You beat Haile Gebrselassie, but you never defeat him. The effort is always so total the only thing that defeats him in the end is the limits of his own strength and endurance. Last night those limits were finally surpassed on the Olympic stage, and with that his once undisputed reign as the king of distance running is now firmly in the hands of his fellow Ethiopian Kenenisa Bekele.

Like any great king he didn't lie down without a fight, but - wow! - has Olympic distance running ever witnessed an athlete with the closing speed of Bekele? When he made his final move 500 metres from home Bekele moved into that most singular of athletic zones - unbeatable. Lay a bet right now on him adding the 5,000-metre double next Saturday. His winning time of 27 minutes 5.10 seconds also bettered Gebrselassie's Olympic record set eight years ago in Atlanta. The final changing of the guard couldn't have been more spectacular.

For 17 laps Gebrselassie did exactly what he would normally do and sat on the shoulders of all his rivals - and then finally surrendered to his limits. He had cracked. Remarkably though, both Bekele and the other Ethiopian Sileshi Sihine slowed the pace in the chance the champion might recover. It partly worked and with four laps to go the leading group was back to five.

Then Gebrselassie took one last dip into the well and found it empty. He was dropped for good a lap later. Only the young Zersenay Tadesse of Eritrea and Uganda's Boniface Kiprop were now chasing the Ethiopian duo.

For just a moment it seemed Sihine might challenge the young pretender. But into the straight for the penultimate time Bekele swept past with all the grace and fluidity that has allowed him twice lower world records this summer. He would run his last 800 metres in 1:55.5.

Sihine took second in 27:09.39, with Tadesse taking third in 27:22.57 - his arms aloft reflecting the height of his achievement, a new Eritrean record. Gebrselassie was fifth in 27:27.70, and straight away fell in the arms of his team-mates.

So went the greatest of Olympic 10,000-metre finals, volume three. Through a dense, airless heat that at times must have felt like the plains of Africa the Ethiopian trio shifted seamlessly between gears and the surrounding runners, cautiously at first, but soon hauling down the track at their own pace - and eventually making it their race.

On the night Bekele couldn't have been more satisfied. He's only just turned 22 and his potential knows no bounds. Gebrselassie, looking every one of his 31 years, will never race on the track again, but this was a fitting send-off. Another total, complete effort.

For Sihine, himself only a novice of 20, the silver medal reinforces Ethiopia's total dominance. The Kenyans have struggled badly to find a successor to Paul Tergat, second to Gebrselassie in the past two Olympics.

The non-African world just couldn't get a look in. In fact they were destroyed. From 12 laps out it was a seven-man race, with the Kenyan Moses Mosop and Kiprop first to drop off the Ethiopian tempo. Nine to go it and it was down to four, only Kiprop now still in chase. The top European was African-born Frenchman Ismail Sghyr, eighth of the 24 starters.

The Athens Stadium, as majestic and colourful as it is, couldn't quite replicate the atmosphere of that famous Monday night in Sydney four years ago, when the largest recorded athletics crowd of 112,525 witnessed, among other great races, Gebrselassie's second successive Olympic 10,000-metre victory.

Yet by these Olympic standards it was a rousing opening night. Bekele knew how to make the stadium hum with each passing lap, his tireless rhythm drawing in everyone in the house. It was a race that no doubt will stand the test of greatness, even by Gebrselassie's standards. Athens has produced another Olympic distance race that deserved to be framed and hung on the wall.

10,000m - first six: 1 Kenenisa Bekele (Eth) 27:05.10 (OR); 2 Sileshi Sihine (Eth) 27:09.39; 3 Zersenay Tadesse (Eri) 27:22.57; 4 Boniface Kiprop (Uga) 27.25,48; 5 Haile Gebrselassie (Eth) 27:27.70; 6 John Cheruiyot Korir (Ken) 27:41.91.