INQUIRER Sports

EUGENE -- Kenenisa Bekele, of Ethiopia, fell short in his bid to break his own world record but still managed to run the fastest 10,000 meters ever on American soil at Sunday's Prefontaine Classic.

Bekele, who was competing in his first outdoor race in the United States, finished in 26 minutes, 25.97 seconds, becoming the first runner to break 27:00 in the United States.

The previous mark was held by Abraham Chebii who ran 27:04.20 seven years ago.

Organizers moved the 10,000m up to an early morning time slot in order to boost the three-time World Champion's chances of breaking his record.

Bekele, who also holds the 5,000m world mark of 12:37.35, was cheered on by a crowd of about 5,000 at Hayward Field on the campus of the University of Oregon in Eugene.

He ran alone for the majority of the race after lead runner Abreham Feleke dropped out halfway through the race which featured eight Ethiopians and five Kenyans.