Mission Impossible. That was the movie theme music coming from the loudspeakers inside the Stade de France last night for the closing laps of the men's 5,000 metre heats. As if there wasn't enough noise already. But the perfect theme for the final that lies in store for Sunday. Ian O'Riordan reports from Paris

Perfect because Hicham El Guerrouj will now attempt to add the 5,000-metre title to the 1,500-metre title he won on Wednesday night - a feat never before achieved in world championship history.

And you needed to be in Paris in 1924 to witness the only man who successfully achieved it at world level, with Paavo Nurmi of Finland winning the same Olympic double.

But it's not only the rarity of the feat that makes El Guerrouj's mission so seemingly impossible. The man he will most certainly need to beat to repeat it is Kenenisa Bekele, already Ethiopia's brilliant winner of the 10,000-metre title.

And despite his untouchable record over 1,500 metres the Moroccan is still largely unproven over 5,000 metres.

Last night - in front of another sell-out crowd - both men did enough to qualify, and nothing else.

Bekele won the first heat in 13 minutes 38.03 seconds, hardly stretching his deceptive stride until the last lap. El Guerrouj did likewise, but backed off on the home straight to allow Gebre Gebremariam of Ethiopia take the win in 13:32.46. The Moroccan eased home in fourth.

"It was obviously quite hard to be back on the track the day after the 1,500 final," he said. "I had three hours sleep last night, and it was really tough recovering from such an evening.

"Beating Bekele in this event is real challenge for me, but anything can happen. So stay tuned and you may have a surprise in the final."

"It will be a difficult race against Bekele, the Ethiopians and the Kenyans but I'm here to win and I'll give my maximum.

"I'd like to thank the organisers (for making it possible to run both races), it's a nice present," the 28-year-old added.

Defending champion Richard Limo also qualified for Sunday's final as did his Kenyan team-mate Abraham Chebii, while the race won't feature Haile Gebrselassie, who has decided to focus next on another world record attempt over 10,000 metres in Brussels next Friday, it might not be a totally Bekele-El Guerrouj affair.

Kenyan hopes fittingly lie with the 23-year-old Chebii, the only athlete to beat Bekele this season and who also breezed through the second heat.

But for now the attention rests solely with the double attempts of El Guerrouj and Bekele.

Part of the reason why a 1,500-5,000 metre double hasn't been done at world championships before was down to the timetable, which is now more accommodating. But no man has done a 5,000-10,000 metre double either - the closest being Gebrselassie's silver and gold back in 1993.

All down through the years names like Emil Zatopek, Vladimir Kuts, Ron Clarke, Kip Keino, Lasse Viren and Miruts Yifter attempted similar doubles to different degrees of success, but traditionally moving down to 5,000 metres from 10,000 metres is easier than moving up from 1,500 metres.

But there is another reason why Bekele is more likely to succeed, and El Guerrouj fail. He has two fellow Ethiopians in the final and with their tactics of team running are almost certain to sacrifice their chances for Bekele. That might mean world record pace, which could just run the legs out of El Guerrouj.

One thing is in El Guerrouj's favour. When Nurmi did his double in 1924 the man he beat in the 5,000 metres was fellow Finn Ville Ritola, winner that same year over 10,000 metres.

El Guerrouj is so hot at these championships there was a tinge of disappointment when he didn't show up later in the night for the heats of the 800 metres. But then the talent in this event for Paris runs so deep there could be no guarantee he would even get close to the final. After the sprints it is easily the deepest event in Paris.

Eight different heats were needed to reduce them into semi-finalists, with only the first two in each race sure of qualification. Imagine the tension then when lining up in heat six was world record-holder Wilson Kipketer of Denmark and defending champion Andre Bucher of Switzerland. The slow pace didn't suit either man but Bucher won comfortably in 1:48.61, with Kipketer living a little more dangerously, easing up in second in 1:48.68.

All of the other big contenders qualified a little easier, with Russia's hope Yuriy Borzakovskiy taking second in his heat in 1:46.44. The winner there, Andrea Longo of Italy, wasn't exactly greeted with the loudest cheer, reflecting perhaps the knowledge he had just recently come back from a two-year ban for doping, and was allowed an extra grace period to qualify for Paris by the IAAF.

Two other title challengers, Djabir Said Guerni of Algeria and the South African Hezekiel Sepeng, emerged comfortably from the last heat, and Sunday's final is certain to be the perfect accompaniment to the 5,000- metre showdown.

Meanwhile, Cuba's Yipsi Moreno retained her women's hammer title with a comfortable victory.

Moreno produced a second throw of 73.33 metres to beat Russia's European champion Olga Kuzenkova and local favourite Manuela

Montebrun into second and third place.

Kuzenkov won silver with a fourth throw of 71.71 metres, while Montebrun, regarded as France's best hope for a gold medal in Paris had to be content with 70.92 metres for the bronze.