Foot-and-mouth disease is to blame. Without this impending disaster, Kenenisa Bekele, destined to become the greatest all-time distance runner would have initially made his global debut on Leopardstown racecourse’s verdant grounds. Instead, due to the initial Irish outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease which led to the last-minute relocation of the 2001 World Cross Country originally intended for Leopardstown to a mired track in Ostend, Belgium, Bekele made his groundbreaking impact. The impact was significant in more than one way.
I vividly recall one of the most defining moments – walking alongside a small group along the distant sections of the course before the Sunday’s senior races when an astoundingly calm runner swiftly sped past us. He was substantially leading the junior men’s race, leisurely running and eventually triumphing by a record-breaking 33 seconds.
One of us recognised him as Kenenisa Bekele, who had already claimed second place in the previous day’s senior men’s short-course race, merely losing by two seconds. Remarkably, it was only his second time outside Ethiopia, yet here he was, a slight 18-year-old effortlessly dominating his sport.
In 2002, when Leopardstown finally hosted the event, Bekele decisively won both senior races, both long and short, additionally bagging two team silver medals for himself. He would remain undefeated in the World Cross Country till 2007, only to reclaim another title in 2008, incrementing his individual gold medal count in the event to 11, and his cumulative total including team medals, to 25.
On the athletics track, Bekele became equally commanding, triumphing in the 10,000m in his debut World Championships in Paris in 2003. He added three more gold medals in the same event along with a 5,000m-10,000m double at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the 2009 Berlin World Championships. As far as athletes go, he was invincible.
Not only did he establish four global records, amongst them were outdoor distances that remained unbeaten for 16 years. In 2006, Bekele became the only athlete to concurrently hold an Olympic, World, World Indoor and World Cross Country title when he clinched the World Indoor 3000m. This unparalleled achievement positioned his record as arguably the greatest in distance running, outshining even the accomplishments of his compatriot Haile Gebrselassie.
In 2003, Bekele faltered, failing to complete the distance double when Eliud Kipchoge, a rising Kenyan star, secured the World Championship 5000m in Paris. Bekele was then beaten by Morocco’s Hicham El Guerrouj to the Olympic 5000m title. However, these are the last instances where Bekele was outshone on the track.
The measure of supremacy often includes resilience in the face of hardships, and Bekele has proven this. In a heart-wrenching incident in January 2005, his fiancee, Alem Techale, suffered a fatal heart attack while they were training in the hills outside Addis Ababa.
Bekele’s rapid ascent and enduring presence over the last 23 years has left a profound impact on me. During this time, many athletes have risen and fallen, but Bekele has been a steady force on the track, in country and presently, on the road.
Notable signs of his waning prowess manifested in 2012. During a trip to Dublin for the Great Ireland Run, I conversed with Bekele in a taxi ride. Then only 29, he perceived London as possibly his final opportunity at securing another Olympic gold medal, driven by the fact that no one had ever clinched three 10,000m titles. Bekele admitted, the journey wasn’t getting any easier. He was contending with a lasting calf injury that had thwarted his training for two consecutive years.
Unquestionably, there were challenging times. The discomfort would kick in after running for several days, despite taking breaks spanning several months, and it never seemed to improve. Training and competition were absent, making for a rather grim period. Indeed, there were occasions when it felt like the end of the road, yet I was unwilling to hang up my shoes. London has now become quite a pivotal aspect of my career.
However, it was not all rosy. His Olympic titles were won over by Britain’s Mo Farah, resulting in him finishing a close fourth in the 10,000m race, trailing just two seconds behind. This turned the tides leading to Bekele’s participation in the marathon, and he marked his debut in Paris in 2014, clocking 2:05:04, a time faster than that of Gebrselassie’s or Paul Tergat’s maiden appearance. But the road wasn’t smooth; long-standing injuries, including issues with the Achilles, back, calf, hips, hamstring and numerous others, resulted in him falling out of the selection for the Olympic marathon in Rio.
A month after the Rio disappointment, Bekele claimed victory at the Berlin Marathon, then won it again in 2019 with an impressive time of 2:01:41, just two seconds shy of the world record set by Kipchoge the previous year, hoping it would secure his place at Tokyo 2020 and becoming the third fastest man ever.
When the Tokyo Games were postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Bekele’s apparent unpreparedness led to another missed opportunity and dashed his chances of participating in his fourth Olympics.
Nonetheless, with his 42nd birthday approaching, Bekele has surely proved himself worthy of another consideration. In December, he clocked 2:04:19 during the marathon in Valencia, finishing fourth then ending the London Marathon last month second to Kenya’s Mutiso Munyao, setting a new over-40 world record with 2:04:15, improving upon his previous record by four seconds.
What’s definite is that Sisay Lemma is on the Ethiopian running squad, having won the Boston Marathon last month, along with Tamirat Tola, last year’s New York Marathon champion.
The Ethiopian Federation has yet to formally confirm their marathon competitors for Paris, leaving room for speculation. Yet there’s no denying Bekele’s unswerving loyalty to Ethiopia or the fact that he’s the undisputable greatest of all time, 12 years since last participating in the Olympics. Why they haven’t confirmed him for Paris is, inexplicably, yet to be determined.