The 24-year-old defending champion from Ethiopia, going for his sixth straight title, dropped out on the final lap today. Zersenay Tadese of Eritrea won the 12-kilometer race in 35 minutes, 50 seconds.

Bekele and Tadese traded the lead for much of the race, but Tadese started to pull away on the final 2-kilometer lap. The world record holder at both the 5,000 and 10,000 meters then dropped out.

Bekele, unbeaten at the cross-country worlds since 2001 with five long-course and five short-course titles, decided to enter the race only two weeks ago.

Moses Mosop of Kenya was second in 36:13, followed by Bernard Kipyego of Kenya in 36:37.

''I feel happy and proud for all Eritrea,'' said Tadese, who kissed his hands and raised them in the air as he crossed the finish line in 90-degree weather. ''I am very happy and have no words to express my feelings.''

Earlier, Lornah Kiplagat won the women's 8K race — the first European to capture the title since Britain's Paula Radcliffe five years ago.

Kiplagat, who was born in Kenya and races for the Netherlands, won in 26:23. She was followed by two Ethiopians — Tirunesh Dibaba, last year's winner, in 26:47, and Meselech Melkamu in 26:48.

The championships feature runners from more than 60 nations and are being held under tight security after the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi said it had been alerted to a possible terrorist threat targeting the races. An Islamic group, which had threatened to disrupt the event to draw attention to Kenyan terror suspects who have been deported to Somalia, called off plans for a demonstration Thursday.

Kenya won the overall team title. Kenyans Asbel Kiprop won the junior men's 8-kilometer race in 24:07, and Linet Chepkwemoi Barasa won the junior women's 6-kilometer race in 20:52.