Ethiopian Kenenisa Bekele arrives at the World Athletics Championships in Berlin as a strong favourite to further cement his status as one of the greatest ever distance runners.
Ethiopian Kenenisa Bekele arrives at the World Athletics Championships in Berlin as a strong favourite to further cement his status as one of the greatest ever distance runners.
Bekele’s medal haul from the Olympic Games, worlds and world cross-country championships is quite phenomenal, and the reigning Olympic champion and world record holder over both the 5000m and 10000m comes to the German capital in good form.
Despite pulling up in an unaccustomed 1500m early on in the season at Hengelo with a slight thigh pain, Bekele rebounded to remain in the hunt for the $1 million-Golden League jackpot.
Bekele, who has also overcome the death of his fiance, 18-year-old Alem Techale, while on a training run with him in 2005, won the 5000m in Berlin, clocking 13min 00.76sec, Oslo in 13:04.87 and Rome in 12:56.23, while most recently taking the 3000m in Paris in 7:28.64.
He has 14 world titles and three Olympic gold medals and has been the fastest in the world over 5000m every year since 2004. The distance double in Beijing made him the first male athlete to do so since another Ethiopian, Miruts Yifter, achieved the same feat in the boycotted 1980 Games in Moscow.
If he successfully defends his 10000m title, he will tie Ethiopian Haile Gebrselassie for the most world championship titles won and will continue his 100 per cent record over the 25-lap event.
While his appearance in the longer race is assured, Bekele has cast doubts whether he will appear in the shorter event a few days later.
But national team coach Woldemeskel Kostre was in no doubt Bekele and his three female team-mates would be capable of competing in both events. “Will the double hurt him or the three females in the team?” Kostre asked. “My answer is no. All three athletes are ready for the two events and I am sure they will achieve good results.”
Beijing double has erased any doubts about Bekele’s ability and any of his teammates or rivals from the Kenyan camp will have to be at the top of their game to threaten the diminutive maestro.
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