The last, of course, sums up Aussie reaction to the fall which cost Sally Pearson US$40,000 and an undefeated season.

There were highlights aplenty around the letter ‘B’ without having to worry about the other 25 letters of the alphabet.

The main questions were: Bekele – back or B-A-C-K; Blake – wow! Did he really run that; and Bolt – can he beat Blake at London 2012 once his younger colleague has another year’s development.

Like everybody else, I was initially flummoxed as to how Kenenisa Bekele could run a world-lead 26:43.16 in Brussels just 19 days after stepping off the track 15 laps into the world championships 10,000 metres in Daegu.

It didn’t seem possible, even for one professing the ‘winning is everything’ ethos of Bekele. Indeed, so strongly does the Ethiopian superstar hold to that belief that he re-defined his ‘loss’ in Daegu.

“I don't count it a as a defeat because I didn't finish the race; I still feel I have a 100% record at 10,000m,” Bekele said at a pre-Brussels press conference. “I know that I went there (Daegu) without a lot of good training behind me but I went because sometimes surprises can happen.”

Given that he said much the same thing when Zersenay Tadese snapped his string of consecutive world cross-country titles in Mombasa in 2007 (Bekele also failed to finish there), we can only conclude that ‘King Kenny’ processes both oxygen and thought in a profoundly different way to the rest of us.

(Declaration of interest here: I’ve got to go with the (majority) view that a ‘dnf’ counts as a loss. One of my few claims to fame is undefeated records over both Waldemar Cierpinski (2-0) at marathon and Miruts Yifter (1-0) at half-marathon.

Looking for a possible answer, I went back to my race notes from the Daegu 10,000. The pace for the first 5000 metres was 13:52.51 – with pretty well no variation other than a 61.56 fourth lap from Tadese when he first took the lead and a sub-65 twelfth lap after the pace had dropped to 67s again.

Even that second surge had an impact on Bekele who was running in the pack, but a little further back than you would expect. He eventually covered it, but only after allowing a little gap to develop which he then had to work hard to close. The very next surge – a 63.73 fifteenth lap led by who else but Tadese – prompted his early exit.

Now, I didn’t see the Brussels race live, but I suspect it was even-paced. For a start, Tadese wasn’t in it; for another thing, it was paced, and rabbits don’t get their carrots if the pace is all over the place.

The splits – 13:26.63/13:16.53 - reflect this. Taking out the last lap – around 57 seconds – it was basically 24 laps at 64.5, followed by a sprint home.

This could explain Bekele’s seemingly inexplicable improvement from Daegu to Brussels. Our view of the world championships race was coloured by several factors and assumptions chiefly that Bekele wouldn’t be there if he were not capable of winning; that he came in with an undefeated record at the distance, including four world championships and two Olympic titles; and that he was the world record holder.

Stripped of those assumptions, did we really see anything in Daegu to suggest he could not have run 25 laps at 64-65 seconds per lap. Conversely, did we see anything in Brussels to suggest he is again capable of running the sort of race he could not 19 days earlier.

That is why it might be safe to say Kenenisa Bekele is back, if not yet B-A-C-K. Given the incentive of an unprecedented third Olympic gold medal at the distance, though, he may well be by July next year.

Yohan Blake’s triumph in the 100 metres in Daegu was inevitably diminished by the disqualification of Usain Bolt. Given Bolt had won the two previous global championships in world records, that is hardly surprising.

Blake’s 19.26 over 200 in Brussels, however, upstaged everything else including Bekele and Bolt’s world lead 9.76 in the 100.

A few points, however. First, Blake chose the favourable lane seven in light of his self-professed difficulty on the bend – “I’m not a good turner,” as he put it. He’ll either need to become a ‘good turner’ or get used to a tighter lane if he is to challenge Bolt in London. The only way he will get lane seven in a championship final is if he engineers his way into the slower four qualifiers.

Second, conditions may have been helpful. The tailwind was 0.7 metres per second, but that is in the straight. It may have been stronger on the bend (equally, it may not!).

