Kenenisa Bekele is back. The Ethiopian distance-running legend is set to participate in the 2026 BMW Berlin Marathon, his first race since his DNF at the 2025 New York City Marathon.
Bekele returns to the streets where he set his personal best of 2:01:41 in 2019, good for the second fastest at the time and the seventh fastest ever. Now, at 44 years old, Bekele is looking to show that he’s still got it.
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Before he starts his run on Sunday, Sept. 27, here is a look back at the illustrious career of one of the best distance runners to ever lace up his shoes.
Three-Time Olympic Gold Medalist
Bekele was already a household name before he took the track at the 2004 Olympic Games, but he cemented himself as one of the greats in Athens. He earned his first gold medal in his first race, clocking a 27:05.10 in the 10,000m. He also snatched a silver medal with a 13:14.59 sprint in the 5,000m - historically placing behind Hicham El Guerrouj.
In Beijing four years later, Bekele claimed two more golds. He defended his title in the 10,000m, improving with a 27:01.17, but this time, he led the way in the 5,000m, too. He soared past his previous Olympic mark, winning his third gold thanks to a 12:57.82 effort.
Five-Time World Champion
From 2003-2009, Bekele had a complete stranglehold on the 10,000m. Bekele won the World Athletics Championship four cycles in a row, mixing in a triplet of Olympic golds during the off years.
If this dominance wasn’t enough, he tacked on a 5,000m championship in 2009 for good measure after coming close with a third-place finish in 2003. With the double win, he became the first man in history to win the 10,000m and 5,000m at the same World Championship.
Eleven-Time World Cross Country Champion
Bekele’s success on the track was somehow topped by his work on grass, as he became the most decorated cross country runner of all time. Bekele won six individual long-track titles and five individual short-track titles.
His 11 individual championships (not counting his U20 win or four team titles during that time), are more than double John Ngugi’s second-place mark of five wins.
2:01:41 Marathon Personal Best
The fanfare surrounding Bekele’s return to his old stomping grounds makes sense when you consider what he accomplished at the fabled Berlin Marathon in 2019.
The then-37-year-old marched through the notoriously fast course and clocked a 2:01:41, the second fastest mark at the time. Recent success from competitors has pushed Bekele’s mark down to seventh all-time, but finishing within two seconds of the world record at the time was a stunning achievement.
World Indoor Champion
Spending most of his career pushing the limits in the distance sphere, Bekele took a quick detour in 2006 to conquer the middle distances. He became the World Indoor Champion by blazing to a 7:32.39 in the 3,000m short track at the Olimpiyskiy Stadion in Moskva, Russia.
Two-Time World Athlete Of The Year
As if there weren’t enough medals around Bekele’s neck, he was honored with two World Athlete Of The Year trophies. He won in back-to-back years in 2004 and 2005 for both his Olympic dominance and cross country long and short course sweep.
The accomplishment vaulted Bekele into special territory, as he is one of the nine total and six male multi-time World Athlete Of The Year winners.
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