Kenenisa Bekele

Kenenisa Bekele

Bekele is renowned for his ability to accelerate very quickly at the end of a long distance race; in Oslo in June 2003, Bekele chased after Kenyan Abraham Chebii and ran a 54.64 final 400 to win the race in 12:52.26.

Kenenisa Bekele is an Ethiopian long-distance runner, who holds the world record and Olympic record in both the 5000 meters and 10,000 meters events. He is the reigning Olympic champion over 5000 meters and two time champion over 10,000 meters and the most accomplished runner in IAAF World Cross Country Championships history, with six long (12K) course and five short (4K) course titles. Bekele has never been beaten over 10,000 m, and with his vast array of medals, many consider him to be one of the greatest distance runners of all time.

He is the older brother of Tariku Bekele, also an accomplished distance runner.

History

Bekele was born in 1982 at Bekoji, in the Oromia Region of Ethiopia, the same town as the Dibaba sisters; Ejegayehu, Tirunesh and Genzebe, and their cousin Derartu Tulu.

In August 2001 he set a new 3000 metres World Junior Record, 7:30.67 in Brussels. The record was broken by Augustine Choge four years later.

For five years in a row, from 2002 through 2006, he took both short (4K) and long (12K) races at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships, a feat no other runner has accomplished even once. In 2004, he broke the world records for the indoor 5000 m, outdoor 5000 m and outdoor 10,000 m.

Bekele is renowned for his ability to accelerate very quickly at the end of a long distance race; in Oslo in June 2003, Bekele chased after Kenyan Abraham Chebii and ran a 54.64 final 400 to win the race in 12:52.26. Again in Lausanne on 1 July 2003, Bekele recorded a 200 m segment during the last lap in 24 seconds and a 100 m section in 11.xx seconds to run a 52.63 final lap.

Bekele has faced his mentor Haile Gebrselassie once in road competition, once in cross country, and six times on the track. Gebrselassie defeated Bekele on the track in the 2000 Nurnberg 5000 metres, the 2001 Great Ethiopian Run 10 km, and the Cross de l'Acier in December 2001, but lost to Bekele in Hengelo 2003 over 10,000 m (26:53 to 26:54), Rome 2003 over 5000 m (12:57 to 13:00), Paris 2003 World Championships over 10,000 m (26:49 to 26:50), Athens 2004 Olympic Games (27:05 to 27:27), and in the 10,000 m in the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games (27:01 to 27:06).