After a night to sleep on his first defeat in cross country for six years, Kenenisa Bekele said yesterday that he had been a victim of the heat and humidity at the World Championships in Mombasa, Kenya. Bekele, from Ethiopia, seeking a record twelfth world title, dropped out towards the end when it became apparent that he would be beaten by Zersenay Tadesse, from Eritrea.

Having opened a gap on Tadesse during the penultimate lap, Bekele appeared surprised to be told he had another lap to run.

“Suddenly I felt my co-ordination was not good and that my mind was dizzy,” he said. “I even started to doubt how many laps I still had to run. I was confused and felt that I lost all my energy.”

Temperatures were recorded at 33C (91.4F), with 73 per cent humidity “I am convinced it was the heat and humidity,” Bekele said. “I did everything right — I drank extra water, cooled my body with ice before the race, and did everything else the same as usual.”

Bekele, who had won 27 consecutive cross-country races, was one of 29 who failed to finish. Among those who completed the 12 kilometres was Mo Farah, who finished tenth, the best by a British man since Jon Brown’s eighth in 1999. Farah ran a race suited to the conditions, beginning cautiously. At the end of the first lap he was 68th but gained places on each of the six laps to finish as the top European.

Farah has until tomorrow to decide whether to take a place in the Great Britain team for the European 10,000 metres Challenge in Ferrara, Italy, on April 7.