From: michael seium (michael.seium@gmail.com)
Date: Mon Jan 26 2009 - 03:20:07 EST
Sports, Spain & the Eritrean connection =
Success!<http://eri-internationalsports.blogspot.com/2008/12/sports-spain-eritrean-connection.html>
While Spain as a nation is going through what some observers are
calling the "Golden era" in sports, Athletes of Eritrean Heritage are going
through some individual success in the nation of Spain either by
representing Spanish professional teams or training in Spain. If you are a
sports follower it is easy to figure out that Sports in Spain in the second
half of the 20Th century has been dominated by football (Soccer), however
other popular sport activities include basketball, tennis, cycling, and
more. With Rafael Nadal's Wimbledon victory, the Spanish national soccer
team bringing home the Euro 2008 trophy and Carlos Sastre's Tour de France
triumph more recently, as well as the Spanish national basketball team
winning Silver at the Olympics and winning Gold in the FIBA (Federation
International Basketball Association) the world governing body of basketball
basketball tournament. Add to that the number of Spanish players playing in
the NBA and Spanish Basketball Clubs having success internationally, the
"Golden Era" is something to be proud of for the Spanish people.
So where is the Eritrean connection? That is why this blog was created in
the first place to research and detail stories that may never be told about
the great success stories of Eritrean athletes. What we will do is talk
about Eritrean athletes that are having much success and beginning to show
some signs of prowess at the international stage. Let's start of with
Eritrea's greatest athlete so far and the internationally acclaimed Zersenay
Tadesse in particular, then the role Spain is playing in developing Eritrean
athletes in general.
With an Olympic bronze medal behind him and the benefit of sponsorship,
better equipment, athletic wear and state-of-the-art training facilities in
Spain, Tadesse has turned out to be one of the top long and middle distance
runners in the world. He has also inspired a few more Eritrean Athletes to
do well including his brother Kidane Tadesse. Other runners having success
include Eritrea's Samuel Tsegay who provided a major upset earlier this
month by taking a surprise win at the '55th Cross Internacional Zornotza'
held on a cloudy day and 10ºC on the thermometer. In doing so the 2006 World
Junior 10,000m 4th placed overwhelmingly defeated by no less than 21 seconds
Kenya's Moses Masai, who finished fifth at last year's Cross Country Worlds
in Edinburgh. Add to that Yonas Kifle who was the first Eritrean athlete
even before Zeresenay to make headlines at the international level. Most of
us recall Yonas and Kidane's 2nd and 3rd place finish in Spain with less
than one and two second frame of time against Kenenisa Bekele in December
2006.
It should also be noted that a university in Spain Universidad Europea de
Madrid has conducted research on Eritrean runners. Here is what they came up
with "Despite their young age, limited training history, and lack of running
tradition compared with other East African endurance athletes (e.g., Kenyans
and Ethiopians), male endurance runners from Eritrea have recently attained
important running successes." The purposes of the study was to document the
main physical and physiological characteristics of Eritrean distance runners
and compare them with those of their Spanish counterparts.
*(Pictured above Samuel Tsegai winning in Spain)*
In basketball yes may be most of you may have not been following and
wondering where our Eritrean-American star Thomas Kelati has been? If you
guessed Spain you got it! In what was an excellent trade from Poland to one
of the top teams in Spain, Kelati has made his home in Malaga Spain.
Competing in the Euroleague for an eighth consecutive season is evidence
enough of Unicaja's staying power as one of the top teams in Spain. In
2007-08, Unicaja returned to the Euroleague Top 16 and the Spanish League
semifinals, knocking off regular season champion Real Madrid in the process.
Unicaja now faces the challenge of keeping its status as one of the best
teams in Europe, but with an entire region solidly behind it, this team has
only begun to fight for the continent's biggest prizes. A clear indication
is Thomas Kelati's contribution to the team. He currently leads the squad as
a leading scorer with an average of 12.5 points a game. During a recent game
against Olympiacos of Greece Thomas went on to have an outstanding game
leading all scorers with 16 points. This Eritrean basketball players should
be an inspiration.
<http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Y6IJspzYcjk/SX1npr-iGyI/AAAAAAAAAK4/rNtE4Z_utQ0/s1600-h/Kelati+Blocking.jpg>Here
is the You tube link for all to see. Check it out and just witness what the
Eritrean Spirit of hard work and dedication means no matter where in the
world.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1ynmrxBN7U
*Be sure to click on the You tube link above & See Thomas Kelati in Action.*
*(Pictured left is Thomas Kelati Blocking a shot in Spain for his new team
Unicaja)*
Again we stay in Spain and in the biggest and most popular sport and one
of the most powerful soccer/football leagues "La Liga" our own
Swedish-Eritrean Henok Goitom is proving why he is one of the best despite
facing some minor obstacles. In 10 starts Henok has scored 5 goals currently
leading his team as the top scorer. Eritreans are the top leading athletes
in Spain as of this week. While Spain remains on top as a Sporting nation in
the world, individually Eritreans are showing that they can be top athletes
in the top sporting nation, which is a sign of big things to come. These
athletes should serve as a classic model of what can happen when you are
disciplined and motivated. Young Eritreans take note and aspire to be the
best that you can be by using these great athletes as role models. Their
combined accomplishments as athletes is a rarity and as of now just think of
it this way while an Eritrean has been the last runner to win a championship
in Spain, an Eritrean currently leads his basketball team one of the best in
Spain as a leading scorer and an Eritrean playing in "la Liga" leads his
12th, place team in scoring. All this happening as we speak. Congratulations
to all of them and may they have more success in the future. Add to that the
recent successful come backs of Meb Kiflezghi from a major injury to win a
meet in Houston and Simon Bairu who won the the Canadian 2008 Champion Men's
Senior 10k race after a very painful Achilles heel injury, and Bolota
Asmerom who has been running well indoors and took 10th place in the NYC
marathon the "SKY IS THE LIMIT" as my high school coach used to say.
*Update on Henok;*
*Picture below is Henok against Espanyol 4 months ago in Spain.*
<http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Y6IJspzYcjk/SX1npbDEfUI/AAAAAAAAAKo/enDGTGKWs3c/s1600-h/Henok+vs+Espanyol.jpg>Playing
for Real Valladolid in "La liga" Spain's top division, Henok has shown his
brilliance over and over again. He has only started 10 games and has scored
5 goals in La Liga play while he has added another in the Spanish Copa de
rey totaling his goal number to 6 goals, not bad considering he was out with
injury for three games. In a game today against Espanyol Henok scored his
5th League goal and has taken the lead as the team's top scorer. Henok
headed the ball into the net for Valladolid shortly before half-time but the
19 th place team Espanyol came from behind to tie the game at 1-1. Goitom
missed many other opportunities and was substituted towards the end of the
game. Real Valladolid is currently in 12th place and must do better as the
the season is a little more than at the half way point. Hopefully Henok will
be a big part of the team's success and until next time just stay tuned by
continuing to monitor new developments on the Eritrean sports scene by
clicking on,
http://eri-internationalsports.blogspot.com/
This is Mike Seium for
http://eri-internationalsports.blogspot.com/
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