Ian O'Riordan on the two runners who represent the greatest dangerto Sonia O'Sullivan in tonight's final

With almost every great African runner there comes a similar story. Life at the high altitudes, running miles just to get to school. The simple discovery of their talent. The rapid rise from near poverty to world champion.

This evening in Paris two African athletes will provide the greatest challenge to Sonia O'Sullivan in the World Championship 5,000 metres final, Berhane Adere of Ethiopia, and Edith Masai of Kenya. But they have different stories to tell.

At 30, Adere is now the most feared name in women's distance running after Britain's Paula Radcliffe, but just a few years ago the Ethiopian coaches had lost patience with her inability to win medals at major championships.

Unlike so many of the great Ethiopian runners Adere comes from a wealthy background. While Haile Gebrselassie grew up in a mud hut sharing a single blanket with his nine siblings, Adere's farming family kept vast herds of the goats and cattle that remain the greatest symbol of wealth in Ethiopia.

And she never ran to school. She lived just a short distance from her school in the district of Shewa, and only started running because she needed to improve her grades and PE looked the best option.

Though her potential was soon discovered and she was signed up with the Addis Ababa police club, she was still slow to develop - interrupting her career to give birth to her son, Alme, in 1994. And then came those disappointing championship performances, such as the fourth place finish over 10,000 metres in 1997, and seventh place in 1999.

The turning point was the loss of interest from the Ethiopian national coaches. She turned to her husband Lemi Erpassa, a former cross country runner for coaching. She took the silver medal over 10,000 metres in Edmonton two years ago, and has since been a truly dominant force in 5,000 and 10,000 metres - filling in the fast times after Radcliffe. This year she's already won the World Indoor 3,000 metres, and improved her 5,000 metres best to 14.29.32 in Olso, just outside the 14:28.09 world record of China's Jiang Bo. Of course she also won the 10,000 metre title a week ago.

What motivates her now is the Olympic title in Athens next year, and winning a double in Paris is an important part of that goal. She thinks, too, about the five Olympic rings in the national stadium in Addis Ababa, and how four of them are filled with the faces of Abebe Bikila, Miruts Yifter, Derartu Tulu and Gebrselassie.

Masai was discovered as a schoolgirl and seemed destined for early success until she gave birth to her first son at aged 23, and appeared to settle for domestic life. She only ran for fun as part of her job with the Kenyan Prison Service.

But then she divorced her husband in 1999, and struggled to provide adequately for her son. So she started training hard again, motivated by the prospect of making money.

Now 36, Masai's re-emergence was first assisted by her German agent Dorothee Paulmann who organised a training base for her in Europe. When she won the first of her two world cross country titles in Dublin last year the new career simply took off. Last year she lowered the African 3,000 metres record to 8:23.23, and her 5,000 metre best of 14:45.8 is ripe for improvement.

While their stories mightn't be typically African, the talents of Adere and Masai certainly are.