Zersenay as the bronze medallist. A win at the World 10K Bangalore, where he beat Moses Kipsiro in 27:51, was the highlight of a low-key build up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics. In August, Zersenay was among some forty runners competing for the medals in the 10,000 metres Olympic final. Zersenay's brother, Kidane, was also competing and he led for most of first half of what was a quick race. Zersenay Tadese had the lead at the 7–8000 m mark but Bekele and Sihine sprinted into first and second. Although Zersenay's time almost equalled the previous Olympic record for the event, he ended up one second behind Kenyans Moses Masai and Micah Kogo, taking fifth place overall. After the Olympics, Zersenay returned to Eritrea and trained for one month to prepare for the 2008 World Half Marathon Championships in Rio de Janeiro. He won his third consecutive title over the half marathon distance with ease, taking the lead early on and beating the second-placed Patrick Makau Musyoki by almost two minutes. His success caused much celebration in his home country, so much so that the President of Eritrea greeted him at the airport upon his return. With a strong history in the half marathon, Zersenay announced he would try the full marathon distance the following season. Zersenay took third place at the 2009 IAAF World Cross Country Championships in a closely contested race, finishing just behind a resurgent Gebregziabher Gebremariam and Ugandan runner Moses Kipsiro. He competed in his first ever full-length marathon in April, signing up for the London Marathon. His first appearance over the distance was much anticipated following his cross country and track success, but he could not finish the race, pulling out around the 35 km mark. He rebounded, however, taking silver in the 10,000 metres at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics, finishing behind Kenenisa Bekele. Zersenay had led for a large part of the race, setting a fast pace, but he was beaten to the gold by Bekele's sprint finish. Following this, he won his third World Half Marathon title, setting a Championship record of 59:35 and also winning a silver medal with Eritrea in the team competition. The gold medal over the half marathon distance made him the second runner ever to win a World Championship medal in cross country, track and road racing all in the same year, a feat achieved previously