Athletics: A last-gasp sprint for the line gave Kenenisa Bekele victory over Saif Saaeed Shaheen in the VisitScotland Great Edinburgh Cross-Country Championship.
Bekele has never lost a cross-country race as a senior athlete and has won four successive world long and short-course titles, but underwent the biggest test of his career.
The 23-year-old Ethiopian looked vulnerable after the Kenyan-born Qatarian put his foot on the gas with a kilometre of the 9.2k race left.
Bekele, breathing hard and tiring, drew himself onto the shoulders of the world 3000metres steeplechase champion and record holder before powering away from Shaheen.
"Yes it hurt, it was a hard race and he made me work with everything I had for the win," said Bekele, last beaten in a cross-country race when still a junior. That was five years ago against Haile Gebrselassie.
He won in 26minutes 08seconds, six seconds ahead of Shaheen with Zersenay Tadesse third. Tadesse, of Eritrea, clocked 26mins 18secs.
The Ethiopians had earlier unleashed Gelete Burka against a world-class women's field and she showed her superiority when scoring a satisfying win over the testing 6k course.
Last year's IAAF world junior cross-country champion finished ahead of Isabella Ochichi, the Olympic 5000m silver medallist and fellow Ethiopian Tirunesh Dibaba.
Burka was not surprised by her 11-second winning margin.
"That was easy, very easy and I always thought I could win," she said, barely out of breath after despatching Ochichi and Dibaba to positions of also-rans in a time of 19mins 1secs.
"Now I want a couple of more races to get ready for the world cross," she added.
Defending champion Nick McCormick took a trip in his 4k race but quickly recovered to assert his authority and score a narrow victory.
The Morpeth Harrier quickly recovered after Chris Warburton caught his heel after 800m. He won from Mike Skinner by one second in 12mins 16secs. Barnabas Bene, Hungary's two-time European junior cross-country champion, was third.