Third, Walter Dix was second in both races. The American finished 0.30 behind Bolt at the world championships, but only 0.26 behind Blake. He ran 19.70 in Daegu, 19.53 in Brussels. Give Bolt the 0.30 margin over Dix in Brussels and he ‘runs’ 19.23. So, all things being equal, Bolt remains ahead of Blake – but only just.

The stage has been set for an exciting match-up between training partners Bolt and Blake in London – not to mention at the Jamaican championships some weeks before that. It is to be hoped Bolt v Blake v Powell v ‘the rest of Jamaica’ does not follow the same path as Bolt v Gay v Powell.

The 100 metres is simple. Bang! Get to the other end as quick as you can. There are minor tactical considerations in jumps and throws – deciding which heights to attempt in the vertical jumps, for example – but it’s still basically jump as high, or far, as you can; throw as far as you can.

Not so the distance events which, by their nature, take time to unfold. Even on those rare occasions when some brave soul opts to run as fast as they can, as long as they can, there is still the question of whether he or she can go the distance.

As with the race, so with the 2011 season. Change is in the air as hitherto seemingly invincible practitioners appear suddenly vulnerable. Can they hold off those banging at the gates for one more year, or will new champions emerge. How will it all unfold.

In both Beijing 2008 and Berlin 2009, Kenenisa Bekele ruthlessly dispatched all challengers to his domination of the men’s track distances. He won the 5000/10,000 metres double on both occasions – the longer distance with relative ease, the shorter with tactically complete performances.

Tirunesh Dibaba was not as dominant on the women’s side – she did not run in Berlin at all – but has been the pre-eminent performer in women’s distance events, winning the 5/10 double at the Beijing Olympic Games and Helsinki 2005 world championships, and one gold medal at every championships (except the 2004 Olympics) since Paris 2003.

With six weeks until the world championships open (with the two 10,000s on the first two days), neither is an assured participant in Daegu, though Bekele at least has assured entry as a dual defending champion. The fortunes of Bekele and Dibaba will be another element of the unfolding drama over the next few weeks.

The apparent decline of the ruling generation goes beyond these two. Many of the strongest challengers are also likely to be absent or are in questionable form.

Meseret Defar, Dibaba’s Ethiopian arch-rival, has had a patchy time of it though she, at least, looks to be building into some form, with a sub-14:30 5000 at the Paris DL followed by a 31:05 10,000 in Sicily.

Like Dibaba, though, Defar does not look the irresistible force she has been.

Elvan Abeylegesse, the former Ethiopian now running for Turkey, is another who is sidelined. She is expecting a child. Abeylegesse’s aggression in her ultimately unsuccessful attempt to thwart Dibaba in the Olympic 10,000 produced one of the most unforgettable contests of the Beijing Olympics.

Vivian Cheruiyot (5000) and Linet Masai (10,000) are the reigning world champions and the Kenyan pair are both likely to be formidable in Daegu. Cheruiyot is saying she would like to attempt the double.

On the men’s side, Sileshi Sihine, number two to Bekele in so many races, is not at his top. Two others to have challenged Bekele – Eritrea’s Zersenay Tadese and Uganda’s Moses Kipsiro – are sidetracked. Kipsiro has suffered from malaria and typhoid, though he still plans to compete in Daegu. Tadese seems to be torn between the track and the roads. All three of these athletes have solid current track times, but don’t seem to be the forces they were.

The other intriguing possibility opened up by the current situation is that a non-African runner could step up. Mo Farah – Somali born but raised in Britain – Galen Rupp and Matt Tegenkamp are all among the possible men’s 10,000 medallists. Shalane Flanagan is a threat in the women’s 10,000.

Flanagan (Beijing 2008) and Kara Goucher (Osaka 2007) have already been bronze medallists at 10,000, but neither was a factor in deciding the race. The exciting thing about 2011 is that, for the first time since Craig Mottram in the Helsinki 2005 5000 or Paula Radcliffe in women’s 10,000 before that, we are looking at a non-African runner being right in the winning mix.

 Farah has undoubtedly stepped up a level since moving to the US to train with Rupp, and others, under Alberto Salazar. His closing speed in running the fastest 10,000 of the year (at the Pre Classic) and winning the 5000 at the Birmingham DL was most impressive.

