Mottram to take on Africans again

Australian Craig Mottram, currently the world’s best non-African distance runner, bids to enhance his fast-growing reputation in the British Telecom 3,000 metres road race on Saturday.

Mottram won bronze over 5,000m at the World Championships in Helsinki behind Kenya’s Benjamin Limo and Ethiopian Sileshi Sihine.

His performance made him the first non-African born athlete to win a championship medal since Britain’s European champion Jack Buckner also finished third 18 years ago in Rome.

The run came during a purple patch which also saw him lower his Oceanic 5,000m record to 12minutes 56.13seconds and smash the legendary John Walker’s area record with a mile time of 3min 48.98sec.

Now Mottram, who is based in west London during the track season, plans adding to his laurels against Eliud Kipchoge – the 2003 world 5,000m champion – and Boniface Kiprop at the Gateshead and Newcastle quayside venue.

“There’ll be lots of rivalry between him and Kipchoge because he just edged the Kenyan for the bronze medal in Helsinki by less than a stride,” said Matthew Turnbull, the meeting’s elite athletes director.

“But I’m certain Kiprop will keep the pair on their toes.”

The Ugandan teenager finished runner-up in last weekend’s World Athletics Final in Monaco over 5,000m and said: “My performance was fantastic.

“I was planning to run a fast race so I could break people, because all of them just wanted to run slow and sprint over the last lap.”

Kiprop’s fellow Ugandan, Dorcus Inzikuru, winner of the inaugural women’s 3,000m steeplechase gold medal in Helsinki, faces a tough outing in the women’s race.

Kenyan Isabella Ochichi, the Olympic 5,000m silver medallist, will start favourite.

The field also boasts Britain’s European cross-country title holder, Hayley Yelling.