Nairobi — IT IS SAID, JAMAICAN sprinter Usain Bolt is a man for the moment while Ethiopian long distance runner Kenenisa Bekele is a man for all seasons.

Well, after years of attempts, Bekele showed why he deserves a special place in the history of distance running when he finally got a share ($333,333) of this year's lucrative Golden League jackpot.

The other winners were American sprinter Sanya Richards (400m) and Yelena Isinbayeva (pole vault) at the conclusion of the series in Brussels on September 4.

Bekele now joins the ranks of African athlete Wilson Kipketer (now running for Denmark), Pamela Jelimo and Maria Mutola who have all won the jackpot.

However it was Bolt (with a 19.57 seconds run) who electrified the final Golden League meeting to beat a three-year old Tyson Gay record of 19.79 seconds in the 200m race.

Bolt's run was the fourth fastest of all-time, only bettered by his two world records (19.19 and 19.30) and Michael Johnson's previous mark of 19.32 secs.

Yet when Bekele was asked if he had achieved the legendary status that Bolt said he was striving for, he said "yes." "I have achieved everything," he said.

"Olympic gold medals, World titles indoors and out, 11 senior individual World Cross Country wins and World records at the 5,000m and 10,000m," he said.

The annual jackpot has proven more elusive for men than for women. While at least one woman has banked either all or a share of the prize in every year since the prize's inception in 1998, male athletes have lost out in four of the last six years.

When the 27-year-old Ethiopian said that he had achieved everything, he was thinking in terms of medals and records. But this being the last year that the jackpot was being paid out, it was his last chance to add that to his achievements. From next season, the Golden League will be no more, courtesy of the global financial crunch, and will be replaced by the IAAF Diamond League.

Bekele stands out as the only athlete to win at every outdoor global championship (World and Olympics) since 2005. In fact, his victory sequence is twice as long as that achieved by any other athlete, covering six successive global events starting by his 10,000m triumph at the 2003 World Championships in Paris.

Yet, after years of staying in the shadow of fellow countryman Haile Gebrselassie, Bekele now finds that it is not he but Bolt who is getting all the headlines. But Bekele is as gracious towards Bolt as he has been over the years to Gebrselassie.

"In my eyes it is correct that Usain gets that much more attention because what he did was unique," Bekele said in Berlin. "He not only won two gold medals but he broke two world records as well."

IN THE WAKE OF HIS 5,000/10,000m Olympic double in Beijing last year, a feat he repeated in Berlin, he was asked whether it was his aim to be more successful than Gebrselassie.

"It's a difficult question. How can I answer? In future I can count my medals and compare to Gebrselassie's," he said.

In a head-to-head count of senior global gold medals and world records, Gebrselassie comes out on top at the World Indoors (4-1), World Road Running/Half Marathon Championships (1-0) and World records (27-6).

But Bekele is ahead of Gebrselassie in Olympic gold (3-2), World Championships gold (5-4) and World Cross Country titles (11-0). Gebrselassie had four failed attempts in the senior category of the World Cross Country Championships.

But Bekele has no intention of running in the coming World Half Marathon Championships in Birmingham, England on October 11. He however dreams of taking up the marathon. Gebrselassie holds the world record at 2:03.59 set in Berlin, Germany.

What Bekele knows for sure is that he would like to attack the 3,000m record held by Kenya's Daniel Komen, at 7:20.67, since 1996.

"This record is very strong, it has stayed for a long time," Bekele said.

Perhaps next year, being a rest year for the World Championships and a non-Olympic year, Bekele might try to add to his one World Indoor title, in Doha (12-14 March), or get another title in Bydgoszcz (March 28) at the World Cross Country?

"I have not decided yet," he said. "Next season I will discuss with my manager and family when I have enough time to think about it."

But whether the champion would want to improve on the 5,000m, 10,000m or go for the marathon title, the one thing that is certain is that, he has his sights too on the 2012 London Olympics, and he could chose to go for all the races in one sweep. It is a rare feat that few have conquered.

At the 1952 Helsinki Olympics, Emil Zatopek won the 10,000m on July 20, the 5,000m four days later and the marathon on July 2.

At the 1976 Montreal Olympics, Finland's Lasse Viren repeated the 5,000m and 10,000m double from Munich four years earlier, then lined up in the marathon the day after his 10,000m triumph but finished fifth.

If Bekele can manage this, he will simply be the greatest distance runner of times.