FOLKS: Just in case anybody doubted it, this guy is working his way up to become the greatest long distance runner of all time. Respect. 
SAINT-GALMIER, France, March 20 - Ethiopian phenomenon Kenenisa Bekele completed his fourth successive world cross country double here on Sunday after adding the men’s long race to the short edition he won a day earlier.
The 22-year-old 10,000m Olympic champion crossed the line well ahead of Eritrea’s Zersenay Tadesse in a remarkable performance given that he stopped training for weeks after his fiancee died.
Ethiopia once gain dominated their bitter Kenyan rivals, with Olympic silver medallist Tirunesh Dibaba also claiming a double. She led home an Ethiopian 1-2 to claim victory in the short race after her long race victory on Saturday.
Kenya’s sole consolation was a clean sweep of the junior men’s race with Augustine Choge taking gold, but Ethiopia will leave with five of the six individual titles.
Bekele admitted he had pursued this double to see if he could run as well in bad times as he did in happier days.
This is more significant than the previous wins because in the past my fiancee (Alem) was supporting me,'' said Bekele, who was with her on a training run when she collapsed and died from a heart attack in early January. It was harder than yesterday and muddier and the other competitors were fresher. Running neck to neck with Eliud Kipchoge was the difficult part but I believe my strong finish was enough to win.’’
Qatar’s Abdullah Ahmad Hassan took bronze while Kenya’s best finisher was world 5,000m champion Kipchoge, who was vying for the lead with Bekele going into the final lap but faded badly and finished fifth leaving Kenya without a win in this race since Paul Tergat in 1999.
To rub salt further into the wounds of the Kenyans, Ethiopia also took the team title, with Kenya taking silver and Qatar the bronze.
Dibaba emulated Bekele in landing the world cross country double.
Dibaba beat home her compatriot Werknesh Kidane, with Kenya’s Isabelle Ochichi taking bronze.
The 19-year-old Dibaba, who became the youngest individual world champion when she won the 5000m in 2003, ran a perfect race throughout, launching her sprint in the closing stages where only Kidane was able to keep pace.
Dibaba, who won the bronze medal in the 5000m at last year’s Olympic in Athens, began this season on a high note by setting a new world indoor record for the distance in Boston in late January.