Rupp is yet to impose himself on an international race in similar fashion but, three years younger than Farah, gives every impression that he soon will.

For a different reason – injury, in his case – Mottram may still be a year away from 2005 form, but he, too, is showing every sign of getting back into contention for Daegu and London.

Flanagan showed her class in taking a bronze medal behind Cheruiyot and Masai at the world cross-country in Punta Umbria earlier this year. She also showed her development, as the previous year she had not been able to put herself right in the race.

At the US championships, Flanagan ran from the front in finishing comfortably ahead of Goucher. It seems she is a good chance to take a medal again in Daegu.

Whatever happens, there is a lot more drama to unfold in the track distance races yet.

Here is the news on Kenenisa Bekele: he remains motivated, he wants to keep on improving, he is enjoying his running.

This is very good news indeed _ if you are a distance running fan. This is very bad news indeed if you happen to be a world-class distance runner.

Tonight, Kenenisa Bekele won his fourth straight world championships 10,000 metres gold medal, matching the feat of his predecessor, Haile Gebrselassie. He has also won both Olympic 10,000s in the same period. That's every major 10,000 gold medal every year since 2003.

He is, it appears, unbeatable. One man who should know is Zersenay Tadese, who ended Bekele's run of five successive world cross-country titles in Mombasa two years ago, but has been unable to do the same on the track.

Tadese has been Paul Tergat to Bekele's Gebrselassie. No matter how hard he tries he cannot beat him on the track. And how he has tried. In Athens 2004, in Helsinki 2005, in Osaka 2007, in Beijing 2008 and now in Berlin 2009. Only in Osaka did he come remotely close.

After tonight's race, Tadese said he was happy with second. This was his first silver medal in a world championships. As often as he has been the last man beaten by Bekele, he has not been the next man home behind the Ethiopian great.

As gently as he could, Bekele told him after the race that it was not possible to lead all the way. "You can't win from the beginning. It's very difficult, maybe you can dream it, but you can't."

Tadese was clearly thinking about what his rival said, but he still persisted that trying harder had got him the silver medal. "For Osaka I was fourth, here I was second for the first time, maybe because I pushed the pace."

Moses Masai, the brother of women's 10,000 winner Linet Masai, took the bronze medal and the Asafa Powell line. Injury had not allowed him to get to Berlin in shape to beat Bekele. Nor could he pull off his part of the sister-brother 10k double some romantics dreamed of.

As he pointed out, though, most families don't even do as well. "My sister did better than me, but I tried a lot to (win), but I could not. This guy was too strong. In a family, to get gold and bronze is a good thing."

Which leaves only Bekele's status alongside Gebrselassie. Approaching 37, he suggested, Gebrselassie was unlikely to add further championship laurels. Just turned 27, however, he had more time.

"I have the chance to prove myself even more."

Which suggests that Tadese and every other distance runner will be scratching their heads at trying to beat Bekele at 10km for some time yet.

Statistically, this was the best championship ever, with Bekele setting a championship record 26:46.31 (13:06 second 5000) and Tadese and Masai also under 27 minutes. When Bekele set the previous championship record in Paris in 2003, Gebrselassie was the only other sub-27.

The other distance event of the night, the women's steeple, produced a classic race. It was won by Spain's Marta Dominguez, a noted big kicker, but don't think it was decided in classic sit-and-kick manner.

No, seven women were in contention at the bell, and these seven, plus Jenny Barringer of the USA who was charging home, remained at least notionally potential winners at the water jump. There has probably never been a bigger mass splashdown in steeplechase history!

Dominguez dug in and scooted clear up the straight, but she had to go all the way to the line to hold off Russia's Yuliya Zarudneva and Milcah Cheywa of Kenya. Like the women's 10k, this has set a high standard for the men's race to match.






 

Len Johnson was The Melbourne Age athletics writer for over 20 years, covering five Olympics, 10 world championships and five Commonwealth Games. He is the author of The Landy Era, From Nowhere to the Top of the World, and a former national class distance runner (2.19.32 marathon) who trained with Chris Wardlaw and Robert de Castella.

