Gebrselassie beaten by young pretender
HENGELO, Netherlands, June 1 (AFP) - Double Olympicchampion Haile Gebrselassie was beaten by his21-year-old fellow Ethiopian Kenenisa Bekele in aneagerly-awaited 10,000 metres at the Grand Prix meetinghere on Sunday.
Bekele crossed the line in 26min 53.70sec toGebrselassie’s 26:54.58 after a superb race which hadbeen billed as an attempt on Gebrselassie’s world recordof 26:22.75, set on this track five years to the day.
Double world cross country champion Bekele tucked inbehind Gebrselassie almost throughout the race beforesprinting away over the last 300 metres, although poorpacemaking and stormy weather put paid to any recordhopes.
Gebrselassie’s defeat underlined the difficulty the30-year-old faces in his attempt to reclaim the 10,000mtitle at the world outdoor championships in Paris inAugust.
Kenya’s Wilfred Bungei ran a superb 1:43.05 to win the800m from Dutchman Bram Som and another Kenyan, PaulKoech, clocked 8:06.68 to easily win the 3,000m steeplechase.