Elshadai Negash for the IAAF

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia – Has Olympic and World 5000m champion Meseret Defar lost some of her spark? Is she no longer the golden girl of Ethiopian athletics?

Those and many other questions were continuously asked of the bubbly 24-year old’s performance this season after compatriot Tirunesh Dibaba sliced over three seconds off of her world 5000m mark in Oslo in June to stop the clock at 14:11.55. Such is the fickle nature of superstardom in athletics that her outstanding performances in 2007 were quickly forgotten. But to all doubts, Defar has one answer.

“Those who thought I had disappeared should watch my performance in Stockholm,” she says.

Comeback in Stockholm

In a performance that practically screamed “I am back” in the Swedish capital, Defar nearly rescued a World record attempt at the final kilometre to clock a personal best time of 14:12.86, just over one second off Dibaba’s mark.

“When I finished the race and saw the time, I was so disappointed,” she remarked. “I was very depressed and cried at the moment. It is very painful to miss a World record by just one second.”

Defar’s performance in Stockholm ensured that she would go to the 29th Olympic Games in Beijing as a favourite to defend her 5000m title and an important psychological edge over her rivals less than four weeks before the start of the athletics events.

“Of course, I would have loved to break the world record,” she says. “But it didn’t happen. I was on schedule early on, but my hopes were squashed in the ninth lap. I did 70 seconds. If I did 68 then, I could have had the record. Now thinking back, I am happy with improving my personal best and using the race to get ready for Beijing.”

Defar on 2008: ‘I just had two bad races’

Although reports of her lack of form had been hugely exaggerated, Defar admits that she has not had the best of seasons.

“At the start of the year, I was running well,” said Defar who opened the season with a World two-mile indoor best in Boston. “I was training well, but then before Valencia [World Indoor Championships], I had food poisoning problems. I missed a bit of training, but I felt I did well in Valencia.”

In Valencia, Defar won a record-equalling third world indoor 3000m title beating compatriot Meselech Melkamu and Moroccan Mariem Aloui Selsouli in the process.

Less than two months later, however, Defar suffered her first 5000m defeat since September 2006 when going down to Melkamu at the African Championships in Addis Ababa.

“I was not feeling well in the week before the race and had not training as well as I had hoped,” says Defar. “But the African Championships were very important for me because it is the first ever major championship on Ethiopian soil. I had to run in front of my people.”

On her comeback race, Defar failed to scale record-breaking heights in Eugene. “I was told that it was a record-breaking venue before I left Addis Ababa [her training base],” she says. “I had many problems in Eugene. The weather was not good and the race was held in the morning which was not something I was used to.”

“My focus this year was always going to Beijing,” she says when asked why she has raced less frequently in 2008. “To be honest, I just had two bad races this year in Addis Ababa and Eugene. It was not a bad year at all, but I am happy to go the Olympics in good form after illness earlier in the year.”

Defar on the Olympics: ‘It changed my life’

Happy with her pre-Beijing performance, Defar is now putting the final touches on her Olympic preparations in Addis Ababa with her teammates Dibaba, Melkamu, and Belaynesh. The 5000m squad, along with the rest of the Ethiopian athletics team, is camped at the Ghion Hotel in Addis Ababa and primarily do their track sessions at the Addis Ababa stadium, walking distance outside the hotel.

In response to expected conditions in the Chinese capital, Defar and team-mates have altered their training plans this year to include warm-weather sessions in Debrezeit, 45kms outside Addis Ababa.

But unlike many of other squad members, Defar knows the significance of an Olympic medal, not just as a sporting accomplishment, but as a life-changing event.

“Nothing I have achieved so far compares to my victory in Athens four years ago,” she says. “It has changed my career and my life. It has also inspired many girls from Addis Ababa to take up the sport.”

Four years ago, Defar was on the brink of elimination when she was named as a reserve in the 5000m squad, but she was given only a starting berth when Berhane Adere’s was dropped from the team for disciplinary reasons.

However, she will go to Beijing this year as the woman to beat. “It is as difficult to win it for the second time,” she says. “I know the world will be watching and everyone will be preparing to peak in these Games.”

Defar on Dibaba: ‘I don’t want to talk about others’

If archrival Dibaba can negotiate the 10000m without any problems, then she could face Defar in the 5000m in what will be their first match up since the World Athletics Final in September 2006.

With Defar (13 victories) ahead of Dibaba (9 victories) in the head-to-head record, many would put Defar as a slight favourite before their possible Beijing showdown. However, Defar refuses to comment on the possibilities.

“I do not want to speak about other athletes,” she says. “I only speak about myself and will only answer questions about myself.”

Even if she does not win gold in Beijing, Defar already has the perfect set of titles and World records that is the envy of any athlete. But the Ethiopian admits that she has not had enough of top level athletics just yet.

“I want to win these titles over and over again,” she says. “I want to win everything that is on offer and break every record there is to break.”

Enjoying a good laugh

Defar has talked at length before about her love for children and her commitment to women’s empowerment, but this year she has developed a new hobby – watching sitcoms and stand-up comedy videos.

“I enjoy comedy shows in my spare time,” says Defar. “I am particularly an admirer of the Ethiopian comedian Kebebew Geda. He makes me out of nothing which is quite nice.”

And with days to go before she sets out on her Olympic title defence, Defar will hope that she will have the last laugh at the end of the women’s 5000m final.