How I prepared ‘husband and wife’ for victory, Canova

By Feverpitch Reporter

Italian tactician, Renato Canova, expressed his uninhibited delight at coaching the first ‘husband and wife’ couple to victory at last weekend’s national trials for Amman World Cross.

Canova, posted on athletics website, letsrun.com, detailing how he prepared Moses Mosop and Florence Kiplagat to win the competitive senior men 12km and women 8km races after both missed the whole of last season.

"This was history, because, for the first time, they (winners) are husband and wife," Canova, who works for manager Gianni Demadonna, wrote on the website.

"I was very much confident in Mosop from the beginning. We planned, from October knowing that Kenenisa Bekele could not run because he is injured.

Won three titles

"Mosop knows very well that Bekele in shape is unbeatable in cross and 10,000m. I told him that never I want to hear the word Bekele from his mouth. His model must be Zersenay Tadese, that in three years he has won three titles in half-marathon and one in cross."

Ethiopian Bekele is the defending senior men World Cross champion while Eritrean Tadese beat Mosop to the gold at Mombasa 2007.

Canova said of women’s champion, Kiplagat, "When, at the beginning of last year, Moses and Florence married, soon she was pregnant, that was the reason she didn’t run last year. They had a baby, Aisha, 11 months ago."

"She started running again last September, three months after the birth of Aisha and Moses asked me to follow her. So, that’s the reason because I became her coach too."

"I was really impressed by her speed of improvement. I never saw in my life an African athlete running so fast after motherhood."

The coach admitted that Kiplagat had an easy time of it since World Cross senior bronze medallist, Linet Masai, had a slight problem with her tendon in the last lap.

The authoritative iaaf.org website gives Mosop’s spouse as Rose Cheruiyot (not the athlete) whom she wed in 2003 and they have a daughter Olympia Cheptoo born a year later.