Bekele, the man to succeed Gebrselassie

Ethiopian Kenenisa Bekele underlined his growing reputation as the man to take over from compatriot Haile Gebrselassie as the master of long...

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Ethiopian Kenenisa Bekele underlined his growing reputation as the man to take over from compatriot Haile Gebrselassie as the master of long-distance running after another world title on Sunday.

Bekele achieved the unthinkable as he secured a second successive double at the World Cross Country Championships this weekend with victory in both the long and short course races. The victories followed his unprecedented double success in Dublin last year when he became the first man to win both races and only the second athlete to do so following Ireland’s Sonia O’Sullivan in Marrakech in 1998.

The dominance of his success in Sunday’s 12,300-metre long course race, which added to his narrow win in Saturday’s shorter event, emphasised the talent of the diminutive 20-year-old. His participation in both races in Lausanne was far from assured after Bekele’s preparations for the championship had been disrupted because of a blood disorder.

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Even on Saturday evening he was unsure of defending his second title on Sunday, after the exertions of the short course race had resulted in a two-hour attempt to supply urine for a mandatory test.

But, like 29-year-old Gebrselassie, Bekele showed his true class as he saw off the challenge of the Kenyans to come home 13 seconds clear of Patrick Ivuti.

The wins were his fourth and fifth cross country victories of the year following previous successes in Newcastle (Britain), Elgoibar and Seville (both in Spain).

They also stretched his unbeaten record in cross country to 14 dating back to December 2, 2001, when he was defeated by Gebrselassie in Lefrinckoucke, France. The only medal he has missed out on came in the domestic Ethiopian championships when Gebregziabher Gebremariam, who was third in Sunday’s long course race, won the title with Bekele sidelined because of the blood disorder.

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Bekele now resides with his brother and sister in Addis Ababa, the same town as Gebrselassie, and holds talks and trains with the Ethiopian great when possible.

He also belongs to the same management team as Gebrselassie, with Dutchman Jos Hermens looking after his affairs.

The youngster, one of six children of a barley farmer, grew up in the Arsi region of central Ethiopia just five-kilometres from the home of another class distance runner Derartu Tulu. (Reuters)