Keninisa Bekele glided through a gusty, mud-splattered Holyrood Park yesterday to secure a historic sixth World Cross Country Championship title, although he lost a shoe mid-race. He was also affected by a stomach bug, probably picked up while he was caught up in the travel chaos at Heathrow.

The Ethiopian finished three seconds ahead of Leonard Patrick Komon, of Kenya, and five seconds before Zersenay Tadese, the Eritrean who took Bekele's world title in Mombasa, Kenya, last year. Bekele's victory at the foot of Arthur's Seat in Edinburgh came after he had lost dozens of places because of his enforced stop. “The shoe came about halfway off and I had to take it right off to put it back on,” he said. “It was the first time it had ever happened to me.”

But it was not the first time that Bekele, acknowledged as the greatest runner in cross-country history, had overcome adversity. He won the 2005 World Championship as a shattered man, ten weeks after he watched Alem Techale, his fiancée, die in front of him while they were on a training run together. He regained his title yesterday, with his wife watching him run for the first time.

“I was told after the race that she almost fainted when I lost my shoe, so you can imagine just how hard she would have taken it if I hadn't won,” Bekele said. “Without me explaining it, I'm sure you can imagine how it feels. But, in short, the difference between those two races [2005 and yesterday] is the difference between walking in darkness and walking in light.”

Bekele, having arrived late because of the disruption at Heathrow and, after a breakfast in London had wreaked havoc with his digestive system, could have been forgiven for thinking his bad luck was at an end.

But, early in the 12km race, his shoe became dislodged. Bekele composed himself and slowly but surely worked his way through the field. Tadese, who had led for most of the way, could not blunt the 25-year-old's finish. Bekele broke away on the last lap and Tadese and Komon knew the game was up when the Ethiopian pulled away on the muddy slopes and finished in a time of 34min 38sec. Tadese is the world's most economical runner, according to the British Medical Journal, yet it was he, not Bekele, who was grimacing as he crossed the line.

Bekele capped a perfect day for the Ethiopian supporters, whose colours of red, yellow and green lit up a rain-soaked occasion. Tirunesh Dibaba won the women's race after her younger sister, Genzebe, had claimed victory in the junior event. Dibaba finished ahead of her compatriot, Mestawet Tufa, and Linet Chepkwemoi Masai, of Kenya. Liz Yelling led the British challenge, finishing fourteenth in a race she was using as a springboard for the London Marathon. Yelling, whose sister-in-law, Hayley Yelling, finished 21st, hopes the momentum will carry her all the way to Beijing.She said: “This is a springboard for me to go into the London Marathon, so for me to go in there and perform as strongly as I have is a real positive.”