Posted: March 20, 2004

Athletics: Bekele Wins Short Course Title, Leads Top-Three Sweep For Ethiopia

From David Monti

(c) 2004 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved RaceResultsWeekly.com

[NOTE: Editor David Monti was unable to file his report from Brussels this evening. Look for his full report tomorrow.]

Living up to expectations, Kenenisa Bekele won his third straight short course world title today at the 32nd World Cross Country Championships in Brussels.

The 21-year-old Ethiopian won comfortably, clocking 11:31 over the four kilometer course, five seconds ahead of teammate Gebre-egziabher Gebremariam. Maregu Zewdie (11:42) was third, completing a top-three sweep for the northeast African nation.

Said Bekele: "For tomorrow, I am ready to do my best for my team. I feel fine."

With their 1-2-3 sweep, Ethiopia cruised to the team title, with 17 points, ending Kenya's win streak at six. Qatar was second with 39 points, with the disappointed Kenyan squad third (52). On Sunday, Kenya's 18-year winning streak in the long course race is on the line.

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