Photo finish for bronze medal
By Parker Morse, Running USA wire
BEIJING, China - (August 17, 2008) - Kenenisa Bekele joined an exclusive club of two-time Olympic 10,000 meter champions on Sunday evening in Beijing. With his teammate Sileshi "Mr. Silver" Sihine backing him up, Bekele, 26, stormed away from the field in the closing lap to break his Olympic record in 27:01.17.
While some observers had speculated that the Kenyan team would attempt the team tactics they had once used in an attempt to neutralize Haile Gebrselassie, the Ethiopian team's third runner and a two-time gold medalist himself (1996 and 2000), it was the Eritreans who controlled the pace after the first kilometer. With 2007 World Cross Country champion Zersenay Tadese and teammate Kidane Tadesse joined by Teklemariam Medhin at the front, they alternately surged and rested to thin the pack to less than 20, still including over half the 38 men who stepped to the line, as well as U.S. Olympic Trials champion Abdi Abdirahman and runner-up Galen Rupp.
The strategy started after the halfway point, reached in 13:48.00, and it was Gebrselassie asserting additional pace on the part of the Ethiopian squad. Tadese continued to push the pace, hoping to take some sting out of Bekele's usual blistering kick, and he thinned the pack to eight: three Kenyans, three Ethiopians and two Eritreans.
With 5 laps remaining, it was Kenya's Micah Kogo who took the lead from Tadese, then Moses Masai, these two the strongest of the three Kenyans. At 9000 meters, it was still an uncomfortably large pack of six, with Masai and Kogo leading Bekele and Gebrselassie. Mathathi got back in contact to make it seven men at the bell, but that's when Bekele took off.
Every time Sihine attempts to cover one of Bekele's kicks, he hangs on a little longer, but the result is always the same: Bekele breaks clear on the backstretch and sails down the homestretch alone. He would become only the second track athlete of these Games to defend a title from Athens. Sihine trailed in at 27:02.77, then Kogo and Masai both arrived in 27:04.11, the tie to be broken in favor of Kogo for the bronze medal. Tadese's wild kick could only get him fifth.
With both Rupp and Abdirahman sticking to the pack until quite late, things looked relatively good for Team USA, and Rupp indeed picked up in the second half, though not to the degree of the 13:40/13:20 negative split run by Bekele. He finished 13th in 27:36.99. "It was a comfortable pace until the last couple of miles when they really picked it up," said Rupp. "I stayed on the inside and didn't make any crazy moves."
Abdirahman was just two places back in 15th (27:52.53). "It was a good race, but I couldn't get my rhythm," explained the three-time Olympian. "I didn't get the good, long run I wanted."
The third member of Team USA was Jorge Torres, who was 25th in 28:13.93.
Olympic Games: Beijing
National Stadium / "Bird's Nest"
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Men's 10,000m Final
1) Kenenisa Bekele (ETH), 27:01.17*, Gold
2) Sileshi Sihine (ETH), 27:02.77, Silver
3) Micah Kogo (KEN), 27:04.11, Bronze
4) Moses Ndiema Masai (KEN), 27:04.11
5) Zersenay Tadese (ERI), 27:05.11
6) Haile Gebrselassie (ETH), 27:06.68
7) Martin Irungu Mathathi (KEN), 27:08.25
8) Ahmad Hassan Abdullah (QAT), 27:23.75
9) Fabiano Joseph Naasi (TAN), 27:25.33
10) Boniface Kiprop Toroitich (UGA), 27:27.28
U.S. results
13) Galen Rupp (USA), 27:36.99
15) Abdi Abdirahman (USA), 27:52.53
25) Jorge Torres (USA), 28:13.93
*Olympic record (previous record, 27:05.10, Kenenisa Bekele (ETH), Athens 2004)
Complete results, starts lists, daily schedule and more at: IAAF.org.
Ryan Lamppa, Running USA Media Director
(805) 696-6232; Fax = (805) 659-0016
Ryan@RunningUSA.org
www.RunningUSA.org.
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