1500m - Athens Olympics Women's Final

Age: 23
Coach: Fira Dvoskina
Achievements: Three time Australian Champion 2007-2009, World University Games finalist 2007, second fastest Australian of all time and NSW record holder.
PB: 13.55

"I started athletics at the age of 6, competing for a little athletics club in Canberra. I had never even considered hurdling, until I stumbled across it by accident. I accidentally entered in the 60m hurdles instead of the 100m flat. In the end I decided to give it a go for a bit of fun. It was a lucky decision because I ended up winning the race, then the regionals, and a few weeks after that I won the State Championships in a new Australian record; and since then I have never looked back!

I met my current coach Fira Dvoskina when I was 15. One of the most important and successful things about Fira's training at that early stage was that she wanted to develop me as an athlete over a long period, rather than trying to rush things and burn me out when I was young. My breakthrough season was the summer of 2006/07. I had been training really consistently all winter, and my first race of the season I ran a big personal best to crack 14 seconds (13.93). I went on to win the nationals that year in 13.55, which was the 2nd fastest time in history. My time was also an A-qualifier for the World Championships, but unfortunately because I had only run the one qualifier the selectors used their discretion and decided not to pick me on the team. This was obviously disappointing, but it only made me hungrier to reproduce that time and prove them wrong.

I won the nationals again in 2008 in 13.72s, which was a B-qualifying time for the Beijing Olympics. A month later I ran another B-qualifier of 13.64s at a GP in Hirsoshima, Japan, but again I was denied a spot on the Australian team for the Beijing Olympics after the selectors used their discretion. Unfortunately at the end of 2008 I developed a stress fracture. I needed to have 3 months off training, which extended half way through the 2008/09 domestic season. I managed to find some form in a very short amount of time, and did enough to win the Nationals in March this year. I have qualified for the World University Games in Serbia in July, which I am currently preparing for. I am training very well at the moment and am hoping to medal at these championships.

My aims for the future are to make the Commonwealth Games final in 2010, and then to make the final at the London 2012 Olympics. I am more motivated now than ever to train hard and compete well, so I am really looking forward to a few big years to come!"

'I am more motivated now than ever to train hard and compete well, so I am really looking forward to a few big years to come!"'
Justin Merlino

© 2008 The Runner's Tribe, all rights reserved.

"He is not Jesus Christ because he can't walk on water. But on land, no one can beat Kenenisa Bekele" - Jos Hermans, Manager. 

It must be true that legends help create legends. If it wasn't for Abebe Bikila, Haile Gebrselassie may still be "a farmer in the hills of Arsi", and if it wasn't for Gebrselassie then perhaps a man by the name of Kenenisa Bekele would never have been inspired to begin running. Just how many young runners are out there pounding around the streets and tracks throughout Africa, with big dreams of being the next Bekele? Only the years will tell. But the message to these youngsters is pretty clear: dream big, work hard and anything may happen.

We catch up with Kenenisa breifly during a training phase as he prepares for his 2009 onslaught.

RunnersTribe: Kenenisa, thanks for your time. How is your health and injury status going?

Kenenisa Bekele: At the moment, I am in full training. I had a slight injury at the end of 2008, but I didn't lose too much time and it is going very well. I am feeling good.

RT: What are you up to at the moment? And can you tell us a little bit about your 2009 racing schedule?

KB: The schedule for the summer season 2009 is not clear yet.

RT: You have had so many highlights in your short career to date. Do you have a personal favorite moment or race?

KB: Winning the double cross country in France after the death of my fiancée Alem in 2005. And of course the double in Beijing.

RT: The world has watched with amazement as Haile Gebrselassie has re-written the world record books for the marathon. Do you see yourself switching to the marathon sometime in the future and trying to better his times and performances?

KB: I would like to run the marathon one day. Probably after the London Olympics. But the switch will not be so easy. Of course I would like to better the world record for the marathon, but I think that the world record will surely be faster after 2012 than it is now. I will have to run much faster.

RT: What's your relationship with Haile like?

KB: We respect each other a lot. Haile inspired me to begin running. I am not focusing on Haile's career or records. We just both want to be the best long distance runner ever, so we will clash sometimes.