Throughout the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, and throughout the major competitions, it is often the sprinters, the 100m/200m runners, 100m/200m swimmers, that were talked about mostly. Commentators often shout out their names near the finish, papers often print their pictures more than others, highlighting their achievements. And my gosh, these are great athletes, amazing Olympians. Who could forget Phelps, or Bolt, the two reigning sprinters in their respective sports; swimming, and track & field.
But tonight, Bekele is the first athlete in T&F that makes me shake my head in disbelief and stare at the tube box in wonder. Most long distance athletes are little known. Marathon runners, 1500m swimmer, 20 km fast walk, 10 km run. I am guessing, perhaps we could attribute this to the short attention span of the viewers in modern days. I have to admit, I can't sit in front of TV through 3 hours for the marathon (I still can't understand how human being can do that). However, I am lucky enough to catch Kenenisa Bekele's 5000m final today. What a delight, what a great run from him! To think that Bekele just won 10000m a few nights ago, this almost makes me cry.
So it's 16 laps. He started off nicely, leading the others and gesturing his brother and fellow Ethiopian to follow him at the head of the pack. While brother Tariku and mate Cherkos eventually dropped off their pace, he remained consistent from start to finish without showing any great difficulty. During the last lap, Kenenisa quickened his pace (still!) and claimed Gold for Ethiopia, edging out number 2 by 5 seconds. What an excellent runner! Most runners who led in the beginning would've tired during their last laps from the lactic acid in their muscle. When that happens, usually it's ugly. Hopes are crushed, especially seeing the athletes behind you go past during that last crucial moments (plenty of those happening). Kenenisa Bekele emerged the champion and didn't even stop to take a breath after finishing. Beautiful!!!
Without playing down all the excellent athletes in the Olympics, all hail the long distance athletes! BRAVO. The mental strength they have is absolutely brilliant. Olympics never cease to inspire us of the human spirit, the ability to push our bodies to the extreme and never giving up.
I LOVE THE OLYMPICS. Simply beautiful.
Seven years of preparation will be over in two weeks, ending tomorrow. Let me go back and silently wait for the next four years. :(
