English
Beijing 2008: Kenenisa Bekele doubles up
BEIJING–Kenenisa Bekele added to his long list of laurels with another dominant victory.
Bekele became the first man to complete the Olympic distance double since 1980 when the Ethiopian ran away with the 5,000-meter title Saturday night at the Beijing Games.
Bekele won by nearly five seconds in 12 minutes 57.82 seconds, eclipsing the Olympic record of 13:05.59 set by Morocco’s Said Aouita in 1984.
“This is very special for myself and my country,” Bekele said. “It was a fantastic day for me. I’m happy to achieve this performance.”
Kenyans took the next two places, with Eliud Kipchoge finishing second in 13:02.80 and Edwin Cheruiyot Soi third in 13:06.22.
Kenyan-born American Bernard Legat, who won the world title last year in Osaka in Bekele’s absence, finished well back in ninth in 13:26.89.
Bekele, who won the 10,000 last Sunday, achieved the first double since compatriot Miruts Yifter did it in 1980 and the seventh overall. Finland’s Lasse Viren did it twice.
Bekele considered the 5,000 the more challenging of the two races.
“The 5,000 is a very difficult race,” he said. “I came from the 10,000 final and the 5,000 semifinal, it was so hard. I lost so much energy from those races.”
Bekele, the world record-holder in both the 5,000 and 10,000, came close to achieving the feat four years earlier in Athens, but lost a fierce duel to the tape to Hicham El Guerrouj, who completed a rare 1,500-5,000 double himself.
“Maybe that time I was so young, maybe I made some mistakes, many things,” Bekele said. “Now I’m very strong, I’m thinking more about the race, that is why I achieved [what I did] tonight.”
On the final full day of events, Belgium’s Tia Hallebaut pulled off one of the biggest surprises of the meet when she defeated world champion Blanka Vlasic of Croatia in the women’s high jump.
Hallebaut cleared 2.05 meters on her first attempt and won the gold when Vlasic needed two tries to get over the same height. Russia’s Anna Chicherova finished third at 2.03.
“I still don’t believe it,” said Hallebaut, a former heptathlete who gave up the event when she injured her shoulder. “I never expected to beat Blanka because for almost one year she has been unbeatable.
“But it is always nice to be at your best at big championships.”
Hallebaut, who, like men’s hurdles champ Dayron Robles, competes while wearing glasses, ended Vlasic’s 34-meet win streak and became the first Belgian woman to win an Olympic athletics gold.
Vlasic, the 2007 world champion, had to settle for her second straight Olympic silver.
Vlasic had been leading the competition by clearing 1.99, 2.01 and 2.03 on her first attempts–heights that Hallebaut made on second tries.
In other events, Kenya picked up two gold medals when Wilfred Bungei won the men’s 800, and Nancy Langat followed with a victory in the women’s 1,500.
Bungei, fifth in Athens and at the 2007 worlds in Osaka, won in 1:44.65, while Kenya also picked up the bronze as Alfred Yego finished third in 1:44.82.
Ismail Ahmed Ismail gave Sudan its first-ever Olympic medal when he won the silver in 1:44.70.
“I won a medal at the African championships, but this medal is bigger,” Ismail said. “I’m very happy.”
The women’s 1,500 was missing world leader Yelena Soboleva, who was one of seven Russians banned for doping on the eve of the Olympics.
That opened the door for Langat to win in a career-best 4:00.23, with Ukraine’s Iryna Lischynska placing second in 4:01.63 and compatriot Nataliya Tobias third in 4:01.78.
In the men’s javelin, Norway’s Andreas Thorkildsen, the defending champion who finished second in Osaka, retained his title with an Olympic-record toss of 90.57 meters.
World champion Tero Pitkamaki had to settle for the bronze when his throw of 86.16 left him 48 centimeters behind Latvia’s Ainars Kovals in second.
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U.S. sweeps relay golds
The United States, who conceded superiority to Jamaica in the sprints, remained dominant in the 4×400 relays–although the women cut it close.
The men’s team, anchored by Jeremy Wariner, was never challenged in winning in an Olympic record 2:55.39.
LaShawn Merritt, Angelo Taylor and David Neville combined with Wariner to break the former record of 2:55.74, set by the U.S. in 1992.
It was also the second-fastest time in history after the 2:54.29 run by the U.S. at the 1993 world championships.
Merritt, Wariner and Neville had swept the 400 while Taylor won the 400 hurdles.
“We wanted to run as a team, it wasn’t about individuals today,” Wariner said. “Earlier I was asked if I used this to redeem myself in the open, and that’s nothing at all. It’s a team relay. We all just went out ran our hardest.”
The Bahamas finished well back in second in 2:58.03, while Russia won the bronze in 2:58.06.
In the women’s race, U.S. anchorwoman Sanya Richards got the baton in second, but outran Russia’s Anastasia Kapachinskaya to win in 3:18.54.
“Finally I got a chance to be the chaser and have some fun,” Richards said. “I love a challenge, it was a little exciting.”
Russia placed second in 3:18.82 and Jamaican added another medal to its haul by placing third in 3:20.40.
Richards had finished third in the 400 and Allyson Felix second in the 200, and the relay helped salve those wounds.
“I told Allyson before the race, ‘We didn’t come this far not to get a gold,’” Richards said.Subscribe=>
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