Bekele Completes Historic Fifth Double
Ethiopian legend Kenenisa Bekele made history by completing a fifth consecutive double at the world cross country championships, winning both the 4km and 12km titles for the fifth straight year. The 23-year-old immediately announced he will not return to defend his titles, ending an extraordinary era.
- This historic fifth "double" was achieved at the 34th IAAF World Cross Country Championships held in Fukuoka, Japan, marking the first time the event was hosted in Asia. - Kenenisa Bekele is the only runner in history to have won both the short and long course titles in the same year, a feat he accomplished for five consecutive years from 2002 to 2006. - The 2006 championships were the final time the short course (4km) race was held at the event, meaning Bekele's record of five consecutive doubles can never be broken. - At the time of this achievement in 2006, Bekele was also the reigning Olympic 10,000m champion (2004) and World 10,000m champion (2003, 2005). - This victory brought his total number of individual senior gold medals at the World Cross Country Championships to 11 (six in the long course and five in the short course). - By winning the 3000m at the World Indoor Championships earlier in 2006, Bekele became the first athlete in history to hold Olympic, world outdoor, world indoor, and world cross country titles simultaneously. - Following the end of his cross country dominance, Bekele went on to win double gold in the 5,000m and 10,000m at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and later transitioned to marathon running.
