By Mitch Phillips
LONDON (Reuters) – When Haile Gebrselassie was taking distance running to new levels a decade ago few could have imagined that even before he had retired he would be eclipsed by another Ethiopian, Kenenisa Bekele.
If, as expected, the two men line up for the 10,000 meters final in Beijing it will be world record holder, Olympic and triple world champion Bekele who will be the hot favorite.
Bekele, 26, has a remarkable record of consistency, winning championship titles, setting world records and dominating cross country running over the past six years.
This year he regained the world cross title to make it 12 wins in 13 attempts over the two senior distances.
His 10,000 meters world record of 26 minutes 17.53 seconds, set in 2005, is more than five seconds faster than Gebrselassie’s world mark of 1998 – itself half a minute better than William Sigie’s 1994 mark that he first surpassed in 1995.
Bekele also has the 5,000 world record of 12:37.35, previously held by his compatriot, a double Olympic champion at 10,000.
His style is modeled on Gebrselassie too. Both men destroy their opponents with their finishing speed and it is not unusual for Bekele to post a 53-second final lap.
In Athens four years ago the Ethiopians tried to run as a team to help Gebrselassie challenge for a third gold but, injured, he dropped off the pace leaving Bekele to blast through the last lap to win.
Eight days later Bekele just missed out on the double when he was outkicked by Hicham El Guerrouj over the final 50 meters of the 5,000. Despite that setback 2004 remained an annus mirabilis for Bekele.
Within four days of the new year, his fiancee, 18-year-old Alem Techale, died while the two were running together.
Bekele recovered to win double gold again at the world cross country three months later and in that August won the second of his three consecutive 10,000 world titles.
In 2007, he married Ethiopian actress Danawit Gebregziabher. She watched him in championship action for the first time when he reclaimed the world cross title in Scotland this year.
He has carried that form on to the track with the fourth-fastest 10,000 meters – 26:25.97 – in an almost solo effort at the Prefontaine Classic in the United States in June.
With only six days between the 10,000 and 5,000 finals in Beijing, Bekele had said he planned to run only the longer distance but it now looks possible he could double up.
Four-times 10,000m world champion Gebrselassie is putting everything into that race after opting out of the marathon after concerns over the air quality.
(Editing by Robert Woodward)