Kenenisa vs Kenenisa: History in the Making!

By Fitsum G.

October 3, 2005

The sisterly duel between Messeret and Tirunesh was indeed 'another race in the race', adding extra taste and glamour to the Championship! Remember the other neck and neck female duel in the ten thousand meter Helsinki race between the reigning champion, Berhane Adere, and her much younger compatriot, emerging star, Paris World Champion in the five thousand, Tirunesh Dibaba. Although the younger star deposed the more seasoned champion from her throne, the challenge Berhane staged has secured her the admiration of every one. When she was asked about 'the duel' once back home, Berhane very sportively acknowledged the excellence of the new champion and paid gracious tribute to her. That by itself must have bought her a lot of affection and popularity from the audience. The unprecedented sprint exhibited during that race, after nearly a ten km run, was simply fantastic! Wow! The shift in the gear by Tirunesh recalled us the famous Ethiopian athlete, 'Miruz Yifter, the Shifter,' in the Moscow Olympics of 1980, where he triumphed in both 5,000 and 10,000 meter races!

Already, both the female as well as the male Ethiopian athletes had surprised every fan of athletics by finishing one, two, three in some other international competitions. But what we saw in Helsinki was simply thrilling. The female ten thousand metre race athletes Tirunesh, Berhane and Ejigayehu coming first, second and third, secured the blessing of Ethiopian fans while in the five k event, they even did better. They broke the existing record and scrambled the first four positions, (only US fast runners and Russian female athletes attained similar exploit!) Tirunesh again, (double gold) Messeret, Ejigayehu again (double bronze) and the promising Messelech Melkamu! All this has stupefied the world of athletics, and already, there are tendencies to take for granted an Ethiopian victory in certain competitions, limiting the curiosity as to which Ethiopian athlete would take the gold! Runners of other nationalities are risking to be mere 'sparring partners' or 'escorts', 'choreography' to the real competition!

However, there is yet another newly emerging phenomenon in all this exercise. And that is the race against time itself, the race against the existing world record, and the race against one's own record , the race against oneself, all alone! Kenenisa against Kenenisa as once it was Haile against Haile! And soon there will be Tirunesh against Tirunesh! Such luxury can happen only when one reaches the excellence of excellence, the domination of domination! And that is what we saw on August 26, 2005 in Brussels, Belgium, in the phenomenal run exhibited to the entire world by world class athlete Kenenisa Bekele!!!World Athlete of the Year 2004! World Athlete of the Year 2005!!

Many are familiar with similar stories carried out by a certain Haile Gebre-Selassie who during much of the last decade dominated, almost singlehandedly, most of the races within the range of 3-10 thousand meters, at all levels and courtyards! This 'Ethiopian phenomenon', who was recently conferred with a Doctorate Degree Honoris Causa from an Irish University, is now engaging himself in a new, unprecedented exploit of trying to place the Marathon race record within two hours limit! As for the competitions relating to tracks, he has duly passed the crown to the deserving successor: Kenenisa Bekele, a younger and equally determined athlete with exceptional qualities. Now, the music is being conducted by Keni the Great who just stepped in the mentor's shoes, with an extra pedigree as 'winner of four consecutive double World Cross Country Championships in a row, including the last in St. Etienne in France (when he had to struggle and overcome a family tragedy). Following the sudden death of his young and lovely fiancée Alem, Kenenisa showed great courage and determination to continue with his life as world class athlete and crowned his resumption of successes with yet another double cross country triumph, a ten thousand meter world championship and a new exceptional performance in Brussels! All this has consecrated himself among the greatest of athletes of all times, showing his resolve in front of a severe adverse family circumstance. Kenenisa is now after world records. Winning competitions do not suffice him any more, and his ambitions are becoming ever loftier! Remember Kenenisa is already the Olympic Champion of 10,000 in Athens 2004 (with an Olympic record), as well as the World Champion of ten thousand meters race, both at Paris 2003 and Helsinki 2005!

