Kenenisa Bekele
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| Medal record | |||
 Kenenisa Bekele |
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Competitor for  Ethiopia |
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|---|---|---|---|
| Men’s athletics | |||
| Olympic Games | |||
| Gold | 2004 Athens | 10000 m | |
| Silver | 2004 Athens | 5000 m | |
| World Championships | |||
| Gold | 2003 Paris | 10000 m | |
| Gold | 2005 Helsinki | 10000 m | |
| Gold | 2007 Osaka | 10000 m | |
| Bronze | 2003 Paris | 5000 m | |
Kenenisa Bekele (born June 13, 1982, Ethiopia) is an Ethiopian distance runner holding as of 2008 the world records in the 5000 meters and 10,000 meters. He is the most accomplished runner in IAAF World Cross Country Championships history, with six long (12K) course and five short (4K) course titles.
Kenenisa Bekele won the gold medal in the 10,000 m and the silver in the 5,000 m at the 2004 Athens Olympics. He won the Gold in the 10,000 m at the 2003 World Championships in Athletics at Paris completing an Ethiopian sweep with Haile Gebrselassie(2nd) and Sileshi Sihine(3rd), and also won 10,000 m at the 2005 World Championships in Athletics (with Sileshi Sihine(2nd)), a result replicated at the 2007 World Championships. He also won the bronze in the 5,000 m at the 2003 World Championships in Athletics.
He is the older brother of Tariku Bekele.
Contents |
[edit] 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.
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 5,000 m, outdoor 5,000 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, Norway 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, Switzerland on July 1, 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 five times on the track. Gebrselassie defeated Bekele on the track in the 2000 Nurnberg 5,000 meters, the 2001 Great Ethiopian Run 10 km, and the Cross de l'Acier in December of 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), and Athens 2004 Olympic Games (27:05 to 27:27).
[edit] 2004 Athens Olympics
He won the gold medal in the 10,000 m and the silver in the 5,000 m at the 2004 Athens Olympics.
In 2004 August 20, in the 10,000 m final, three Ethiopians attempted to duplicate their 2003 World Championships sweep. Since Haile Gebrselassie had been suffering from inflammation on his Achilles tendon for five weeks before he came to Athens, Bekele and Sileshi Sihine slowed the race down to give him a chance of a medal, putting their own victory in jeopardy. However Gebrselassie was dropped as Bekele and Sihine upped the pace to shake off other leading competetors, Zersenay Tadese and Boniface Kiprop. Bekele let Sihine lead him out and then hit the front with 500 m to go, sprinting away with the last lap in 53.02 seconds and won the race with a new Olympics record 27:05.10. Sileshi Sihine finished 2nd(27:09.39), Eritrean Zersenay Tadese 3rd(27:22.57), Boniface Kiprop from Uganda 4th(27:25.48), the defending champion Haile Gebrselassie 5th(27:27.70).[1][2][3]
Eight days later, in 2004 August 28, in the 5000 m final, Bekele confronted Hicham El Guerrouj, the 1500 m Olympics winner, and Eliud Kipchoge, the 5000 m World champion. At the 5000 m of 2003 World Championships of the previous year, Kipchoge, El Guerrouj and Bekele were the gold, silver and bronze medalists respectively. Even though Bekele was the holder of the 5000 m world record, at the Olympics he finished 2nd, being outkicked by El Guerrouj with 50 m to go and narrowly failed to win the Olympics 5000m/10000m double. El Guerrouj won a double over 1500 m and 5000 m.[4]
Afterwards an Ethiopian singer song writer Teddy Afro released a famous music video, Tarik Teserra ("History was Made"), in honor of world record holder and 2004 Olympic gold medalist, Kenenisa Bekele.[5] Bekele ended the year ranked as 2004 Man of the year by Track & Field News magazine: he had broken the indoor world record for 5,000 meters (12:49.60), the outdoor world record for 5,000 meters (12:37.35), won both the short course (4k) and long course (12K) races for the third year in a row at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships, broken the world record for 10,000 meters (26:20.31), and broken the Olympic record in winning the gold medal in the men's 10,000 meters (27:05.10), while also winning two 3,000 meter races and the Ethiopian Championship for 5,000 meters for good measure. (Interestingly, every world and Olympic record Bekele broke that year had been set by Haile Gebrselassie.)
