Ethiopia vs. Eritrea

The grudge: Eritrea fought a 30-year war for independence from Ethiopia before the two peacefully separated in 1993. Since then, the two have often sparred on border issues and went to war again from 1998 to 2000.

The competitors: Eritrea’s Zersenay Tadesse (left) and Haile Gebrselassie (right) of Ethiopia raced in the men’s 10,000-meter final on Aug. 17.

The result: Tadesse’s time of 27:05.11 was good for fifth place, edging Gebrselassie’s disappointing sixth-place finish, with 27:06.68.