Kenenisa Bekele of Ethiopia in action during the men's 3000m heats (© Getty Images)
The coming together of the words 'Moscow' and 'Athletics' for many Ethiopians creates a remembrance of Miruts Yifter's 5000m/10000m double victory at the 1980 Olympic Games.
Perhaps in Beijing
Now in the Russian capital for the 11th IAAF World Indoor Championships - qualification heat takes place this morning (Fri 10) - Ethiopia's current distance running sensation Kenenisa Bekele will be hoping to produce the same kind of headlines and memories, and add to his growing stature as one of the greatest runners in the history of athletics.
"What he (Yifter) did was incredible," Bekele had said two years ago. The 23-year old should know better than many how difficult it is to match his compatriot's achievement remembering his gold and silver winning performances over the 10,000m and 5000m respectively at the Olympic Games in 2004.
"Maybe in Beijing, I would like to accomplish what Yifter did," he said.
While Yifter's achievement is still remembered today as one of the greatest feats in the history of distance running, Bekele will be hoping to create his own history at the Olimpiysky Sport Palace starting Friday morning when lines up for the heats of the men's 3000m race.
No man or woman has won world titles over the three terrains of athletics -outdoor, indoor, and cross country - but the thought of accomplishing this magnificent achievement is already sending shivers down his spine.
"It would be a great accomplishment if I manage it," says Bekele. "I do not want to say anything before it happens, but I am excited about it."
Certainly, Bekele has all the right credentials for success in the Russian capital this weekend. He has won two World titles over the 10,000m, smashed World 5000m and 10,000m records, and won four short and long course double titles at the World Cross Country Championships.
But most importantly, Bekele is the reigning World indoor 5000m record holder and is the second fastest man over 3000m indoors.
"It is not as easy as it sounds,” said Bekele. “There will be many challengers including Eliud Kipchoge and Saif Saaeed Shaheen and it will be difficult. But I am prepared well and up for the challenge."
Inconsistent 2006
But unlike his mentor Haile Gebrselassie, Bekele has not been able to put together a series or even a single long winning streak on the track losing to Kenyan-born American Bernard Lagat in his one-mile race at the Millrose Games in New York in February.
"Not being to win all the time does not worry me," he says. "Sometimes winning every time is not even good for the sport. It diminishes the number of challengers. I do not bother myself about winning races all the time. I enter a competition and just give it my best."
However, his two other races in 2006 have both ended in victories. In January, at a cross country in Edinburgh (UK) he was pushed all the way to the finish line by Qatar's World 3000m steeplechase champion Saif Saaeed Shaheen. "I was not in perfect shape as it was my first race after returning back from injury," he said. "I knew that it would be close and am not worried about it."
The following month running indoors in Birmingham (UK), he took a fine victory but missed the World Indoor 2-mile best.
“I was not in record breaking mood that day," he says. "Normally when it is my day to break a record, there is this feeling that comes upon me and I did not have that feeling in Birmingham that day."
"The fact that it was very close made many people talk about it," he said. "But I could have broken it had I not eased up when seeing the finish line. Had I continued with the same speed I run in the last lap, I could have broken it."
However, Bekele understands that it is no use to mull over a lost cause. "I will hopefully have other chances to break the record in the future," he says. "Although it is difficult to break a world record, I will continue to try my best."
Elshadai Negash for the IAAF
