Gebreselassie races to be fit
2008-07-15 08:51
Paris - Ethiopia's double Olympic and quadruple world 10 000m champion Haile Gebreselassie is fighting a battle to be fit for the Beijing Games, his agent said on Monday.
Gebreselassie, who was named in the Ethiopian squad for the Olympics on Monday, has an injury "between the Achilles tendon and the calf", said Jos Hermans.
"It's not going well. He can't run with spikes and he feels a pain when he starts training. But it has nothing to do with his old tendon injuries.
"He's training a lot in the gym and doing endurance work so it's no problem in preparing for a marathon, but on the track, over 25 laps, it's complicated.
"He wants to run in the Berlin Marathon on September 25 so he doesn't want to take any risks. For him, the marathon is the most important."
Gebreselassie has already said he will not run the marathon in Beijing, claiming the pollution and humidity in the Chinese capital make it too dangerous.
The Ethiopian athletics federation on Monday named four runners for the 10 000m from which three can compete at the Games.
They are Olympic champion Kenenisa Bekele, 2004 silver medallist Sileshi Sihine, Gebreselassie and Ibrahim Jeylan.
- AFP