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Here comes the next Emperor Despite their dominance over many years, you could almost feel for the Kenyan athletes as they dissected the results of the World Cross Country Championships in Dublin. Kenenisa Bekele of Ethiopia had just won the 7.5-mile Sunday run, becoming the first man to capture the long and short races in the same World Cross Country Championships. Kenya's veteran coach Mike Kosgei said: "We had John Ngugi. The Americans had Carl Lewis. Morocco had Said Aouita and, recently, Hicham El Guerrouj. The Ukrainians have had Sergey Bubka. The Ethiopians had Haile Gebrselassie. We again had Paul Tergat, while Kenenisa Bekele has emerged again from Ethiopia Bekele's name does not lend itself to headlines as easily as his idol and mentor Haile Gebrselassie his talent should certainly ensure he dominates them in the same manner as Gebrselassie has done in the past decade.
The ease with which the 19-year-old Ethiopian won both the men's short course and long course world titles - becoming only the second athlete after Sonia O'Sullivan to do the double - had pundits and coaches alike purring at the possibilities for him on the track. "The boy was just too good for us. We had an elaborate team plan for him right from the camp in Embu (some 200-km north-east of Nairobi on the foothills of Mt Kenya). Having watched him destroy the field in the short-course race, we modified our plans and set two athletes to work on him from the start," Kosgei continued. "But the boy just outsmarted us completely. He not only beat us. He annihilated us. He ran elegantly and I could see from the half-way stage that we were fighting a losing battle. He is in a class of his own at the moment." Bekele, a 19-year-old runner heralded as the successor to countryman Haile Gebrselassie, was timed in 34 minutes, 52 seconds and is the youngest to ever win the race. He won the 2.6-mile event Saturday with similar ease. On a chilly and windy Sunday, he beat the long-dominant Kenyans. They tried to surround him early, then sent runners forward in hope of goading Bekele into going too hard. Bekele burst away in the fourth lap of the six-lap race. He achieved a comfortable lead over his only remaining challenger, John Yuda of Tanzania, and crossed the finish line at half speed, showing no sign of tiredness. "I was too much for them," Bekele said. "And I could have gone faster." Bekele is the second of six children from the Arsi Province though he now lives in Addis Ababa with one of his brothers. He claimed that all he wanted after his second win, the long race on Sunday was a pint of Guinness but in reality his targets are far higher - more Olympic gold. To that end Haile Gebrselassie is a more than useful advisor to have on board. Bekele also belongs to the same management camp of Dutchman Jos Hermens. "Haile has been so helpful to me offering me advice on tactics and strategy during a race," Bekele admitted. "He is a man whose records and medals will be hard to beat but if he is willing to help me in that attempt then I am only too happy to accept it! "He doesn't live too far away from me in Addis so whenever we are together in the country we talk to each other about racing," he added. Bekele gave notice of his talent last year in Ostend by winning the world junior title and taking silver in the senior short course race. Long course silver medallist Tanzania's John Yuda remarked: "He is obviously a runner of rare talent and while I know I will get stronger it is going to take something special to beat him regularly... I can see him winning loads of track titles and breaking records galore. I will just have to hope that it is me who is his nearest challenger and not the Kenyans!" Several of the watching managers were also left virtually speechless by the young Ethiopian's achievements. "He is the man to take on the mantle of Haile, the one that the Ethiopians have been searching for, because while Million Wolde won the Olympic 5000m title he has not gone on from there but it is clear that Bekele has what it takes to take the track long distance races to a different stratosphere than even Haile did,"said another. For the moment given the talents already shown, a limousine and a castle await the quietly spoken genius from Ethiopia at the end of what should be a glorious career. |
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Special
K Haile Gebrselassie Haile
Gebreselassie is the greatest distance runner the world has ever seen.
This year he moves up to the marathon Baby
Superstar African
Cup of Nations Profiles
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