
The 27-year-old Ethiopian refugee was supreme as he regained the title he had won in Dublin four years ago when he beat Britain's Mo Farah.
But a year later he was caught up in an investigation by the Spanish Guardia Civil into an alleged doping ring among athletes in Spain orchestrated by Eufemiano Fuentes, who was also behind Operación Puerto which involved the systematic doping of cyclists, footballers and tennis players.
Bezabeh was caught carrying a bag of his own blood for a transfusion and was arrested, leading to his late withdrawal from European Cross Country Championships in Albufeira, where he had been due to defend the title won in the Irish capital the previous year.
There was no doubting how dominant he was in Belgrade as he won by 21 seconds over the 10 kilometre course, leading Spain to team gold.
It was the biggest winning margin since Ukraine's Serhiy Lebid beat Spain's Juan Carlos de la Ossa by 23 seconds in Heringsdorf in 2004.
Turkey's Polat Kemboi Arikan had been leading when he tripped over one of the small obstacles on the course, fell back to tenth but recovered to finish second as Britain's Andy Vernon claimed bronze following a photo-finish.

Britain were the dominant country as they won a total of nine medals, including five gold.
This included team gold in the women's race where France's Sophie Duarte beat Gemma Steel to win the individual prize.
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