Distance runner Kenenisa Bekele of Ethiopia added another chapter to his incredible career on Sunday at the world track and field championships, winning gold in the men’s 5,000-metre race to secure the same double he won in the 2008 Olympics.
Bekele, 27, controlled the pace for most of the race and withstood a Kenyan challenge mid-race and a furious charge around the final bend from American Bernard Lagat for the victory.
The two were sprinting side by side until Bekele found another gear and pulled away in the final 50 metres.
“It was a very hard race,” Bekele said. “I’ll never forget this race. I never made a double in the Olympics and world championships. I’m so happy.”
Bekele became the first Ethiopian to win 5,000 world championship gold. The Ethiopian finished the race in 13 minutes 17.09 seconds, while Lagat settled for silver with a time of 13:17.33. The American was elated with his performance, as he was running on a left ankle that had been sewn up with four stitches and numbed before the final.
“I didn’t know [if] I was going to run,” he said. “It is a huge cut.” Lagat suffered the injury when he was spiked in the qualifiers.
James Kwalia C’Kurui of Qatar won bronze.
Bekele won the 10,000m earlier in the meet. He took gold in both races during the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
His domination in the 5,000 and 10,000 is similar to Usain Bolt’s iron grip on the 100 and 200 — and Bekele has done it over a longer period of time.
The Ethiopian has won gold in the 10,000 in every major world meet (Olympics and worlds) since 2003, and is the reigning 5,000 champ since the 2008 Olympics. He also holds world records in both disciplines.
Natalia Rodríguez was disqualified after winning the women’s 1,500-metre final, handing Maryam Yusuf Jamal of Bahrain the gold medal.
Rodríguez, of Spain, made a charge down the backstretch during the final lap and bowled over leader Gelete Burka of Ethiopia while trying to squeeze through on the inside. Rodríguez crossed the line in first place but an official review came quickly.
The Spaniard also briefly stepped off the track after the collision. It took less than an hour for IAAF officials to overturn the result.
The battle for second was very close, and at the end of the day it turned out to be the race for gold.
Jamal narrowly clipped Great Britain’s Lisa Dobriskey at the line, finishing in 4:03.74, 1/100th of a second better than Dobriskey’s 4:03.75.
American Shannon Rowbury was bumped up to the bronze-medal position, finishing in 4:04.18.
The change in results probably won’t console Burka, who led most of the way and was in prime position for a medal, but finished in 11th after the collision. She collapsed in dismay after the race. Burka’s only gold medal in the 1,500 was during the 2008 world indoor championships.
Mulaudzi wins physical 800m
Mbulaeni Mulaudzi of South Africa survived a very physical men’s 800-metre final to win gold
He finished in one minute 45.29 seconds for the victory.
Mulaudzi made his move on the first turn during the bell lap, pulling in front of a pack filled with flying elbows and shoulder shoves.
The South African survived a serious challenge from American Nick Symmonds to maintain his lead, and in the final 50 metres Kenya’s Alfred Yego and Bahrain’s Yusuf Kamel emerged out of the pack to threaten Mulaudzi.
If the finish line was extended by a few metres, Yego and Kamel would have caught Mulaudzi, but he managed to hold on just long enough for the win and dipped at the finish line before collapsing in exhaustion.
Yego and Kamel finished in exactly 1:45.35, which was 4/100ths of a second slower than Mulaudzi. Yego nabbed silver when officials narrowed the times down to thousandths of a second.
