News Archive

Kenenisa Bekele has crowned a superb TDK Golden League spectacle in

Brussels. The Ethiopian broke his own 10,000 m world record at the 20th

Ivo van Damme Memorial in front of a capacity crowd of 48,000

spectators in the Stade Roi Baudouin. A year ago Kenenisa Bekele had

clocked 26:20.31 minutes in Ostrava. This time in Brussels the 23

year-old ran 26:17.53. 

Kenenisa’s brother Tariku played quite a part in the

world record race. The

18 year old paced the race until half way. After 13:09.19 minutes they reached

the 5,000 m mark. And shortly after that Kenenisa Bekele was on his own. Standing

ovations accompanied the Ethiopian during his world record hunt. In the end he

had to run a 60 seconds lap to break the world record. Kenenisa Bekele ran

57.09 seconds – the record was broken and the 1,60 m tall runner was celebrated

by the ecstatic crowd.

“Everything was perfect here today – the weather, the pacemakers, the crowd”,

said Kenenisa Bekele, who ended his season after his world record. Also

the times of the following runners were very good. Boniface Kiprop (Uganda)

was runner up in 26:39.77 minutes. That is the 12^th best time of all

times. Third place was taken by the Kenyan Samuel Wanjiru who established a new

junior world record with 26:41.75 minutes. The old mark was 27:04.00 minutes

(Kiprop).

Saif Saaeed Shaheen showed a sweeping world record hunt in the 3,000 m

steeplechase – even though he did not quite reach a new mark. The Quatari and

former Kenyan athlete was on his own shortly after the first half. In 5:16 minutes he passed

the 2,000 m mark and was on schedule to break his own world record of 7:53.63

minutes. But in the end he ran a 7:55.51 minutes. After all it was the third

best time ever. The runner up was Simon Vroemen (Netherland). He set a new

European record of 8:04.95 minutes. Third was Brahim Boulami (Morocco) in

8:07.48.

The high-class long distance events have a tradition in Brussels. So

there was also

a 5,000 m men’s race. Here it was Eliud Kipchoge (Kenya) who won scarcely 

in 12:50.22 minutes, just ahead of Abderrahim Goumri from Morocco (12:50.25)

and

world champion Benjamin Limo (Kenya/12:55.26).

The assumed world championships’ favourite at 1,500m, Daniel Komen, had failed

sensationally in the prelims in Helsinki. Now

the Kenyan showed his qualities. With a long sprint he won in 3:31.13 minutes and

beat the World Champion Rachid Ramzi (Bahrain/3:32.81). Ivan Heshko

(Ucraine/3:32.95) was third. „I knew that I was able to beat the World

Champion. I should have done it at the World Championships. Maybe it would have

been better to finish second here and first in Helsinki”,

said Daniel Komen.

The women’s 800 m was won the Spaniard Mayte Martinez with a strong finish in

2:00.66 ahead of Tatyana Andrianova (Russia/2:01.09) and Hazel Clark

(USA/2:01.15). In contrast to Helsinki,

where he was second, the Russian 800

m Olympic Champion Yuri Borzakovskiy timed his final sprint exact. In 1:44.54

he won scarcely ahead of Youssef Saad Kamel (Bahrain/1:44.58). Third was the

Canadian Gary Reed in 1:44.93.

The meeting had already started with a running highlight: The women’s 5,000 m

race was on world record pace. The pacemaker Olga Komyagina (Russia) was

leading the field to the 2,000 m mark in 5:45.13 minutes. The pace would have

been good to better the world record of the Turkish Elvan Abeylegesse (14:42.68).

But when the leading group had to run without the pacemaker nobody wanted to

take the initiative.

Therefore it was no world record at the end, but a new African record: the

Olympic Champion Meseret Defar (Ethiopia) ran

a speedy last of just over 60 seconds to beat fellow Ethiopian Berhane Adere. Defar

ran 14:28.98 minutes, Adere finished in 14:31.09. The third place was also

taken by an Ethiopian: Ejegayehu Dibaba ran 14:37.34. „During the race I never

looked at the time, I was just fighting. Therefore I am very happy to have run

the African record“, said Meseret Defar.