Amman, Jordan - There will be a refreshing change in theme to the senior men’s race at the 37th IAAF World Cross Country Championships on the Bisharat Golf Course in Amman, Jordan, on Saturday (28 March).  For the first time since 2001, Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele will not be the centre of attention. Either Eritrea’s Zersenay Tadese will win or there will be a new name on the roll of honour.

The greatest pain felt by Bekele’s domination – six wins over the classic 12km distance in seven years, broken only by Tadese’s triumph in 2007 – has been suffered by Kenya. Although this powerhouse nation has continued to hold the upper hand in the team event, it has not celebrated a long-course individual champion since Paul Tergat notched the last of his five successive wins in 1999.

Are the 10 years of hurt about to end?

Tergat’s record five classic titles - a mark he shared with compatriot John Ngugi - was surpassed in Edinburgh last year by Bekele, who became the first man to win six. The Scottish capital proved a rich hunting ground for Ethiopia as they took a sweep of the individual titles for the first time, and both women’s team titles, leaving Kenya only the senior and junior men’s team gold as consolation.

The greater experience in their squad seems likely to deliver Kenya a 22nd team title in 24 years and this time they might be led home by the individual gold medallist. Leonard Komon, runner-up to Bekele last year, and Moses Mosop, silver medallist behind Tadese in 2007, are obvious contenders but, in Mathew Kisorio and Mangata Ndiwa, they have senior debutants either one of whom could spring a shock.

For Komon, Amman represents his fourth World Cross Country appearance since his debut in the juniors in 2006 brought him the silver medal behind Ndiwa and ahead of third-placed Tariku Bekele. The younger Bekele will have to carry much of the burden left by his brother’s absence, being, at 22, the second oldest athlete in the Ethiopian team and one of two squad members most likely to challenge for the podium.

Komon’s consistency at these championships is impressive, having followed his 2006 runner-up place with fourth in the juniors in 2007 and second in his senior debut in 2008. A victory in the IAAF Permit meeting in Soria, Spain, in November augured well but his bubble burst when he was well beaten at the IAAF Permit meeting in Seville, in January, by Uganda’s Moses Kipsiro and Tariku Bekele. Then, at the Kenyan trials last month, suffering a stitch, he finished 20th and had to rely on the selectors giving him a wild card.

After chasing Tadese home in 2007, running without a shoe for the last 2km, Mosop suffered a career-threatening Achilles injury that summer and did not return to training until October 2008. Just four months after his return, he won the Kenyan trial for Amman, a race which formed part of the IAAF Cross Country Permit series. Emphasising the difficulty of picking a champion for Saturday, the 10-race series has produced 10 different winners this season.

There is a comeback thread running through the Kenyan team as Ndiwa appears in his first World Cross since winning the junior title in 2006, his career interrupted by injury, malaria and typhoid. And nobody....