Ethiopian phenomenon Kenenisa Bekele completed a stunning double Olympic title triumph as he eased home in the men’s 5,000m yesterday to add to his 10,000m victory on an evening when doubles were very much the trend.
The 26-year-old emulated compatriot Tirunesh Dibaba’s performances in the women’s events and he was the first male athlete to do the double since another Ethiopian, Miruts Yifter, achieved the same feat in the boycotted 1980 Games in Moscow.
Kenya also enjoyed a double gold in the final full session of the track and field program as they took the men’s 800m and the women’s 1,500m.
PHOTO: AP
Wilfred Bungei gave Kenya their first men’s 800m Olympic title since William Tanui in 1992.
Virtual unknown Nancy Langat then celebrated her 27th birthday a day late and handed Kenya’s women their second title of the athletics — and their second ever — when she cantered to an easy victory in the 1,500m.
The Americans regained some pride after an underwhelming competition with golds in both the 4x400m relays, while Norway’s Andreas Thorkildsen won his second consecutive Olympic men’s javelin title.
PHOTO: AP
Belgium’s Tia Hellebaut won the women’s high jump to give her country their first ever Olympic track and field title.
Bekele stepped on the gas when the bell sounded for the final lap, building up an insurmountable 25m lead over Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge down the far stretch.
As he rounded the corner into the final straight, Bekele wagged his finger and grinned broadly as he saw the gap he had built up.
Bungei produced a fine front-running performance to land the gold (1 minute, 44.65 seconds) and prove he can win major titles outdoors as he did indoors when he won the world title back in 2006.
Bungei, who was fifth in the 2004 final, edged home ahead of Ismail Ahmed Ismail, who gave Sudan their first ever track and field Olympic medal, while another Kenyan Alfred Yego was third.
“I came here as the underdog because of the times I ran so far this year,” the 28-year-old Bungei said. “It’s been a good night for Kenya. We have done something good here for our country.”
Langat ran a tactically astute race as she waited for race favorite and world champion Maryam Yusuf Jamal of Bahrain to make her move to the front, which she did with 500m to go.
Jamal initially looked to have the measure of the Kenyan, but down the backstretch the Ethiopian-born Asian Games champion had no answer when Langat passed her.
Coming round the bend there appeared a brief hope the 23-year-old could claw back the ground, but Langat, who was a semi-finalist in the 2004 Games, accelerated as she bettered her personal best by over two seconds (4 minutes, 0:23 seconds).
“I knew she [Jamal] would be very strong and I had to work hard to win,” Langat said.
Jamal looked round her desperately as she tried at least to hold on for a minor medal, but was passed by both Ukrainian duo Iryna Lishchynska and Nataliya Tobias and eventually finished fifth.
The American men were runaway winners of their relay, the result never in doubt once individual Olympic champion LaShawn Merritt handed over to second leg runner and 400m hurdles winner Angelo Taylor.
By contrast the American women looked to be down and out going into the final leg of their race.
But a stunning performance by Sanya Richards saw her overhaul Russian Anastasia Kapachinskaya to provide some consolation for only taking bronze in the individual event.
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