Thanks for the memories, Haile Gebrselassie!
Our favourite runner came fifth last night, proving that one doesn't always have to finish first to be regarded as a hero here. Haile Gebrselassie didn't win Olympic gold in the 10,000 metres final in Athens but the "Emperor in Ethiopia", as he's known for his 17 world championship titles, has left us with lots of wonderful memories. Now, he's starting a new phase of his running career with a marathon in October in Amsterdam. It's his first step, he says, towards gold in the marathon in the 2008 Games in Peking.
Gebrselassie's two Olympic 10,000 metres victories in 1996 and 2000 put him on equal terms with three of the greatest distance runners of the last century. The first was Paavo Nurmi, the Flying Finn, who won in 1920 and 1928. The second was Emil Zatopek, the Czech who triumphed in London in 1948 and in Helsinki four years later. And the third was another Finn, Lasse Viren, who won in Munich in 1972 and again in 1976 in Montreal.
But it was his second Olympic gold that has gone down in history. He won it during the greatest night of athletics ever staged. Cathy Freeman's 400 metres victory would by itself have been enough for a crowd of 112,000 Aussies in Sydney. But they also witnessed Michael Johnson's unprecedented second 400 metres win, Jonathan Edwards's triple-jump victory, Maria Mutola's first gold medal in the 800 metres, and finally the most exciting 10,000 metres race of all time. Kenyan Paul Tergat led as they entered the final straight, but Gebrselassie edged closer with every stride and finally pushed ahead to take the gold by 0.9 seconds. The vast stadium erupted.
Back to last night's race, which was run, sadly, in what appeared to be a half-empty stadium. It ended in the coronation of a new champion from Ethiopia, Kenenisa Bekele. The 22-year-old setting an Olympic record of 27 minutes, 5.10 seconds. His countryman Sileshi Sihine won the silver and bronze went to Zersenay Tadesse of Eritrea. In a very moving gesture, Bekele and Sihine then ran a victory lap, sharing the Ethiopian flag with their two-time defending gold medalist teammate, Gebrselassie, who entered the race with an injured Achilles' tendon and had not been able to train for two weeks.
And what a worthy successor to the "Emperor" the young Bekele is. He has already broken Gebrselassie's world records in the 5,000 and 10,000 meters and last night he rocketed around the final lap in 53 seconds, a time most 400 metre runners would be thrilled with. Amazing. All hail the boy Emperor! Long live the old Emperor!
Comments
Hi, my name is Mekedes Gemchu and i am 19 years old female and i live in London. I just wanna give comment to Haile he is wonderful mn and i think he is a bit old and tyerd now and what i wanna say is he can just stop doing this now cos i know how much he is tyred that all thanks bye!!!
Posted by: Mekedes Gemechu | September 23, 2004 12:51 PM