Bekele, Dibaba Coast to Victories

Published by Score24 on May 18, 2014

Ethiopian athletics legends Kenenisa Bekele and Tirunesh Dibaba eased to victory in their respective races in the Great Manchester Run on Sunday.

Bekele, a three-time Olympic gold medalist on the track, raced alongside world marathon record holder Wilson Kipsang of Kenya for much of the 10 kilometres course.

However, the 31-year-old - who indicated he may have an equally glorious career ahead of him in road racing when he won his debut marathon in Paris in April - kicked away in the final 400 metres to finish in a time of 28 minutes 23 seconds.

Kipsang, also fresh from a marathon triumph in London where he set a new course record, came in five seconds back while South Africa's Steve Mokoka was some distance back in third.

"I'm very happy to win here after having run the marathon recently," said Bekele.

"There was a lot of wind so I tried to hide behind Kipsang and save my energy."

A beaming Kipsang was delighted with his showing.

"This is a short distance for me but I still showed I have the speed.

"We shall meet again and over the longer distance (the marathon)," said the 32-year-old, who took marathon bronze in the 2012 Olympics.