Bekele double, U.S. relay redemption

By Mitch Phillips

BEIJING (Reuters) - Kenenisa Bekele became the first man to complete the Olympic long-distance double for 28 years when he romped to the 5,000 meters title on the final evening of athletics competition at the Bird's Nest on Saturday.

There was more east African success on the track when Kenyan Wilfred Bungei took gold in the men's 800 meters and compatriot Nancy Jebet Langat claimed the women's 1,500m.

Norway's Andreas Thorkildsen retained his javelin crown but there was a shock in the high jump were Blanka Vlasic, unbeaten all season, lost out to Belgium's Tia Hellebaut.

The United States, who suffered double disaster in the sprint relay heats, roared back in the 4x400 with a thrilling win in the women's race and dominant victory in the men's, the traditional finale of the last night session.

Bekele, who retained his 10,000 title on Sunday, wanted to go one better than his silver of four years ago and, as world record holder, started hot favorite to emulate the double of his compatriot Tirunesh Dibaba in the women's long-distance events.

The race followed a predictable pattern as Bekele was given a ride by brother Tariku and the third Ethiopian, Abreham Cherkos.

The rest of the field, bar the Kenyans, dropped back before Bekele took off at the bell to win comfortably.

His time of 12 minutes 57.82 seconds was an Olympic record and made him the first man to do the double since compatriot Miruts Yifter.

There were two more medals for Kenya as Eliud Kipchoge took silver and Edwin Cheruiyot Soi the bronze.

Bungei finally claimed the major title his talent has promised for years when he delivered a dominant display in the 800.

The race was there for the taking after several leading contenders failed to get past the semi-finals and the 28-year-old Kenyan, still the fifth-fastest man ever to run two laps, drove home from the bell to win in 1:44.65 seconds.

Ismail Ahmed Ismail of Sudan took silver with another Kenyan, world champion Alfred Kirwa Yego, finishing strongly for bronze.

"When I look back at where I was in 2001 I never expected to be still running but I'm happy I continued," said Bungei.

Langat's win was much more of a surprise as world champion and favorite Maryam Yusuf Jamal of Bahrain led through the bell.

However, sickness sapped her strength and Langat tore past with 250 to go and won easily in 4:00.23. Ukraine took both minor medals through Iryna Lishchynska and Nataliya Tobias.