► IAAF World Championships

Prize money: $150,000
Winnings: $60,000

With Haile Gebrselassie as the world’s long-distance star (two consecutive Olympic titles and four 10,000m World Championships, and with the 5,000m world record to his credit), a poor performance at the 2001 World Championships two years earlier was the first sign of the end of his dominance. Now Haile, then aged 30, faced an opponent close to his hometown, with a very similar, and very efficient, approach to competition. Bekele arrived in Paris having just turned 21. While Gebrselassie tried to show strength, looking to burn his compatriot and new rival, the rest, including five Kenyan-born athletes, were out of contention for victory. The last to cling to the lead group was Sileshi Sihine, securing the Ethiopian hat-trick, but victory was completely up in the air. Bekele remained a shadow, glued to Gebrselassie, until he made a move with two hundred metres to go. The powerful sprint that Gebrselassie had always shown and that day was no match for Bekele. In the final stretch, Bekele extended the gap to more than a second to take the victory, setting 25 August 2003 as the date on which the sceptre of world distance running began to change hands. Bekele went on to beat Sihine at the next Olympic Games, with Gebrselassie out of the game, and achieved the double (5,000m and 10,000m) in 2008. Subsequently, Gebrselassie focused his efforts on 10k, half marathon and marathon events, setting multiple world records before retiring.