Kenenisa Bekele and Tirunesh Dibaba Recognized for Multiple Olympic Titles
NEW YORK (December 22) -- Race Results Weekly, the wire service of distance running, announced today that Ethiopians Kenenisa Bekele and Tirunesh Dibaba had been selected the Race Results Weekly 2008 Runners of the Year. RRW, the world’s most comprehensive source of middle and long distance running results and news, selected Bekele and Dibaba for their double gold medal performances at the Beijing Olympics, IAAF World Cross Country Championships titles, world and Olympic records, and nearly undefeated seasons.
"Bekele and Dibaba achieved more this year than some of the world’s top athletes will achieve in a lifetime," said Editor and Publisher, David Monti. "For each of them to turn back all challengers in two Olympic finals, and finish first in every final of the year but one is incredible. They totally dominated.”
Bekele, 26, defended his Olympic 10,000m title by setting a new Olympic record of 27:01.17. Three days later, he finished third in his 5000m heat, and in yet another three days broke the Olympic record in winning the 5000m in 12:57.82. He became the first man since countryman Miruts Yifter in 1980 to win both events at the same Olympic Games.
"The Eritreans, Kenyans, Ugandans and even Bekele’s own Ethiopian teammates did everything they could to beat him, but he was simply too good," said Assistant Editor Bob Ramsak. “You almost had to feel a little sorry for them, because Bekele made it look relatively easy.”
While Bekele’s Olympic double was the key achievement of his 2008 campaign, he also ran the fastest times in the world for both 5000m (12:50.18) and 10,000m (26:25.97), won the IAAF World Cross Country Championships 12 km event for the sixth time, took the African title at 5000m, and set a world best for two miles indoors (8:04.35). In 14 race appearances (13 finals), he finished first 12 times. His only true defeat was in a 15 km road race last November in the Netherlands where he finished third, despite sustaining a stress fracture in his right ankle.
Dibaba, who became the first woman in history to win the 5000m and 10,000m titles in a single Olympic Games, did so by running both the fastest and slowest Olympic winning times in history. Showing a total mastery of her craft, despite being only 22 years-old at the time, Dibaba roared to a blazing fast 29:54.66 to beat Turkey’s Elvan Abeylegesse in the 10,000m, the second-fastest time in history. A week later, in an achingly slow strategic race against Abeylegesse, and her compatriot and archrival Meseret Defar, she won the 5000m title in 15:41.40, the slowest time in Olympic history, with an overwhelming final sprint.
"She was completely in command of those races" said Assistant Editor Bob Ramsak who, like Monti, was in Beijing to cover the Games. “The tactics of her rivals simply didn’t matter; fast pace or slow, it was Dibaba hitting the tape first.”
In addition to her Olympic victories, Dibaba also won the IAAF World Cross Country championships 8 km for the third time, shattered the world record for 5000m (14:11.15), and won the African title at 5000m in front of a home country crowd in Addis Ababa. In 11 starts, she was victorious 10 times, including heats.
In determining the Race Results Weekly 2008 Runners of the Year, the editors considered each athlete’s entire competitive record for the year, but ultimately gave the greatest weight to their best and most inspiring performances, especially at major championships when the stakes were highest.
ABOUT RACE RESULTS WEEKLY: Founded in 1994, Race Results Weekly is the professional distance running results and news service relied upon by running industry professionals. RRW covers over 2500 middle and long distance races each year; no source is more comprehensive, respected or more timely. Subscription information is available at RaceResultsWeekly.com.
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