21 January 2012: Kenenisa Bekele and Tirunesh Dibaba two of Ethiopia's world long distance stars are banned from competing among 33 other Ethiopian athletes for not turning up to an important training camp. Technical Director for the Ethiopian Athletics Federation (EAF), Dube Jilo said, “we have to distinguish who is in good shape. There is a lack of commitment.” The EAF indicated that the ban would be lifted as soon as any missing athlete joined the camp.

Kenenisa Bekele, the Olympic Champion at 5000 and 10000 metres has been out of sorts recently. Claiming to be injured and far from a position to be in full training let alone competing, is a huge doubt for the London Olympics in July of this year. Bekele indicated, “my injury is quite serious and I would not be able to bring back the performance of old for the time being. I'm only receiving a combination of treatment and training at the moment. It will take weeks before I return to ordinary training, and some two to three months before I return to competition.”

Ethiopia athletes have not performed to the standard that we are all used to for some months now. The World Championships in Daegu, South Korea were a big disapointment when Kenenisa dropped out of the 10000 metres, although he did redeem himself a few days later by winning the event at the Brussels Diamond League event.