UAE’s Betlhem Belayneh is hoping a lingering left ankle injury will not stop her from achieving her dream of making the 1,500m final at the World Championships in Beijing.
The 23-year-old – who was born in Ethiopia but has been representing the UAE for almost five years, – will be making her second appearance at Worlds, where she might also compete in the 5,000m.
Her build-up to the Championships saw her retain both the 1,500m and 5,000m Asian titles in Wuhan in June before she claimed bronze in the 3,000m at a rainy Diamond League stop in Stockholm in July.
But Belayneh is aware she is facing some brutal competition in the 1,500m – her favourite event – where seven of her rivals, led by world record holder Genzebe Dibaba, have managed to go under four minutes this season compared to her 4:05.41 season-best mark.
But the Emirati Asian champion is hoping she can squeeze herself into the final for the first time – her previous showing at the Moscow Worlds in 2013 saw her finish 11th in her heat and 32nd overall.
“I’m more excited than nervous because this is my second World Championships,” Belayneh told Sport360 ahead of her 1,500m heat this Saturday.
“I’m not feeling any pressure from the federation but from myself. I’m motivating myself to make the final which is important, especially the final of the 1,500m which is a very hard event to make the final. I am targeting to be there.
“It’s a big thing for me now to make a final. When you stand in the final, everyone has the same chance. So for the Rio Olympics, it’s a big test for me to think about a medal for 2016.”
Belayneh has spent the last few months training in Barcelona – when she wasn’t competing in meets – with her team-mate Alia Saeed. She says her tendon problem has improved but she isn’t 100 per cent fit yet.
“I am getting better, especially if the weather is hot, I feel less pain,” she said. “But it’s not 100 per cent. Training was OK. Our physiotherapist wasn’t with us for the last three weeks because of a visa issue, but we were getting treatment from a doctor here.
“It’s hard to train when you are not 100 per cent, but we tried our best to do better training. The first event is 1,500m so I’m focusing for that now. But maybe I will do both 1,500 and the 5,000.”
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Saeed is the reigning champion in both the Asian Games and the Asian Athletics Championships in the 10,000m. Her season best timing of 31:52.29 places her just inside the top-20 in the field this year.
Qatari high jumper Mutaz Barshim is the region’s biggest hope for a gold medal, which would be one better than his silver effort in Moscow two years ago.
Barshim has jumped a world-leading 2.41m this season but will face stiff competition from reigning world champion Bohdan Bondarenko as well as fellow Olympic bronze medallist Derek Drouin and 2012 Olympic champion Ivan Ukhov.
North Africans Taoufik Makhloufi of Algeria – the Olympic champion – and Abdalaati Iguider of Morocco are both contenders in the men’s 1,500m having run the second and third fastest times of the season, behind Kenyan favourite Asbel Kiprop.
Bahrain’s Mimi Belete is a face to look out for in the women’s 5,000m, her season best 14:54.71 making her the sixth fastest this year.
Tunisian Habiba Ghribi, who won silver in the 3,000m steeplechase at the 2012 London Olympics and the 2011 Worlds, leads her event this season with a 9:11.28.
