Victory could help Kenya after violence says Tergat

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Former champion Paul Tergat has urged Kenya's athletes to help with the aftermath of the political violence that rocked their country by retaining the team title at this month's world cross country championships.

"We can rise from the ashes like the proverbial phoenix and retain the world title. Three weeks are enough to make a winning team, but training must be intensive," Tergat told Reuters on Saturday.

"As part of national healing, we can use the world championships to unite the nation by retaining the overall team title," said the former five-time world champion.

Tergat, a former world marathon record holder, made his call during the Kenyan national cross country championships, held in Nairobi ahead of the world event in Edinburgh on March 30.

More than 1,000 people have been killed in violence since December 27 elections which the opposition accused President Mwai Kibaki of rigging. Calm has now returned and Kibaki and the opposition have signed a deal to form a coalition government.

"We must also go for the individual title in the 12km men's race, which has eluded us since 1999," Tergat said. Kenya has not won an individual 12km title since he last won it in Belfast in 1999.

National team coach Julius Kirwa said although the challenges were surmountable, they posed a real threat to the Kenyan hold on the title.

"There is a serious problem because, looking at how the athletes ran today, one could easily tell that they have not trained well," said Kirwa, who has coached the team since 2005.

"The violence has caused problems, which we must fix in the three weeks remaining. I will try my best under the circumstances, but it will be hard," he said.

Kirwa also did not seem to like the idea of setting up a residential training camp in Nairobi, instead of the traditional Embu on the foot of Mount Kenya, which has been shunned by the federation due to security fears.

(Editing by Trevor Huggins)