Bekele unstoppable, Campbell wins

OSAKA – The unstoppable Kenenisa Bekele blitzed the field to win a third straight 10 000 metres world title Monday as Jamaica’s Veronica Campbell was crowned 100m queen.

The diminutive Ethiopian, one of the greatest distance runners the world has seen, unleashed his trademark kick with 200 metres to go to pass teammate Sileshi Sihine and cross the line in 27 minutes 05.90 seconds. Sihine, the silver medallist at the Athens Olympics and 2005 world championships, again came second in 27:09.03 with Martin Irungu Mathathi of Kenya third in 27:12.17.Bekele is now within reach of the four consecutive 10 000m golds the legendary Haile Gebrselassie won from 1993-1999.”Winning the world championship is fantastic for me,” said the 25-year-old.”With three laps left I was tired, but after some minutes my body started to recover.I used everything I had to come back.”Despite the gruelling effects of the race, he said he may have a crack at his own world record in Brussels in two weeks time.”It’s possible I will attempt the world record in Brussels after this, but it will be tough to run twice in less than two weeks.But I will probably try.”With Tyson Gay claiming the men’s sprint title on Sunday, attention switched to the women and Campbell grabbed the honours in a photo finish.She leant into the line at 11.01 seconds, a fraction ahead of America’s Lauryn Williams.Fellow American Carmelita Jeter took bronze in 11.02 with pre-race favourite Torri Edwards fourth.Campbell, the Olympic 200m champion, has been in scintillating form this season with three sub-11 second runs including the world’s fastest time – 10.89 in Kingston.It was a tense wait at the finish to see who had won, with the Jamaican ecstatic when confirmation flashed on the electronic scoreboard.”It was one of my longest waits,” she said of the agonising time it took.”It was a bit confusing because the name was going back and forth but I want to thank God it was me.My start wasn’t the greatest but I knew that I finished well.It was a very close race.”Russia’s Yekaterina Volkova claimed the women’s 3,000m steeplechase title in a championship record time of 9 minutes 6.57 seconds, also the fastest time this year.The other gold medals of the day went to defending champion Ivan Tikhon from Belarus in the men’s hammer throw – his third consecutive title – and Nelson Evora of Portugal in the men’s triple jump.Tikhon waited until his last throw to overhaul Slovenia’s Primoz Kosmus and claim the gold medal for a third time in the hammer.His 83.63 metres outdid Kosmus’s 82.29.Libor Charfreitag of Slovakia was third in 81.60 but there was no medal for local hope Koji Murofushi, the Olympic champion who could only manage 80.46 to end sixth.Reigning 1 500m champion Rashid Ramzi, born in Morocco but now running for Bahrain, was quickest into the final as he searches for another gold medal, slowing as he crossed the line in 3:40.53 ahead of Juan Luis Barrios of Mexico.The big shock of the morning heats was the failure of 2003 long jump champion Eunice Barbar of France to qualify for the final.Nursing a knee injury, she slumped out with a jump of just 6.51 metres.Nampa-AFPSihine, the silver medallist at the Athens Olympics and 2005 world championships, again came second in 27:09.03 with Martin Irungu Mathathi of Kenya third in 27:12.17.Bekele is now within reach of the four consecutive 10 000m golds the legendary Haile Gebrselassie won from 1993-1999.”Winning the world championship is fantastic for me,” said the 25-year-old.”With three laps left I was tired, but after some minutes my body started to recover.I used everything I had to come back.”Despite the gruelling effects of the race, he said he may have a crack at his own world record in Brussels in two weeks time.”It’s possible I will attempt the world record in Brussels after this, but it will be tough to run twice in less than two weeks.But I will probably try.”With Tyson Gay claiming the men’s sprint title on Sunday, attention switched to the women and Campbell grabbed the honours in a photo finish.She leant into the line at 11.01 seconds, a fraction ahead of America’s Lauryn Williams.Fellow American Carmelita Jeter took bronze in 11.02 with pre-race favourite Torri Edwards fourth.Campbell, the Olympic 200m champion, has been in scintillating form this season with three sub-11 second runs including the world’s fastest time – 10.89 in Kingston.It was a tense wait at the finish to see who had won, with the Jamaican ecstatic when confirmation flashed on the electronic scoreboard.”It was one of my longest waits,” she said of the agonising time it took.”It was a bit confusing because the name was going back and forth but I want to thank God it was me.My start wasn’t the greatest but I knew that I finished well.It was a very close race.”Russia’s Yekaterina Volkova claimed the women’s 3,000m steeplechase title in a championship record time of 9 minutes 6.57 seconds, also the fastest time this year.The other gold medals of the day went to defending champion Ivan Tikhon from Belarus in the men’s hammer throw – his third consecutive title – and Nelson Evora of Portugal in the men’s triple jump.Tikhon waited until his last throw to overhaul Slovenia’s Primoz Kosmus and claim the gold medal for a third time in the hammer.His 83.63 metres outdid Kosmus’s 82.29.Libor Charfreitag of Slovakia was third in 81.60 but there was no medal for local hope Koji Murofushi, the Olympic champion who could only manage 80.46 to end sixth.Reigning 1 500m champion Rashid Ramzi, born in Morocco but now running for Bahrain, was quickest into the final as he searches for another gold medal, slowing as he crossed the line in 3:40.53 ahead of Juan Luis Barrios of Mexico.The big shock of the morning heats was the failure of 2003 long jump champion Eunice Barbar of France to qualify for the final.Nursing a knee injury, she slumped out with a jump of just 6.51 metres.Nampa-AFP