 Pressure to go the distance
(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-08-23 10:30
Ethiopian Kenenisa Bekele is going into the 5,000m final at the Bird's Nest today with vengeance on his mind. Bekele, 26, is a record holder who was beaten by a whisker to silver by Morocco's Hicham El-Guerrouj in the Athens Games in 2004. Also at stake for the Ethiopian is the chance to become the first man in 28 years to win the elusive long-distance running double at the Olympics. Bekele, who won his second consecutive 10,000m Olympic gold last Sunday, is seeking to emulate the double last achieved by compatriot Miruts Yifter in the 1980 Moscow Games. Contenders for the 5,000m title will likely include Qatar's Kenyan-born James Kwalia C'Kurui, who displayed his last-lap firepower in the qualifying heat. Another runner with something to prove will be Kenyan-born American Bernard Lagat, who has admitted that his failure to even make the 1,500m final in his own ambitious bid for a double will spur him on. "I missed the 1,500m so to win in the 5,000m is my only objective," he said. A strong field includes surprise American heat winner Matthew Tegenkamp, Kenyan duo Edwin Soi and Eliud Kipchoge, Bekele's younger brother Tariku and fellow Ethiopian Abreham Cherkos, Eritrean Kidane Tadesse and Moses Ndiema Kipsiro of Uganda. A similar showdown will be played out in the men's 800m today. The race will feature the current world gold and silver medalists, Alfred Kirwa Yego of Kenya and Canada's Gary Reed, but not defending champion Yuriy Borzakovskiy. The Russian failed to make the final of the two-lap event when fast-finishing Cuban Yeimer Lopez pipped him at the line in a sprint finish in the semifinals. South Africa's 2004 silver medalist Mbulaeni Mulauduzi also failed to make the final, while 19-year-old Sudanese prodigy Abubaker Kaki had a complete blowout as the world junior and world indoor champion finished last in his semifinal. Canada's Reed is taking all this in his stride. "I just told myself to be patient," Reed said. "I've just got to get ready for the final now, nothing else matters. It's going to be a dogfight." Agencies (China Daily 08/23/2008 page21) |
