User:CipherSleuth/sandbox

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In August 2001, Kenenisa set a 3000 metres world junior record by running 7:30.67 minutes in Brussels. The record lasted for three and a half years, being broken by Augustine Choge with a run of 7:28.78 minutes.

Early life and junior competition[edit]

Kenenisa Bekele was born in 1982 in Bekoji in the Arsi Zone of Ethiopia, the same town as several other prominent long-distance runners, including the Dibaba sisters (Ejegayehu, Tirunesh and Genzebe) and their cousin Derartu Tulu.[1] Kenenisa was born the second child to parents who made a living as barley farmers, along with three brothers and two sisters.[2][3] The family practiced Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity.[2]

Kenenisa initially aspired to a career in medicine, education, or the civil service.[4] He began to train seriously in running with the encouragement of a physical education teacher, while drawing inspiration from the success of Derartu Tulu and Haile Gebrselassie.[4] Kenenisa achieved his first medals at an international competition with second place finishes in both the 3000 metres of the 1999 World Youth Championships and the 5000 metres of the 2000 World Junior Championships.[5] He won his first gold medal in the junior race of the 2001 World Cross Country Championships.[5][6] In August 2001, Kenenisa set a 3000 metres world junior record by running 7:30.67 minutes in Brussels. The record lasted for three and a half years, until it was broken by Augustine Choge.[7] His success in running enabled him to purchase a house and to help fund his siblings' educations.[8]

Running Career[edit]

2001 – 2003: Word titles in cross county and 10000 metres[edit]

In the early 2001, Kenenisa won the Cross Country U20 Race at the 29th IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Ostende, Belgium. The following year, he won both the long (12.3 km) and short course (4.1 km) at the 2001 World Cross Country Championship in Dublin, Ireland. A writer for the The New York Times described the victory: "With his silken stride and demoralizingly easy motion, Bekele certainly didn't look weary".[9]

In 2003, he won the 10000m at the IAAF World Championships in Paris. This race featured a duel between Kenenisa and his compatriot, Haile Gebrselassie . Bekele won in a championship record, with Gegrasille coming second.[10] At the same championships, Bekele competed in the 5000 metres against Eliud Kipchoge and Hicham El Guerrouj. The race has captured the attention of many running fans as it featured a battle with these three runners, against Eliud Kipchoge, who went go onto set world records in the marathon, and Hicham El Guerrouj.[11][12]

The three legends — one present, two future — battled for 50 meters, El Guerrouj in lane 1, Kipchoge in lane 2, and Bekele a little further removed in lane 3. It became evident midway down the home straight that [Bekele] was outmatched in this kick.

— Johnathon Gault, writing for LetsRun.com

Bekele ended up finishing in third.

2004 - 2006[edit]

In 2004, Bekele broke the world records for the indoor 5000 m, outdoor 5000 m and outdoor 10,000 m (both in a timeframe of 9 days).[13] He won the short and long course world cross country titles, leading Ethiopia to the senior men's team title. He also won a gold medal in the men's 10,000 metres and a silver medal in the men's 5000 metres in the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens.[14]

2005 season[edit]

On 4 January 2005, Kenenisa's fiancée, 18-year-old Alem Techale, died of an apparent heart attack while on a training run with him. Although it was initially stated that no autopsy was performed, Alem's and Kenenisa's manager Jos Hermens later said that an autopsy had revealed nothing conclusive about Techale's death. She was the 2003 World Youth Champion in the 1500 metres and in excellent physical condition.[15]

Kenenisa competing in the 2006 Golden League.

He resumed racing on 29 January, and lost indoors over 3000 m to Ireland's Alistair Cragg after sprinting towards the line with one and a half laps to go, while thinking that there was only half a lap left.[16] A few weeks later he lost to fellow Ethiopian Markos Geneti over two miles.

In March, Kenenisa lined up to defend his long and short course titles at the 2005 IAAF World Cross Country Championships. He won on the short course despite a fast pace set by Qatari Saif Saaeed Shaheen, and followed that win with a long course victory the next day over Eritrean Zersenay Tadese and Kenyan rival Eliud Kipchoge.

