Kenenisa Bekele did himself one better than last time, leading most of the way to easily win the 5,000-meter race Saturday and complete a long-distance double at the Beijing Olympics. Four years after missing out on a similar feat at the Athens Games, Bekele added to his 10,000m gold by winning in an Olympic record time of 12 minutes, 57.82 seconds. “It is fantastic. It is very special,” Bekele said. “It is not easy to achieve double gold.” Bekele emulated Ethiopian compatriot Tirunesh Dibaba in claiming the long-distance double - the first man to achieve the feat since another Ethiopian Miruts Yifter at the 1980 Moscow Games. On the penultimate day of the Beijing Games China took an unassailable lead on the overall medal table with 49, ahead of the United States on 33, Russia with 21 and Great Britain 19. Earlier at the Bird's Nest, Argentina won its second straight Olympic gold in men's football, avenging the 1996 final loss to Nigeria with a 1-0 win. There were a total of 31 gold medals to be awarded Saturday, the penultimate day of the Beijing Games. Besides the men's football match, there were also team finals in women's volleyball, handball and basketball, and men's field hockey and baseball. Other medals were decided in canoe-kayak, mountain biking, boxing, taekwondo, diving and table tennis. Bekele looked effortless in his run around the Olympic track, mostly staying out front and slowly but surely leaving his rivals behind. Kenyan teammates Eliud Kipchoge and Edwin Cheryiyot Soi stayed with the Ethiopian great until the final lap, but neither had enough left to challenge Bekele at the finish. Kipchoge finished second Saturday in 13:02.80, and Cheryiyot Soi was third in 13:06.22. Four years ago in Athens, Bekele missed out on the long-distance double when Hicham El Guerrouj beat him by .20 seconds in the 5,000. In the 4x400m relays, the United States rebounded from its sprint shutout to win both the men's and women's races. Jeremy Wariner anchored the men to victory in 2:55.39. The 400 champion LaShawn Merritt, 400 hurdles gold medalist Angelo Taylor and David Neville were also on the team. The Bahamas took silver, edging Russia. It was the seventh straight Olympics the Americans have crossed the line first, although the Sydney 2000 championship team was stripped of the gold medal for a doping violation. It left the United States in front with seven gold medals and 23 overall, one gold ahead of Russia, which had 18 overall. Jamaica also had six gold but only 11 overall for third place, ahead of Kenya. In the women's race, Sanya Richards ran the final to help the Americans win in 3:18.55. Mary Wineberg, Allyson Felix and Monique Henderson made up the rest of the team. When Richards took the baton for the final leg, the US team was trailing Russia. But she closed the gap, catching Anastasia Kapachinskaya in the final straight and, with clenched teeth, secured the gold medal in the last meters in 3:18.55. Jamaica was third. Kenya's Wilfred Bungei won the men's 800m 1:44.65, and teammate Nancy Jebet Langat took gold in the women's 1,500m in 4:00.23. Ukrainian teammates Iryna Lyshchynska and Nataliya Tobias took silver and bronze, outrunning Maryam Jamal of Bahrain. Bungei, the 2006 world indoor champion, beat Ismail Ahmed Ismail of Sudan by only .05 seconds. World champion Alfred Yego of Kenya got the bronze. On the field, Andreas Thorkildsen of Norway successfully defended his Olympic javelin title with an Olympic record throw of 90.57. Thorkildsens fourth toss went 90.57 meters. Ainars Kovals of Latvia moved up two places into the silver medal position with his final attempt, relegating world champion Tero Pitkamaki of Finland to the bronze. Tia Hellebaut of Belgium won women's high jump with a leap of 2.05 meters. World champion Blanka Vlasic of Croatia took silver by clearing the same height as Hellebaut on her second attempt. Anna Chicherova of Russia took bronze at 2.03 meters ahead of defending champion Elena Slesarenko. In the men's football final, Angel di Maria scored the lone goal in Argentina's win, chipping the ball over onrushing goalkeeper Ambruse Vanzekin in the 58th minute. Nigeria beat Argentina 3-2 in the final of the Atlanta Games, but the Argentines defeated Paraguay 1-0 in the 2004 final. The men's football final, the only one to be played in Beijing's main Olympic stadium, was watched by a crowd of 89,102 that included former Argentina great Diego Maradona. Russia swept both synchronized swimming golds for the third consecutive Olympics by adding the team event to Anastasia Ermakova and Anastasia Davydova's duet win. The eight-person Russian team, which included Ermakova and Davydova, finished with 99.500 points. Spain took silver and China got bronze. Hiromi Kobayashi, a member of Japan's team, passed out after being helped out of the water. She was taken off the pool deck on a stretcher after hyperventilating as the routine ended, but was unharmed. James Degale won boxing's middleweight division, giving Britain its 19th gold medal - the country's best haul since it hosted the 1908 London Games and won 56. South Korea beat defending champion Cuba 3-2 to win the baseball gold medal. The South Koreans won after Yuliesky Gourriel grounded into a double play with the bases loaded. The United States got the bronze medal with an 8-4 win over Japan. Norway won the women's team handball competition, beating Russia 34-27, and Brazil defeated the United States 25-18, 18-25, 25-13 25-21 to win its first gold medal in women's volleyball. Germany won the men's field hockey title by beating Spain 1-0. Christopher Zeller scored the only goal in the 19th minute. In women's basketball, the defending champion United States beat Australia in the final for the third straight time. Lisa Leslie scored 14 points to cap her Olympic career with a fourth straight gold medal in the 92-65 win. - AP __
