Athletes

It takes a special talent to erase Haile Gebreselassie from the record books. Kenenisa Bekele has done it twice, and as his already spectacular career develops, he may yet add Haile’s world marathon record to those he holds at 5000 and 10,000m. Bekele is that good.

His world records alone would mark him out, but there is plenty more: silver at 5000m and gold at 10,000m in Athens in 2004; gold over both distances in Beijing in 2008; gold at 10,000m in the World Championships of 2003, '05 and '07; plus, perhaps most remarkably of all, six long-course (12k) and five short-course (4k) World Cross Country Championship titles. He’s still only 26 years old.

He comes from a hotbed of Ethiopian running, the town of Bekoji, which has also produced the Dibaba sisters Tirunesh, Ejegayehu and Genzebe, and their cousin Deratu Tulu, as well as Bekele’s promising younger brother Tariku.

Kenenisa came to prominence with a series of staggering performances in cross country. For five years in a row, from 2002 until 2006, he won both the world long course and short-course titles (each year the races were just a day apart), a feat that no one else managed once (and never will now that the short-course race has been abolished).

Cross country brought out his improbable strength, and on the track he added impossible speed. His trademark kick from 400m out has seen him record some awesome split times in which he can cover the final 200m in about 24 seconds and the final lap in 54.

His first major track medal came over 10,000m at the World Championships of 2003 in Paris. The following year he narrowly missed the fabled 5000, and 10,000m double at the Olympics in Athens (the great Hicham El Guerrouj outsprinted him in the 5000m) and his future looked dazzling, yet tragedy was soon to strike.

In January 2005, he was out running with his fiancée Alem Techale, the World Youth champion over 1500m, when she suffered an apparent heart attack and died. In an attempt to assuage his grief, he perhaps resumed racing too quickly afterwards and was beaten a couple of times. He went to his beloved World Cross Country Championships and found new strength as he defended both his titles, a feat described as ‘one of the greatest physical and emotional triumphs in athletics history’. He crowned that summer with a World Championship gold over 10,000m and then a new world record over the same distance.

By the time the next Olympic cycle came around in 2008, he had found happiness again, marrying the Ethiopian actress Danawit Gebregziabher, and in Beijing he became just the sixth man to notch the 5000m and 10,000m double.

Now totally dominant on track and cross country, speculation mounts as to when he’ll move up to the marathon. His talent demands that he will, perhaps after London 2012.

Interview

There is no interview for Kenenisa Bekele at the moment. We're hoping to catch up with him soon.