The Hindu : Sport : Bekele completes distance ‘double’

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Bekele completes distance ‘double’

Kamesh Srinivasan

Thorkildsen nails Olympic record in javelin; U.S. sweeps longer relays

The U.S. men’s relay team was two seconds clear of second-placed Bahamas
Kenyans Wilfred Bungei and Nancy Jebet Lagat make it a memorable evening

— Photo: AFP

JOY OF WINNING: Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele celebrates winning the men’s 5,000m gold.

BEIJING: Kenenisa Bekele was too good for the rest as he added the 5000m gold in an Olympic record 12 minutes 57.82 seconds, to the 10,000m he won earlier, to emerge the undisputed king over the distance events.

Meanwhile, the U.S. salvaged some prestige by bagging both the longer relay gold medals, as the curtains came down on the track and field events in the Olympic Games at the Bird’s Nest here on Saturday.

In capturing the second gold, the 26-year-old Bekele, who was more than five seconds quicker than the former world champion Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya, became the second Ethiopian after Miruts Yifter (Moscow, 1980) to perform the double.

“I expected to win the gold, but I lost it and he was faster,” conceded Kipchoge who had taken the bronze in Athens behind Hicham el Guerrouj of Morocco and Bekele.

After his younger brother Tariku Bekele set the pace by leading till the half-way mark, Bekele surged ahead to cruise home unchallenged.

Bernard Lagat of the U.S., had another disappointment as he finished ninth with a 13:26.89. He had failed to qualify for the 1500m final. The Kenya-born American had won both 1500 and 5000 at the last World championships in Osaka.

Making amends

After the mishap in the shorter relay, the Americans were keen to set the record straight and gather the expected gold medals in the longer relays that would reduce the big gap with China in the overall medals tally.

Sanya Richards ran a superb anchor to overtake Russian Anastasiya Kapachinskaya over the last 15 metres. The Russians had gone into the lead on the last lap, but Richards was ready at the finish.

Jeremy Wariner was a class act in the anchor in the men’s relay after LaShawn Merritt had set a hectic pace in the opening leg. While the American women won the gold with a 0.28 seconds margin, the men set an Olympic record 2:55.39 and left the second-placed Bahamas more than two seconds behind. The U.S. team erased its own mark of 2:55.74 set in Barcelona in 1992.

There was another Olympic record for defending champion Andreas Thorkildsen of Norway, as he sent the javelin sailing to 90.57m.

It beat Czech Jan Zelezny’s record of 90.17 set in Sydney in 2000. Ainars Kovals (86.64) of Latvia and world champion Tero Pitkamaki (86.16) of Finland came up with their best throws on the last attempt to claim the lesser medals.

It was a memorable evening for Kenya, as Wilfred Bungei ran hard throughout to win the men’s 800m gold, while Nancy Jebet Lagat came up with a brilliant finish to take the 1500m gold with a personal best, that left world champion and favourite Maryam Yusuf Jamal of Bahrain stranded in fifth place.

Jamal was leading till the home straight and she could not react when Lagat flew past her.

Jamal had made her move too early, from about 500m, and by the time she neared the finish, she was left with nothing, allowing three others to pass her.

“It is a great evening for Kenyans. We came here not knowing what we could do,” said Bungei.

Ismail Ahmed Ismail (1:44.70) provided Sudan with its first medal, the silver behind Bungei, while Kenyan Alfred Kirwa Yego, storming through the last 50m from his sixth position, claimed the bronze.

Hellebaut on a high

In the women’s high jump, the bespectacled Tia Hellebaut of Belgium won the gold with a national record 2.05 metres.

World champion and hot favrourite Blanka Vlasic of Croatia had to settle for the silver over the same height, as she had needed a second attempt to clear it. Anna Chicherova of Russia won the bronze 2cm ahead of defending champion Elena Slesarenko of Russia.

With just the marathon to run on Sunday, the U.S. led the athletics table with seven gold, nine silver and seven bronze medals. Russia and Jamaica had six gold medals each, while Kenya and Ethiopia were equally well placed with four gold medals each.

Undisputed hero

Usain Bolt of Jamaica, was of course, the undisputed hero with three golds and two individual world records and he also had a share in the sprint relay world record that his team set on Friday.

There were two other world records by the Russian women — Gulnara Galkina-Samitova (3,000m steeplechase) and Yelena Isinbayeva (pole vault).

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