As the owner of two Olympic gold medals, four world titles and 18 world records Haile Gebrselassie could justifiably claim to be the greatest distance runner of all time.

Yet while he prepares for the Athens Olympics and his bid for an unprecedented third 10,000 metres title another Ethiopian has stolen his two most prestigious world records and is now favourite for the gold medal.

At the age of 22, Kenenisa Bekele is a phenonemon. This year he won the world long and short course cross country titles for the third time. No other man has even done it once.

When the European track season began, Bekele broke Gebrselassie's world 5,000 record by two seconds in the Dutch town of Hengelo, clocking 12 minutes 37.35 seconds after running the last six laps on his own. He had already beaten Gebrselassie's indoor record in Birmingham, England.

Eight days later he took two seconds off Gebrselassie's world 10,000 mark, clocking 26:20.31 in the Czech city of Ostrava.

Bekele was four seconds off the pace at the halfway mark. He ran the last 12 laps by himself and still demolished the old mark.

"Maybe I can take another two seconds off," he said calmly after the race.

Gebrselassie never mastered running over country but has been untouchable on the track, although he needed all his sinewy strength to head Kenyan Paul Tergat to the line in Sydney four years ago.

Tergat, who won a record five world cross country long course titles and will run the marathon in Athens, believes Bekele could have peaked too soon. Others are not so sure.

Gebrselassie, nine years his rival's senior, will meet Bekele in the first track final of the Games on August 20. Bekele has resisted the temptation to try to complete a 5,000-10,000 double.

"Ten thousand metres is my best race," he said. "So I will run the 10,000."