On August 26, 2005 Kenenisa's bid was not to win the Golden League at the Men's 10,000 event. That by itself would have constituted a mere formality. But Kenenisa had vowed to break the world record he himself holds (26 min 20:09 sec) and that was his mission. And that was what every spectator, both at the venue as well as watching on TV expecting! Kenenisa did not disappoint us, and the enthusiastic crowd of 47,000, in Brussels, Belgium, became the fortunate eyewitnesses of the event. Kenenisa registered the only world record that was possible among the various events that were hoped/anticipated by the organizers as well as by the public in attendance.(Unfortunately, the other two or three athletic events where a record was hoped did not materialize: in the poll volt, the Russian female athlete, the triple jump (the Cuban one), and the three thousand steeple chase (the Kenyan). But there was Kenenisa 'the phenomenon' to salvage the feelings of the audience at the stadium, the expectations of the organizers, and the luck of the sponsors: break the record at minutes 26:17:54, improving it by more than two seconds! Great!

Although breaking a record may seem a not so impossible task for an athlete of the caliber of Kenenisa, this particular exploit cannot be considered as such. Normally, athletes break records when competitions are really stiff and one has to give the very best one can have inside, motivated by exceptional circumstances. Tirunesh broke the five thousand world championship record motivated/incited by a fierce competitor in the person of Messeret. Kenenisa in Brussels did not have such 'blessing'. In a very challenging race where Kenenisa sought and found the assistance of his younger brother, Tariku Bekele, (a promising athlete in his own right), for the first three, four thousand metres as 'pace maker', Kenenisa had to struggle on his own, not facing any challenge or stimulus from the rest of the troop. In practice, no one came to his rescue! He had to do it on his own. He thus had to make a 'calculated risk' in the distribution of his forces, the keeping of his rhythm and pace, filled with utter concentration (visible on his face) supported and hailed throughout by the large and generous crowd in the stadium. Throughout the event, his pace appeared meticulously measured and was compared by the statisticians (against the world record) and revealed to the audience which was eagerly following 'history in the making', bit by bit. We were informed that Kenenisa lagged behind the record in a few seconds at different stages of his race (from a maximum of eight to three seconds in the final three laps), giving the crowd in the stadium all the hope and expectation that it would just be a matter of time for him before disintegrating the record.

Finally, when he reached the final lap, in order to attain his objective, Kenenisa was expected to cover the remaining distance to the ribbon within the range of 60 seconds or less. And that was not easy for him, given the kind of pace he had to maintain 'by himself' all around, and given there was on one to give him extra impetus, sort of dragging him ahead. However, eventually, the exploit did succeed, although extremely dire and taxing. You could see Kenenisa's face on the giant screen stretched all over, in apparent sufferance, unlike the smiles we used to be reserved with on other occasions. That was by itself very indicative in what predicament he was. But he did it again, to the enthusiasm and satisfaction of the whole crowd following it then and there with a standing ovation, and the thrill of the millions of telespectators glued to TV screens all over the world! The event was transmitted 'live' by ETV as well, and a completely emotion-engulfed TV commentator was heard saying that 'we were fortunate to experience 'live' one of the greatest moments of track history in the making0!

As soon as Kenenisa finished his 'mission', the first person to whom he ran steadfastly and embraced with utmost enthusiasm was his younger brother Tariku, whom he personally took to Brussels for this wonderful occasion. It was party time for the two brothers; it was party time for all of Ethiopian athletic fans and admirers of Kenenisa. Kenenisa has shown to the entire world that despite the recent tragedy he had to endure, he still is himself. He still is the 'greatest athlete' currently, at the 10,000 meter mark!

Winning this battle for Kenenisa will mean even more confidence in his attempt to break more world records, and acquire more world glory, not only for himself and his family, but also for his country and countrymen. Kenenisa is the 'pride of today's Ethiopia', and we all bow to his diligence, discipline, and supremacy. We admire his race against time, the hard and exemplary discipline he had to be governed by! Under the circumstances that he suddenly had found himself during those tragic days, few would have gambled that he would be the real Kenenisa again. Many had feared that he would lose his motivation, lose hope, and eventually be reduced to a simple ordinary athlete like there are thousands in Ethiopia. Nevertheless, we were all happy to have been mistaken. Many people's speculation has proved unfounded. Kenenisa has come back, stronger than ever. No wonder he has just been recently consecrated as 'Athlete of the Year' for the second consecutive year! His coach himself was really thrilled by such achievement, and for him that was the best gift he could have for the troubled year of Kenenisa! Who knows how many times this athlete will enjoy such title in the future!? Kenenisa said he himself was surprised by his exploit, and has modestly attributed every success to his Creator! Modesty is a great quality few are blessed with, and Kenenisa has enough of it!