Kenenisa Bekele of Ethiopia celebrates winning the men's 10000m final.
Kenenisa Bekele of Ethiopia celebrates winning the men's 10000m final.
Kenenisa Bekele of Ethiopia celebrates winning the men's 10000m final.
Kenenisa Bekele of Ethiopia celebrates winning the men's 10000m final.

Bekele successfully defends 10,000m title


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BEIJING // Kenenisa Bekele has successfully defended his Olympic 10,000 metres title with a new Olympic record time of 27 minutes, 1.17 seconds, leading teammate Sileshi Sihine in an Ethiopian one-two again. Bekele hit the front with 450 metres of the race left and kicked for home to beat the record he set four years ago. Sihine, who was second at the Athens Olympics and at the last two World Championships, took silver in 27:02.77. Micah Kogo of Kenya won bronze in 27:04.11. Haile Gebrselassie, who won the 10,000m at the 1996 and 2000 Games, faded to finish in sixth place. The 35-year-old Ethiopian switched to the marathon after the Athens Olympics, where he finished fifth. He opted against competing in the marathon in Beijing because of pollution concerns.