Athletics: Gebrselassie upstaged by young Bekele

Haile Gebrselassie's trademark sprint finish was employed to killing advantage again last night in the Hengelo stadium where he has twice set the world 10,000 metres record. But on this occasion it was produced by young fellow Ethiopian Kenenisa Bekele, who tracked his legendary compatriot from the gun before accelerating past him in the final straight.

Whether this marks a Changing of the Guard at the top of world middle distance running remains to be seen, but last night's victory was a significant marker for the double world cross country champion who, at 20, is 10 years' Gebrselassie's junior.

Bekele's winning mark of 26min 53.70sec was more than half a minute slower than the world record of 26min 22.75sec Gebrselassie set on the same track in 1998. But it became clear early on that the record was not the point of this race. The result was everything.

"I don't feel bad about beating Haile," said Bekele. "I have a lot of respect for him as a competitor and friend, but when we step onto the field we are competitors, and my aim was of course to win."

Gebrselassie said: "Of course I'm not happy that I lost. I knew Kenenisa was strong and that it was a possibility that I'd lose, but I never expected that he would actually beat me today."

The race produced another exceptional Ethiopian performance from Sileshi Sihine, who was in contact until 200 metres from the end and finished third in 26.58.76.

Jade Johnson, long jump silver medallist at last year's Commonwealth Games and European Championships, got her outdoor season under way in highly promising fashion at the Bedford International Games yesterday. The Herne Hill Harrier finished more than 50 centimetres clear of her nearest challenger, heptathlete Julie Hollman, to win in 6.63m, just 10cm inside her personal best set last summer.

Meanwhile two of Britain's leading sprinters also enjoyed constructive outings. Mark Lewis-Francis, whose wind-assisted 100 metres time of 10.16sec in Florida three weeks ago is the fastest run by a Briton this year, recorded an easy victory at Bedford in 10.40sec. And at yesterday's Thales FBK Games in Hengelo Darren Campbell finished third in a time of 10.33sec despite running into a headwind of over two metres per second.

Iwan Thomas was another British athlete who enjoyed a profitable international trip at the weekend, winning his 400m race in Floro, Norway, in a time of 45.94sec.