[edit] After Olympics
On January 4, 2005, Bekele's fiancee, 18-year-old Alem Techale, died of an apparent heart attack while on a training run with him. Although it was initially stated that no autopsy was performed, Techale and Bekele's manager, Jos Hermens, later said that an autopsy had revealed nothing conclusive about the young woman's death. She was the 2003 World Youth Champion in the 1500 m and in excellent physical condition. The mystery surrounding her death has raised suspicion about the possible use of EPO or other performance-enhancing drugs by Techale and perhaps other athletes in Hermens' care. However, Kenenisa has never been implicated and there is no evidence other than his otherworldly times and association with Hermens himself to suggest that he uses undetectable performance-enhancing drugs.
Over the next several weeks following Alem's death, Kenenisa grieved. He resumed racing on January 29, and lost indoors over 3,000 m to South-African Irishman Alistair Cragg after sprinting towards the line with one and a half laps to go while thinking that there was only half a lap left. Such confusion was presumed to have been caused by his grief. A few weeks later he lost to fellow Ethiopian Markos Geneti over 2 miles. In March, Kenenisa faced his toughest challenge yet. Despite his grief and recent losses on the track, he lined up to defend his long and short course titles at the 2005 IAAF World Cross Country Championships. In dramatic fashion, Kenenisa bested the field in the short course despite a fast pace set by Qatari Saif Saaeed Shaheen. He followed that win with a long course victory the next day over Eritrean Zersenay Tadese and Kenyan rival Eliud Kipchoge.[who?] And while this victory was just one step toward healing his broken spirit, it is among the greatest emotional and physical triumphs in Athletics history.
In 2005 August 8, Kenenisa Bekele won the gold medal in the 10,000 m at the 2005 World Championships in Helsinki with a stunning last 200 m spurt.[6]
In 2005 August 26, Bekele set the current 10,000 m world record 26:17.53 at the 29th Memorial Van Damme meeting – TDK Golden League – in Brussels, Belgium, slicing nearly 3 seconds off his previous world record 26:20.31, and running with 5,000 m halves of 13:09 and 13:08.[7][8] At the end of 2005 Bekele was voted the Track & Field News magazine athlete of the year for the second year in a row.
In 2006 he won five out of six Golden League events (5,000 m) in the same season, which earned him a total of $83,333.
On 17th February 2007, he broke the indoor world record over 2000 m in Birmingham, UK, with a time of 4:49.99. His spectacular final 300 m aided this time which would be considered excellent even outdoors.
On March 24, 2007, however, his remarkable racing streak of 27 consecutive victories in cross country races (dating back to his last previous loss in December of 2001) came to an end when after leading the race on the next to last lap of the 2007 IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Mombasa, Kenya he succumbed to the very hot, humid conditions (which caused more than 1/6th of all competitors to drop out) and was passed by eventual winner Zersenay Tadese on the last lap before Bekele dropped out. This was greeted with cheers by the Kenyan crowds, an occurrence which has been frowned upon by the wider athletics community.
He recovered from that rare failure to take the 10,000 meter title at the 2007 IAAF World Championships in Osaka, Japan, once again besting his compatriot Sileshi Sihine. During that race, he looked like he was going to be dropped several times over the last 800 meters but recovered to scream by Sihine with 150 meters to go and take his third straight world title.
On November 18, 2007, Bekele married Ethiopian film actress Danawit Gebregziabher at the Sheraton Addis, in Addis Ababa. [1]
He won his 6th Cross Country World title in Edinburgh 2008.
[edit] Current world records (as of April 2008)
- 5,000 m indoor world record 12:49.60 (Birmingham, England, on February 20, 2004)
- 5,000 m world record 12:37.35 (Hengelo, Netherlands, on May 31, 2004) from compatriot Haile Gebrselassie at 12:39.36 (on June 13, 1998)
- 10,000 m world record 26:17.53 (Brussels, Belgium, on August 26, 2005, breaking his previous record of 26:20.31 from June 8, 2004, which at the time replaced Gebrselassie's former record at 26:22.75 from June 1, 1998).
