei.
 
AK chairman Isaiah Kiplagat told the Daily Nation: “We cannot bend the rules now, even if anyone breaks a world record. What will then happen to those selected in the team and future selection criteria?”
 
Ndereba who won the IAAF World Championships in 2003 and again four years later and has four Boston and two Chicago Marathon victories under her belt will continue in her quest for a position in the three woman squad.
 
“I believe Olympic Marathon is not like any other event. It summons for experience and my record speaks for itself,” said the 39-year-old aiming to prove her fitness and stake a claim at the Nagoya Marathon next month.
 
Ndereba gearing up for the trip to Japan will compete at the Groet Uit School Run half marathon near Alkmaar in the Netherlands, hoping to send out a message to AK selectors to change their minds.

David Martin