Ethiopia reaffirmed its position as the superpower of long-distance running at the World Athletics Championships in Paris on Sunday when its runners grabbed all three medals in the men's 10000m race.

Twenty-one-year-old Kenenisa Bekele won the gold medal in a new championship record time of 26:49.57, the world's best performance of this season and his personal best as well.

World record holder Haile Gebrselassie, 30, won the silver in 26:50.77, his best performance this season, but a fair bit off his best of 26:22.75.

Gebrselassie also held the previous world championship record of 27:12.95 set in Goteborg, Sweden, eight years ago.

Sileshi Sihine, 20, won the bronze with a timing of 27:01.44.

Surprisingly, Abdullah Ahmad Hassan of Qatar came in fourth with a new Asian record of 27:18.28, ahead of three runners from Kenya, the earlier superpower of long-distance running.