BEIJING — Kenenisa Bekele has successfully defended his Olympic 10,000 meters title in a games record, leading teammate Sileshi Sihine again in an Ethiopian 1-2 finish.

Bekele hit the front 450 meters from the finish Sunday and crossed in 27 minutes, 01.17 seconds to beat the record he set at Athens four years ago.

Sihine, who was second at the Athens Olympics and at the last two world championships, took silver at 27:02.77, and Kenya's Micah Kogo won the bronze medal in 27:04.11.

Haile Gebrselassie, 35, who won the 10,000 at the 1996 and 2000 Games, faded to finish in sixth place. He switched to the marathon after the Athens Olympics, where he finished fifth in the 10,000, but opted against competing at the marathon in Beijing because of pollution concerns.