Beijing: Ethiopia's Kenenisa Bekele emulated female compatriot Tirunesh Dibaba in claiming a rare long-distance double here on Saturday when he won the 5000m to add to his 10,000m Olympic crown.
His triumph was the first such men's double since compatriot Miruts Yifter's feat over the same events at the 1980 Moscow Games. Dibaba's double over the same distance had been a landmark for women athletes.
Bekele, the world record holder in both the 5000m and 10,000m who claimed silver in the 5km behind Hicham El Guerrouj in the 2004 Athens Games, won the 12-and-a-half lap race in hot and humid conditions around a packed 91,000-capacity National Stadium in an Olympic record of 12min 57.82sec.
Kenya's Eliud Kipchoge, a bronze medallist behind El Guerrouj and Bekele four years ago, was second in 13:02.80 with Kenya's Edwin Soi third in 13:06.22.
Bekele, 26, hit the lead after just one lap of the race, alternating the early pace-setting with his younger brother Tariku and fellow Ethiopian Abreham Cherkos.
Qatar's Kenyan-born James Kwalia C'kurui, Kenyan-born American Bernard Lagat and the Kenyan duo of Soi and Thomas Longosiwa stayed in the mix in the chasing pack.
With five laps to go, Bekele hit the front again with a little spurt that immediately thinned the pack and saw Kipchoge come through to second.
Kipchoge, who has won world gold (2003) and silver (2007), followed Bekele through the 4km mark in 10:32.6.
When the bell sounded for the final lap, Bekele stepped on the gas, building up an insurmountable 25-metre lead over Kipchoge down the far stretch.
As he rounded the corner into the final straight, Bekele wagged his finger and grinned broadly as he saw the gap he'd built up over the Kenyans on the stadium's giant screens.
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