Mo Farah had to settle for silver over the 10,000m after being piped in the closing stages by Ethiopia's Ibrahim Jeilan.
Farah had been one of the favourites for gold in Daegu after a fantastic season being the fastest man over this distance this season.
And it was great race from the Brit as he stayed out of danger during the early stages but was never far off the pace.
But eyes were on defending champion Kenenisa Bekele as he did take to the track, despite being out with injury for well over a year.
But it wasn’t to be for Bekele, who has never been beaten over this distance, as he was forced to retire with ten laps to go having never really been in the race.
But as they knocked off the laps Farah moved through the field to put himself in the top couple of positions as the pace began creep up.
With 500m to go Farah made the long dash for home and looked like he had the gold medal until Jeilan began to close over the final 200m.
It was a flat out sprint down the home straight and Jeilan had just too much in the final fifty as Farah struggled to find that final bit of extra speed - something that has served him well all season.
He took the silver medal and became the first British athlete to ever medal over this distance in what was a quality and gutsy run.
Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live he said: "At the end I just didn't have anything left. It's agony. You always want the gold."
"You give it 110% and it's not enough sometimes.
"I thought I'd got it right but it wasn't enough. I'll have a chat with my coach, analyse it and see what happened. It's nice to win a medal but I am disappointed with silver."
It is not yet certain whether he will take to the track for the 5,000m later this week - admitting after the race that he would have to see how his body recovered.
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw
by Helen Earnshaw
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