Cragg takes the scalp of Bekele

Athletics: There's not much in world athletics right now that feels any better than beating Kenenisa Bekele.

Ethiopia's Olympic 10,000-metre champion, double world-record holder and undisputed king of distance running is almost accepted as unbeatable. At least he was before Ireland's Alistair Cragg bolted past him to win the 3,000 metres at the Boston Indoor Games on Saturday night.

When an athlete like Bekele losses there is likely to be some drama involved, and that was certainly the case in Boston. Yet Cragg has clearly taken another major step towards delivering a major title soon.

Ultimately he beat Bekele because he's good enough. The last athlete to share that feeling was Hicham El Guerrouj of Morocco after the Athens Olympic 5,000 metres. And Bekele, who has won both World cross country titles for the past three years, can still count all the defeats of his career on one hand.

Cragg came to Boston looking for an encouraging start to his indoor season and left with what will be one of the most sensational results of the year. His winning time of seven minutes 39.89 seconds - the fastest of 2005 - should be beaten as the season progresses, but by leaving Bekele 1.53 seconds behind he has truly stirred athletics' aficionados around the world.

It was also a race with several stories to tell. Bekele had come to Boston for his first race since the sudden death of his Ethiopian fiancée, Alem Techale, a month ago. Just how much that hurt still lingered only he knows, but what partly led to his downfall on Saturday was Bekele's confusion over the number of laps in the race. Indoor 3,000-metre running requires 15 laps, whereas Bekele apparently raced for only 14.

The split times reveal more: Cragg was in front after seven laps when the pacemaker dropped out prematurely, and led through the mile mark in 4:05.35. He then allowed the second Ethiopian, Markos Geneti, to take over, with Bekele in third. Two laps from home Cragg retook the lead, but down the back stretch Bekele put his head down and hammered past, running that 200 metres in 26.53.

Coming to the bell, Bekele moved out to lane three, thinking the race was over. He quickly realised he had another lap to go, and took off again. In the middle of the turn he stepped on the curve and stumbled, recovered, and kept going. Coming off the turn, Cragg sensed his moment and kicked past, and easily held on for the win.

"Well, I would never wish these kind of circumstances on anyone," said Cragg, "but I'm just glad I was there to take the opportunity. He went out to the third lane with a lap to go. You could see his mind wasn't on the race. I knew something wasn't right. Maybe he just wasn't feeling good or maybe it was an honest mistake. But it kept me going and made me excited.

"So I tried to hit him straight after he made the mistake. After that I don't remember much. Just get to the finish. Not too many people can say they've beaten Kenenisa Bekele. It will change my whole attitude about the track and field world.

"Ninety-nine times out of 100 he probably would have beaten me. I just had to make sure I was there when the wheels came off and he made a mistake."

Cragg, still only 24, has come away with the most significant win of his career. "Going into last summer he was Bekele the Great. But I also know what had been happening in his life, and I knew he was human again. I felt like I could go with him, no matter what."

The South African-born Cragg, who declared for Ireland four years ago and finished 12th in the Olympic 5,000 metres, has also made himself the early favourite for the 3,000-metre title at the European Indoor championships in Madrid in March.

His victory capped what was a good weekend for Irish athletes, with Mark Carroll winning another 3,000 metres in Boston in 7:46.60 on Friday night, while Derval O'Rourke maintained her fine form by winning the 60 metre hurdles in Budapest in 8.15 seconds.