The New King of Distance Running

By Simon Robinson/Athens

The men's 10,000 m, the first marquee race of the track-and-field events, was always going be Ethiopia's. The only question was which Ethiopian: the popular two-time gold medalist Haile Gebrselassie, 31, or the astonishing young Kenenisa Bekele, 22? In just nine days last spring, Bekele smashed Gebrselassie's records in both the 10,000 m and the 5,000 m. Perhaps, though, the wily old campaigner had one last victory in him.

For the first few laps of the 25-lap race, Gebrselassie stayed with the lead pack as it glided its way around the graceful Olympic Stadium. By the 5000-m mark, Bekele, Gebrselassie and Ethiopia's third runner, Sileshi Sihine, were 1-2-3. The Ethiopian trio was soon lapping slower runners, even as the younger men seemed to slow the pace to accommodate Gebrselassie. But then he began to struggle. At 7,500 m, he fell back for a lap before coming again, fighting off pain, hoping he could run through it.

He could not. Bekele and Sihine surged ahead, breaking the competition and leaving Gebrselassie behind. Bekele accelerated into the final lap, scorching around the track in just 53.02 sec. to win in a time of 27:05.10. That's some 45 sec. off his world record, but it bested by two sec. Gebrselassie's Olympic mark set eight years ago in Atlanta. Gebrselassie struggled across the line in fifth in what he says will be his last 10,000-m race. He may now become a marathoner. The shy Bekele was giggling with happiness after the race, and he plans to run the 5,000 m later this week. The long--and the very long--of it is that Africa lost a star but not a step in its continuing domination of distance. --By Simon Robinson/Athens