Bekele with a banner displaying the celebration of the Ethiopian Millennium 2000 - based upon their unique calendar - acknowledges his fans in Osaka (© Getty Images)
30 August 2007Hot on the heels of his third consecutive 10,000m title, Kenenisa Bekele will return to the Van Damme Memorial, the fourth stop on the six-meet IAAF Golden League 2007, on Friday 14 September for an assault on the World record he set on that same track in 2005.
Bekele, who has already returned to Ethiopia to resume training, lowered his own World record to 26:17.53 at the Belgian capital's Golden League fixture, where yet another sell-out crowd is expected. In Osaka three days ago, the 25-year-old won his eighth consecutive race over the track's longest distance, a streak dating back to 2003, the year he won his first World title. The following year he set his first World record in the 10,000m, clocking 26:20.31 at the Golden Spike meeting in Ostrava, Czech Republic. Two months later, he succeeded his mentor and friend Haile Gebrselassie as Olympic champion.
Prior to his 27:05.90 victory in Osaka, Bekele produced a slew of sizzling performances within a span of just over three weeks, including three sub 7:30 performances in the 3000m --a career best 7:25.79 in Stockholm among them-- and a world-leading 12:49.53 in Zaragoza, Spain, in the 5000.
Among those challenging Bekele will be Eritrean hero Zersenay Tadese, the man who ended Bekele's unprecedented World Cross Country win streak last March in Mombasa. The 25-year-old Tadese was fourth in the Osaka 10,000m, clocking 27:21.47, but has a season's best of 27:00.30, a solo performance to take the All Africa Games title. The Brussels Golden League stop traditionally features the finest annual gathering of 10,000m talent, and more top challengers are expected to join the field as the meeting approaches.
Organisers also announced a virtual rematch of the Osaka women's 100m final, a race where the top two finishers were decided by mere 1000s of the second. The top-two, gold medallist Veronica Campbell of Jamaica and silver medallist Lauryn Williams of the U.S., have been confirmed. They will be joined by American Torri Edwards and Christina Arron of France, fourth and sixth in Osaka.
Bob Ramsak for the IAAF