Paul Tergat, the proficient Kenyan running machine, was confirmed as the most successful cross country athlete of them all in Belfast yesterday after he had claimed the World Championship for a fifth consecutive year.

Officially, he won by just four seconds from team-mate Patrick Ivuti when crossing the line in 38 minutes 28 seconds at the end of a 12,000 metres journey which probably seemed more like 12 miles for the great majority of the field.

The reality was, however, that this 29-year-old father of two controlled the race with such authority that he could have multiplied the winning margin tenfold, had he so desired.

Instead, he chose to give Ivuti something like 15 minutes of glory, waving him through to take the lead at half way after his long rhythmic stride had carried him through the mud with seemingly effortless ease in the early part of the race.

Cutting through the wind and rain in a manner which belied his frail frame, Ivuti spared nothing in the hope that he could somehow get away from the champion, but more than most he knew that he owed his time in the spotlight to the benevolence of the man immediately behind him.

Shortening his stride only fractionally on climbs which slowed others to almost walking pace, Tergat tracked Ivuti diligently until the moment came to put his foot on the pedal. Then, in a matter of no more than 20 strides, he was gone from his challenger, out on his own and into the record books.

Never in its long history has the sport been dominated so completely by one man. There were those who felt that his epoch was attributable in part to the modern conversion to parkland courses and the commonly-held theory that cross country is now an extended form of track running.

This was the day when he exploded that myth. The sport went back to its roots yesterday with Barnett Demense presenting the kind of test that was the stuff of legend in other, less fashionable days for cross country running.

After three hours of non-stop rain, the course was positively dangerous in places with some runners spinning off into spectators, motor-racing style, on the descents. The measure of Tergat's ability was that amidst all the chaos his momentum never faltered.

"I have seldom run in conditions like these," he admitted. "But I said before the race that the course would not give Europeans an advantage and I was right."

Only Paulo Guerra, the Portuguese athlete who has twice won the European title, offered any real resistance to the Kenyans. From an early stage, he probably sensed that he was running in a different race to that in which Tergat and Ivuti were involved but he still savoured the satisfaction of breaking Joshua Chelanga and Evans Ruto to take the bronze medal.

If the Irish contingent hoped that the foul weather would somehow minimise the discrepancy in standard with the Africans and top Europeans they were mistaken. John Ferrin, grown in confidence since his national championship success, ran to the limit of his ability to finish 44th, 12 places ahead of fellow Belfast-man Dermot Donnelly, but essentially, they were among the supporting cast on a day when Ireland finished 10th in the team event.

Anne Keenan Buckley was justifiably proud of her performance in finishing 22nd in the women's short-course championship, won going away by the Kenyan Jackline Maranga in 15 minutes nine seconds.

At 37, she had fulfilled her role of captaincy to the letter but in spite of brave performances by Brid Dennehy (28th), Una English (54th) and Niamh Beirne (55th), Ireland still finished down the pack in seventh place in the team race.

Yet, it was by some way the best Irish placing of the championships. "I came here with the hope that I could somehow finish in the top 30 and to that extent I'm delighted with my run," said Keenan Buckley. "This was cross country running as it should be and it suited us."

Up front, Yamna Oubouhou-Belka, a naturalised Frenchwoman, and Finland's Annemari Sandell took on Maranga with conviction, but once the decisive break came they were always running for the minor placings.

Maranga, nimble and superbly balanced on the inclines, built up a lead of 10 metres midway through the last lap and was running at a different pace to anybody else over the last 800 metres.