Athletics:Kenenisa Bekele marked a welcome return to form with victory in the SPAR Great Ireland Run in the Phoenix Park today.
Bekele, who has struggled with injuries for the last two years and was a lowly 11th in the BUPA Edinburgh Cross Country in January, clocked 27 minutes 49 seconds over the 10-kilometre course for a comfortable win.
The Ethiopian double Olympic champion won by 59 seconds from Spain’s Ayad Lamdassem, with Italy’s Daniele Meucci third.
Bekele’s time was a second quicker than the previous world-leading mark in 2012, but the 29-year-old said: “This is not meant to be a message to any of my Olympic opponents.
“We cannot start talking like this until we all meet on the track in the summer. But the good news is that all of my training, which has been based towards to the track season, has shown to be successful here also.”
In the women’s race, Britain’s Gemma Steel reversed her defeat at the hands of compatriot Charlotte Purdue a year ago.
Steel pulled away in the closing stages to record a time of 32mins 06secs, four seconds ahead of Purdue.
“I’ve now finished ahead of every Briton that matters, but it’s the first time that I’ve beaten Charlotte,” Steel said.