Joseph Ebuya led a Kenyan clean sweep of the podium places as Bekele, returning to the snow-covered Holyrood Park venue for the first time since winning his sixth World Championship on the course in 2008, finished well behind the leading trio.

"I got killed by three Kenyans," said Bekele, the reigning Olympic champion at both 5,000 and 10,000 metres, after Ebuya, Titus Mbishei and Eliud Kipchoge came in ahead of him.

Bekele added he had missed training sessions after coming to Scotland via London, where he visited the 2012 Olympic Games site on Thursday.

He said: "I hate to blame the weather but I'm not in good shape.

"It was maybe a mistake to have arrived here three days before the race.

"I couldn't train.

"I missed two or three sessions before the race and it was difficult."

Apart from failing to finish at the 2007 World Championships, he had only once before suffered a cross-country defeat.

Better news for Ethiopia came in the women's race where Tirunesh Dibaba, who also won the 5,000m and 10,000m titles at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, outpaced her opponents on the final lap to take a victory on the 6km course.

Kenya's Vivian Cheruiyot and Ethiopia's Kalkidan Gezahegn were second and third respectively.

Britain's Stephanie Twell (pictured) finished fifth.

The 20-year-old from Aldershot said: "We did the hard work for her and maybe she got a bit of a tow.

"At the end of the day I just wanted to get out there and run my own race.

"I've never raced Dibaba but hopefully she'll now know who I am and feel my presence in other races."

Ricky Stevenson, a 21-year-old from New Marske, took the men's 4km title with Mo Farah coming third.

Stevenson said: "It's a big challenge out on the start line beside some of the world's best.

"As young guys you try to hang on to their coat tails.

"I hung on and it was my day."