Bekele 5000

By Len Johnson

When Kenenisa Bekele defeated Bernard Lagat in the 5000 metres to complete the distance double on the final day of the world championships, it was a case of a man who tried to win the gold medal in the last 100 metres (Lagat) being beaten by a man whose aim was to control the race all the way (Bekele).

Bekele has worked hard to become an overnight sensation. He tried unsuccessfully to double at the Paris 2003 world championships and the Athens Olympic Games. On the first occasion, a teenaged Kenyan named Eliud Kipchoge got through virtually under Bekele's shoulder to take the race from him and hicham El Guerrouj on the line. In Athens, it was El Guerrouj who made a long drive for home that Bekele could not quite withstand.

Now, Bekele has completed distance doubles at successive championships, in Beijing at last year's Olympics and now again in Berlin. It says something of this latest triumph that he was never more than a step in front at any time, yet, a moment when Lagat briefly headed him in the final straight aside, he always appeared to be the winner.

It was always a case of Bekele versus the rest. How do you take the race off this man? A minimum requirement, in my view, is that you have to take the initiative away from him. This never happened in the Olympiastadion.

Bekele led at a slow pace early, injected the first fast lap with a 61-second effort coming up to 2000 metres, and kept on nagging away at his opponents to remind them that he was still there. No need: surely they would have noticed.

Lagat, as is his wont, played the role of master tactician. Always poised, yet never striking until the final moment. Lagat as matador, if you like, there to make the kill. It seemed he might have done it when he got to the front off the final bend. But, in a manner reminiscent of El Guerrouj fighting back to beat Lagat after being headed in the final straight of the Olympic 1500 in Athens, Bekele fought his way back into the lead and won by a stride in 13:17.09.

One measure of Bekele's superiority was that there were seven others within a little over three seconds. Yet there only ever appeared to be one winner.

Before the 61-second fifth lap, the Kenyan trio of Kipchoge, Joseph Ebuya and Vincent Chepkok showed in the lead. Bekele slipped effortlessly out of a box and zoomed back into the lead as if to say it was not going to be this easy to get rid of him.

Whenever any other runner led, Bekele would take the lead back, usually with a brief surge to erode a bit more energy _ and hope _ from his opponents. No-one, not Lagat, not eventual bronze medallist James Kwalia C'Kurui of Qatar (via Kenya), not Kipchoge or a Kenyan teammate, made a sustained effort to wrest the race away from the Ethiopian.

Eventually, Lagat got a stride in front in the final straight, but Bekele fought back to regain the lead and win by a stride in 13:17.09.

After the race, Bekele was inevitably asked about his fellow world championships doubler, Usain Bolt. His reply was both sensible and sensitive at the same time. The sport benefited from having a high-profile star in a high-profile event, he answered, but the sport should not forget it was also critical to promote other athletes in other events.

The 15 other finalists in the world championships 5000 metres needed no such reminder.

 

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