Bekele's Blunder Costs Him 3000m Victory

Submitted by Rickshaw :: Sun Jan 30, 2005 8:05 pm

A rookie mistake in Saturday's 3000 meter race at the Boston Indoor Games cost Kenenisa Bekele victory. As the 5K and 10K world record holder, Bekele was a huge favorite, and held a solid lead late in the race. But when he lost count of the number of laps remaining, he believed the race was over after just 14 of 15 laps, and slowed to a jog. Ireland's Alistair Cragg pounced on the opportunity, accelerating past Bekele and beating him by 1.5 seconds, proving once again the maxim "it ain't over 'til it's over."

Still recovering from the recent death of his fiancee, Bekele did not seem to be completely mentally invested in the race. Speaking aftwewards, he told reporters "I miscalculated. That was my undoing. I knew this race was going to be difficult. I only did one week of training. The previous week was not good training."

Cragg was ecstatic to have defeated the world's distance running superstar. Said Cragg, "Ninety-nine times out of 100 he probably would have beaten me. I just had to make sure I was there when the wheels came off and he made a mistake.''