Bekele in sight of rare double

The new world 5,000 and 10,000 metres record holder is now indisputably the best and is ready to emulate his distinguished predecessor Miruts Yifter by winning the Athens Olympic double.

This year Bekele won the world cross-country long and short double for the third time in a row. No other man has done it once since the short-course race was introduced in 1998.

He has also broken his famous compatriot Haile Gebrselassie's world 5,000 indoor and outdoor record and added the outdoor 10,000 record for good measure.

By common consent Gebrselassie, with 18 world records, four world 10,000 titles and two Olympic golds, is the greatest distance runner in history.

His last-gasp victory over five-times world cross-country champion Paul Tergat in the 2000 Sydney Olympics 10,000 final climaxed one of the most exciting races ever staged at the Games.

But Gebrselassie is now 30 and has been troubled by injury this year. He remains determined to win a third Olympic gold before stepping up to the marathon but the odds for today's final are heavily in favour of Bekele, who floats across any surface with deceptive ease.

If Bekele does win he could then come up against Moroccan Hicham El Guerrouj in the 5,000. El Guerrouj, the world champion and record holder over 1,500 metres, has yet to win an Olympic title in two attempts over his specialist distance but is still contemplating an ambitious double.

After Wednesday's shot put finals at Ancient Olympia, the action switches to the Olympic stadium today where the first medals will be decided in the men's 20kms walk. World champion and world record holder Jefferson Perez is the clear favourite to win the title for Ecuador.

100m on Sunday

The main focus of the first weekend is the men's 100 metres final on Sunday and a projected clash between defending champion Maurice Greene of the United States and Jamaican student Asafa Powell.

While Africans will dominate the long distances and Americans the sprints, the strength events are likely to be the preserve of the eastern Europeans.

World champion Virgilijus Alekna of Lithuania is the world leader in the discus, Adrian Annus from Hungary dominates the hammer and Alexandr Ivanov of Russia tops the javelin lists.