Posted: August 9, 2005

Athletics: Bekele Repeats, Inzikuru Wins Fist Women's Steeple Title

From David Monti

© 2005 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved RaceResultsWeekly.com

By Bob Ramsak

HELSINKI -- Producing a partial rerun of their performance at the last world championships two years ago, Ethiopians Kenenisa Bekele and Sileshi Sihine took the gold and silver medals in the 10,000 meters to highlight day three of the IAAF World Championships at Helsinki's 1952 Olympic Stadium.

For Bekele, who won his second consecutive title at the distance, and for Sihine, who moved up a spot from his showing in Paris, it was a performance that was nearly mechanical in precision, with the wet, windy and chilly conditions, along with a surprise third place performance by Kenyan Moses Mosop spoiling the chances for the second Ethiopian sweep of these championships.

"It's hard to keep up the speed in the first part of the race without pacemakers," Bekele said after his 27:08.33 win. While the clocking seems sluggish by Bekele standards, it was nonetheless the fourth fastest ever at a world championships, surpassed only by the Ethiopian trio that swept the podium two years ago. "That's perhaps the reason why we couldn't get all the medals."

Another reason was perhaps because third man Abebe Dinkesa took on much of the early race pace work; a sacrifice resulting in a distant seventh place showing in 27:13.09. Missing also was the fervent late-race pace work that was the cornerstone of the Paris sweep and Bekele and Sihine's identical finish at the Olympics last year. By comparison, tonight's win was almost simply ordinary.

But if Bekele and Sihine have jaded observers, so too has any opposition that is thrust their way. Besides Mosop, whose fierce sprint in the final 150 meters nearly caught Sihine – the Ethiopian clocked 27:08.87 to Mosop's personal best 27:08.96-- the rest of field could do little to pose any significant threat. Young Ugandan Boniface Kiprop continued to impress, repeating his fourth place showing from the Olympic Games with a near-PB 27:10.98. Zersenay Tadesse, the Olympic bronze medallist, also performed well, running to an Eritrean national record of 27:12.82 en route to a sixth place finish.

Confusion in recent days about Bekele's appearance in the 5000 has come to an end when he declared that he would not be contesting the shorter distance; the Ethiopian federation has yet to make the announcement official. He has upcoming appearances in a 3000 meter race in Zurich's Weltklasse Golden League meet late next week, and a season-capping assault on his own world record in the 10,000 in Brussels the following weekend.

American Meb Keflezighi dropped out when his right quad tightened up.

Dorcus Inzikuru captured the first gold medal ever at a world championship when she ran away with the inaugural title in the women's 3000 meter steeplechase. Leading virtually from the outset, the affable Inzikuru clocked 9:18.24, well ahead of runner-up Yekaterina Volkova of Russia who scored a personal best 9:20.49. Jeruto Kiptum took the bronze in 9:26.95, her second Kenyan record in three days.

Two surprises emerged from the semi-finals of the men's 1500. The first came in the first heat, when defending silver medallist Mehdi Baala faded badly down the homestretch to finish a badly-beaten eighth, well off the final cut. The second came in the second heat, when U.S. champion Alan Webb decided to take off just 200 meters into his race, creating a huge gap that nobody decided to challenge. Reaching the half in under 1:56, he began to slow considerably in the third lap and was eventually passed by Bahraini Rashid Ramzi (3:34.69), but still held on for second, reaching the line in 3:36.07.

"I wasn't going to let it happen again," Webb beamed after the race, referring to his failure to move from the opening round of last year's Olympic Games. "When I looked at the clock and saw 28 seconds, I felt like we were slowing it down. And I didn't want it to turn into a 3:40 race like the race before. So even if I finished in seventh, I'd still make it to the final. So I just went for it and nobody came after me."

Except Ramzi, who looks by far the strongest gold medal threat in the field.

Besides Baala, no major casualties resulted, with Adil Kaouch of Morocco, Kenyan Alex Kipchirchir, Olympic bronze medallist Rui Silva, Ukraine's Ivan Heshko, and Kenyan-born Qatari Daham Bashir all advancing. The final is Wednesday night.

Tuesday's middle and long distance finals include the women's 800 meters and the men's 3000 meter steeplechase.