Arsi. Where the champions come from. Academy of Sports to be established
The Arsi zone of Oromia is where most of the great Ethiopian runners come from. The zone, its capital Asella at an altitude of 2200-2400 metres and the highest point at Mount Chilalo at 4108 metres, has the perfect climate and altitude for long distance runners. Abebe Bikila, Haile Gebreselassie, Kenenissa Bekele, Derarta Tula and Tirunesh Dibaba is proof of the string of champions coming from Arsi.
Next week the foundation stone for Ethiopia's first Academy of Sports will be laid in Asella by high officials of the Government. The Mayor of Asella, Jemal Ali, tells the Embassy that the Academy will take one-to-two years to construct. The Academy, to be built by the Ministry of Youth and Sports, will accomodate 600 promising youngsters and aim to take advantage of the great results of the world famous Ethiopian runners hailing from Arsi.
The landscape, the altitude and the fresh air of Arsi obviously has a magic effect on talented runners. Now the champions are paying back to their zone of their origins. Derarta Tulu has established a hotel and other businesses, Kenenissa Bekele is in the process of building a hotel and Haile Gebreselassie has opened a restaurant (but is also known to have invested substantially in Addis Ababa). Asella and Arsi hope to see more investments by their millionaire runners and will award them all with land for more investment coming Thursday when the construction of the Academy of Sports will be initiated.
The mayor invited Norwegian long distance running talents to come to Asella and learn from the champions.