| With two World Championships already to his name Haile Gebrselassie was
the clear favourite for the Centenary Olympic Games 10, 000m. in
Atlanta. He did not disappoint. In a race that began slowly, with the
field passing the half-way point in just under 14min. he bided his time.
That was until the Kenyans began to motor. First it was Paul Koech
who set the fast pace for the second half of the race followed by
Josphat Machhuka. Finally the main rival to his crown, Paul Terget,
took the initiative with a handful of laps to go. He injected a 200m.
of 29secs to try and shake off the Ethiopian, but to no avail. The
champion was too good and much as Paul piled on the speed Haile matched
him. Then the bell rang and the world record holder injected a killing
200m. of 28secs. at the start of his final lap (pictured above)
which took just 58.49 ecs. Despite the slow first half the second was
covered in 13min. 11.6secs - a time good enough to have won 18 of the
previous 19 Olympic Games 5, 000m.! Gebrselassie's winning time of
27min. 07.34secs. slashed nearly 14 seconds off Brahim Boutayeb's 1988
Olympic record. Paul Terget clocked 27min. 08.17secs - the second
fastest time in Olympic history. The race did however have one negative
aspect. The track in Atlanta, which had been laid to enable the
sprinters to run fast times, played havoc with Haile's feet so much so
that he withdrew from the 5000m. Also, by the end of the year Salah
Hissou of Morocco (3rd in Atlanta 27m 24.67) had broken Haile's 10, 000m
world record with his 26min. 38.08secs win in Brussels on August 23rd,
but Haile had won the race that really mattered. (George Herringshaw) |