Jamal yearning for Ethiopian hills

OSAKA, Japan, (AFP) - Maryam Yusuf Jamal said she was longing to return to her native Ethiopia for the first time in years after bringing world athletics glory to Bahrain.

Jamal, 22, capped an extended personal odyssey with 1,500 metres gold on the last night of competition in the World Athletics Championships, avenging the unsportsmanlike Russian shove which pushed her out of the medals two years ago.

She became the first female Gulf athlete to win a world or Olympic track medal, and rescued the championships for Bahrain after the failure of 2005 double champion Rashid Ramzi.

Afterwards Jamal, who abandoned her homeland fearing persecution and later took Bahraini citizenship, said she hoped to visit Ethiopia for the first time in five years.

"With the help of God I plan to go back to Ethiopia," she said. "I want to see my family because it is a long time since I have seen them."

It has been a long journey for Jamal, born Zenebech Tola, who swapped Ethiopia's Arsi plateau region for the hills of Switzerland before being welcomed as a refugee by sand-swept Bahrain.

She was persuaded to run in Europe as a junior and, as a Christian and member of the Oromo tribe, decided against returning to her home country, filing for political asylum in May 2002.

However, residency problems prevented her from competing for Switzerland at the Athens Olympics and her request to run for Ethiopia was also rejected.

Jamal was finally offered citizenship by oil-rich Bahrain, joining a flood of African athletes who have defected to the Gulf. She changed her name in January 2005.

In Helsinki that year Jamal was headed for a world championships medal until Russia's Yuliya Chizhenko, who was later disqualified, nudged her out of contention with 250 metres to go.

The controversy only motivated Jamal, who was seen glaring at Russia's Yuliya Fomenko during the semis. In Sunday's final, she overtook Russian race leader Yelena Soboleva on the bell and held her off for a sweet victory.

"This makes up for Helsinki, where I was in good shape but I was pushed," she said.

"I'm certain that if that hadn't happened, even if I didn't win, I would have medalled then."

The win broke a stranglehold on the event by Russia, which claimed the three previous gold medals, and boosted Jamal ahead of next year's Beijing Olympics.

"This gives me great confidence for the Olympics," she said. "I'm extremely happy."

It also represents another triumph over adversity by Jamal, who overcame a political storm in Bahrain when an Islamist politician criticised her for running with bare arms and legs.

Jamal still spends most of her time in Switzerland but was also planning a celebratory trip to the Gulf.

"I feel happy about winning the gold medal for Bahrain," she said.

"They expected me to win the gold medal. I had plans to win the gold medal for Bahrain, I had confidence going into the race to win."