- 2,000 m indoor world record 04:49.99 (Birmingham, England, on February 17, 2007)
- 2 mile indoor world best 08:04:34 (Birmingham, England, on February 16, 2008)
[edit] Personal bests
| Distance | Mark | Date | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1,500 m | 3:32.35 | September 28, 2007 | Shanghai |
| 3,000 m | 7:25.79 | August 7, 2007 | Stockholm |
| 5,000 m | 12:37.35 (WR) | May 31, 2004 | Hengelo |
| 10,000 m | 26:17.53 (WR) | August 26, 2005 | Brussels |
[edit] Major victories
- 2008 African Championships in Athletics 5,000 m, ({Addis Ababa, Ethiopia})
- 2008 World Cross Country Championships (12k), Edinburgh, United Kingdom
- 2007 World Track Champion 10,000 m, Osaka (Japan)
- 2006 African Championships in Athletics 5,000 m, Bambous (Mauritius)
- 2006 World Cross Country Champion in short race (4K), Fukuoka (Japan)
- 2006 World Cross Country Champion in long race (12K), Fukuoka (Japan)
- 2006 World Indoor Track Champion 3,000 m, Moscow (Russia)
- 2005 World Cross Country Champion in short race (4K), St. Etienne (France)
- 2005 World Cross Country Champion in long race (12K), St. Etienne (France)
- 2005 World Track Champion 10,000 m, Helsinki (Finland)
- 2004 World Cross Country Champion in short race (4K), Brussels (Belgium)
- 2004 World Cross Country Champion in long race (12K), Brussels (Belgium)
- 2004 Olympic Champion 10,000 m, Athens (Greece)
- 2003 World Cross Country Champion in short race (4K), Avenches (Switzerland)
- 2003 World Cross Country Champion in long race (12K), Avenches (Switzerland)
- 2003 World Track Champion 10,000 m, Paris (France)
- 2002 World Cross Country Champion in short race (4 Kilometers), Dublin (Ireland)
- 2002 World Cross Country Champion in long race (12 Kilometers), Dublin (Ireland)
- 2001 World Junior Cross Country Champion 8000 m
[edit] References and notes
- ^ 2004 Athens Olympics Brilliant Bekele takes gold - BBC
- ^ 2004 Athens Olympics Haile farewell - IAAF
- ^ 2004 Athens Olympics YouTube video: Men's 10000 m
- ^ 2004 Athens Olympics YouTube video: Men's 5000 m final
- ^ Teddy Afro's music video Bekele Song - Anbessa
- ^ 2005 World Championships 10000 m final
- ^ Bekele 10000 m world record - IAAF
- ^ Bekele 10000 m world record - YouTube video
[edit] External links
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| Records | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Haile Gebrselassie |
Men's 10,000 m World Record Holder June 8, 2004 – |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
| Preceded by Haile Gebrselassie |
Men's 5,000 m World Record Holder May 31, 2004 – |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
| Awards | ||
Preceded by Hicham El Guerrouj |
Men's Track & Field Athlete of the Year 2004 – 2005 |
Succeeded by Asafa Powell |
| Sporting positions | ||
Preceded by.svg/22px-Flag_of_Belgium_(civil).svg.png){kind=small} Mohammed Mourhit |
IAAF Men's World Cross Country Champion Long Course 2002 – 2006 |
Succeeded by Zersenay Tadese |
| Preceded by Zersenay Tadese |
IAAF Men's World Cross Country Champion Long Course 2008 |
Succeeded by incumbent |
Preceded by Enock Koech |
IAAF Men's World Cross Country Champion Short Course 2002 – 2006 |
Succeeded by Defunct Event |
| Preceded by Stephen Cherono |
Men's 5.000m Best Year Performance 2004 – 2007 |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
| Preceded by Isaac Kiprono Songok |
Men's 3.000m Best Year Performance 2007 |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
