Intro:

Ethiopian athletes are sure to feature among the medals in the middle and long-distance athletics races at the London Olympics and many of those will have followed in the footsteps of past greats by training with Sentayehu Eshetu in Bekoji.

Script:

Ethiopia is a nation that is synonymous with a certain type of athlete.

Distance runners from Ethiopia have won eight Olympic gold medals, broken 10 world records and won 32 world championships.

It is Sentayehu Eshetu's job to ensure that the current crop continues Ethiopia's proud sporting tradition at the Olympic Games.

The 55-year-old coach has put the small town of Bekoji on the world athletics map as the hub of distance running expertise.

Training takes place nearly 3000 metres above sea level and with a strict diet of barley and wheat bread, the athletes certainly have a better chance than most of their international counterparts.

Eshetu has coached the likes of two time Olympic and four time World Championship gold medallist Tirunesh Dibaba and he understands why Ethiopia continues to produce world class athletes.

SOUNDBITE (Amharic): Sentayehu Eshetu, Bekoji athletic coach
"Some of them think that this is a way out of poverty. Most understand that by working hard they will get out of poverty through athletics. In general this is the case."

In Bekoji and across Ethiopia, many hotels, hospitals, and gyms are named after and famous Ethiopian athletes.

Over 300 aspiring athletes turn up to Eshetu's training sessions every summer in the hope that the coach will collect newspaper clippings tracking their success one day.

They can be certain Eshetu is the man to help some of them achieve their dreams in London.