THE Ethiopian taxi driver, and there are many of them in Atlanta, was softly singing the praises of Fatuma Roba, his country's winner of the women's marathon. And did he know that Haile Gebrselassie had just won the 10,000 metres final? "Oh yes, of course.

Yes. Of course. Everybody expected Gebrselassie to win and they will do so again this Saturday when he attempts the 5,000 double. But what a victory it was on Monday evening and what a race.

The Georgian capital had been at its hottest and most humid. All the athletes in the Olympic Stadium had trickles of sweat on their foreheads even before they competed, including the coolest of the cool, Michael Johnson.

After two laps the 10,000 runners were glistening under the floodlights as if all of them had stepped out of a shower. Burundi's Aloys Nizigama found himself the reluctant leader and, despite his best efforts to step aside, took his fellow Africans through the first 5,000 metres.

The three Kenyans, bonded as a team, then made their first anti-Ethiopian move with Josphat Machuka increasing the tempo dramatically. Gebrselassie slipped in behind him and suddenly there were only six runners in contention: the Ethiopian; the Kenyan trio of Machuka, Paul Koech and Paul Tergat; Morocco's Salah Hissou and the persevering Nizigama.

In the world cross country championships in Stellenbosch last March, the Kenyans had conspired to run the finish out of Gebrselassie and were considerably helped by a two-foot high tree-trunk which the Ethiopian stumbled over, allowing Tergat to break clear and win.

The tall, long-striding Kenyan was the danger man again, although towards the finish it was Koech who upped the pace in an effort to drain Gebrselassie.

Then, with 2,000 metres remaining, Tergat struck with a 60-second lap. If he had hoped the move would be decisive then he was to be disappointed. Gebrselassie, the world record-holder at 5,000 and 10,000 responded in cruel harmony.

And so they raced in symmetry until the bell: Tergat loping, hoping, fearing; Gebrselassie waiting. Seconds before the last lap the Ethiopian moved alongside Tergat and looked hard at the Kenyan's face; the glance lasted a split second, but it was the bard, calculated look of a killer.

The blue shoes blurred and Gebrselassie was gone. No runner can match this man's extraordinary late and remorseless acceleration. Tergat's face remained impassive; Gebrselassie's mouth was bared wide. In the last 200 metres the Kenyan closed, but was never close enough. Gebrselassie checked to his right and left like a child crossing the road. There was no opponent to run him down. And no tree-trunk ahead. The title was his.

The effort had been immense. The final 5k was covered in a time that would have won virtually every 5,000 metres gold in Olympic history. Gebrselassie could barely move his legs to make the victory lap. Some long time afterwards he fiercely attacked the composition of the track which, he complained, was like "running on the road". It was built to the most speed-friendly specifications with sprint records much in mind.

"They don't care about us," said Gebrselassie, whose feet took a fearful pounding. It will not, however, prevent him from tackling the double, last achieved by another Ethiopian, Miruts Yifter, in the Moscow Olympics.

Defending Olympic champion Khalid Skah of Morocco finished seventh, more than 30 seconds behind the winner as African runners filled the first eight places. Africa has now won nine athletics medals at Atlanta, two of them gold.