On 8 August 2005, Kenenisa Bekele won the gold medal in the 10,000 m at the 2005 World Championships in Helsinki with a last 200 m spurt.[17] On 26 August 2005, Kenenisa set the 10,000 m world record 26:17.53 at the 29th Memorial Van Damme meeting in Brussels, slicing nearly three seconds off his previous world record 26:20.31, and running with 5000 m splits of 13:09 and 13:08 minutes.[18] The race saw 6 runners finishing in less than 27 minutes, with Sammy Wanjiru dipping in 26:41.75, a new world junior record. At the end of 2005 Kenenisa was voted the Track & Field News magazine athlete of the year for the second year in a row.[19]


Material for recap at end of 2006

For five years in a row, from 2002 (at the age of 19) through 2006, he took both short (4 km) and long (12 km) races at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships, a feat no other runner has accomplished even once.[20] After the IAAF eliminated the short course race in 2007, Kenenisa won a final long course race in 2008, bringing his World Cross Country medal totals to 11 senior individual gold medals (6 long course, 5 short course), 1 senior silver medal (2001), 1 junior gold medal (2001), 2 team gold medals (2004, 2005), 3 team silver medals (2002, 2003, & 2008), and 1 team bronze medal (2006) for a grand total of 19 medals.[21]

Kenenisa became known for his ability to accelerate very quickly at the end of a long-distance race; in Oslo in June 2003, he chased after Kenyan Abraham Chebii and won the race in 12:52.26.[21] He has faced fellow Ethiopian, Haile Gebrselassie, twice in road competition, once in cross country, and six times on the track. Haile defeated Kenenisa on the track in the 2000 Nurnberg 5000 metres, the 2001 Great Ethiopian Run 10 km, and the Cross de l'Acier in December 2001, but lost to Kenenisa in Hengelo 2003 over 10,000 m (26:53 to 26:54), Rome 2003 over 5000 m (12:57 to 13:00), Paris 2003 World Championships over 10,000 m (26:49 to 26:50), Athens 2004 Olympic Games (27:05 to 27:27), in the 10,000 m in the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games (27:01 to 27:06), and in the Great North Run half marathon in September 2013 (60:09 to 60:41).

  1. ^ Hattenstone, Simon (6 April 2012). The Ethiopian town that's home to the world's greatest runners Archived 25 October 2016 at the Wayback Machine. The Guardian. Retrieved 2 March 2020.
  2. ^ a b Rice, Xan (2005-10-01). "The tracks of his tears". The Gaurdian. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 2024-05-02.
  3. ^ McRae, Donald (2004-06-21). "Interview: Kenenisa Bekele". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-05-01.
  4. ^ a b Yohannes, Sabrina (2003-08-22). "Athletics : Another double beckons to Bekele". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-05-01.
  5. ^ a b "Bekele draws inspiration from previous winners". worldathletics.org. Retrieved 2024-05-02.
  6. ^ "IAAF World Cross Country Championships 2001 U20 Race Men". Archived from the original on 20 September 2017. Retrieved 19 September 2017.
  7. ^ IAAF, 17 November 2009: World Records ratified Archived 23 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ Gains, Paul (2003-09-01). "Kenenisa Bekele: Heir to the Throne". Runner's World. Retrieved 2024-05-01.
  9. ^ Clarey, Christopher (2002-03-25). "TRACK AND FIELD : A gold sweep for Ethiopian 'in a class of his own'". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-05-05.
  10. ^ "Bekele takes first step on Yifter's double path". worldathletics.org. Retrieved 2024-05-05.
  11. ^ Sports, Pulse (2023-07-14). "Eliud Kipchoge's 2003 exploits make it to list of 40 greatest World Championships moments". Pulse Sports Kenya. Retrieved 2024-05-05.
  12. ^ Turnbull, Simon (2023-08-31). "Two decades since Kipchoge defied all predictions in Paris | News | Heritage | World Athletics". worldathletics.org. Retrieved 2024-05-05.
  13. ^ "Kenenisa Bekele to take on Eliud Kipchoge at London Marathon 2020". BBC Sport. 17 January 2020. Archived from the original on 17 January 2020. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
  14. ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Kenenisa Bekele". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 2020-04-17. Retrieved 2 March 2020.
  15. ^ Rice, Xan (22 October 2005). The tracks of his tears Archived 2 March 2020 at the Wayback Machine. The Guardian. Retrieved 2 March 2020.
  16. ^ "Bekele error helps Cragg to victory". RTE.ie. 30 January 2005. Archived from the original on 30 January 2018. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
  17. ^ 2005 World Championships 10000 m final
  18. ^ "IAAF: Bekele pulverizes World 10,000m – TDK Golden League, Brussels| News | iaaf.org". iaaf.org. Archived from the original on 3 October 2018. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
  19. ^ Bekele and Isinbayeva also top Track and Field News poll Archived 8 March 2020 at the Wayback Machine. World Athletics (26 December 2005). Retrieved 2 March 2020.
  20. ^ Athletics: For Bekele, 5th straight double title Archived 2 March 2020 at the Wayback Machine. New York Times (2 April 2006). Retrieved 2 March 2020.
  21. ^ a b Kenenisa Bekele Archived 2 March 2020 at the Wayback Machine. World Athletics. Retrieved 2 March 2020.
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