Coach says Gebrselassie will not run 10,000m in Olympics
LEEDS, England: Ethiopian chief athletics coach Woldemeskel Kostre dismissed on Tuesday any prospect of twice Olympic champion Haile Gebrselassie competing in the 10,000m at the Beijing Olympics.
Gebrselassie, 34, has withdrawn from the Olympic marathon because of his concerns over pollution in Beijing but said he could return to the track and compete in the 10,000m.
The four-time world 10,000 champion retired from the track after finishing fifth in the 2004 Athens final to concentrate on the marathon where he is the current world record holder.
"It's very tough for him because he can't compete with the younger men over the 10,000," Kostre told Reuters through an interpreter at a reception for the all-conquering Ethiopian cross-county team at Leeds Metropolitan University.
"That's why he has shifted to the marathon. We really admire him, we love him, we respect him but he's not ready to run 10,000m at the Olympics."
Ethiopia won each of the four individual titles for the first time at the world championships in Edinburgh on Sunday.
Gebrselassie is scheduled to run over 10 kms in the Dutch town of Hengelo on May 24 but Kostre said even an exceptional time in what would be only his 10,000m since Athens would not ensure selection for Beijing.
"We have got five others who have run 10,000 in 26 minutes," he said.
Kostre said Gebrselassie's compatriot Kenenisa Bekele, who became the first man to win six world cross country titles on Sunday, was unlikely to attempt a 5,000-10,000m double in Beijing.
Bekele, the Olympic and world 10,000 gold medalist, was beaten into second place in the Athens 5,000 by Moroccan Hicham El Guerrouj.
"We think that one will be enough," Kostre said.
Agencies
(China Daily 04/03/2008 page22)
