Edinburgh, Scotland - Tirunesh Dibaba has something to prove. That may seem an odd thing to say of a 22-year-old who has already won two World Cross Country titles and four World Championship golds on the track.

But when the Ethiopian lines up for the start of the 36th IAAF World Cross Country Championships, Edinburgh, Scotland on Sunday (30 March) she’ll be aware of a few doubts lingering over her like a Scottish mist.

A year ago she was the undisputed queen of Ethiopian distance running and started the championships in Mombasa as red hot favourite to complete a hat-trick of victories. After all, she was a double World champion and the newly-crowned World indoor 5000m record holder.

But her dreams of winning a third successive title wilted in the Kenyan heat as Dutchwoman Lornah Kiplagat ran away with the honours, leaving Dibaba gasping in her wake. It marked the start of a difficult year for the Ethiopian, one she will want to put well and truly behind her this weekend.

Although she retained her World 10,000m title in Osaka, chronic abdominal problems forced Dibaba to cancel the rest of her 2007 track season and she lost her status as Ethiopia’s golden girl to Meseret Defar.