Kenenisa Bekele makes it 5 Short Race golds (© Getty Images)
This morning, Kenenisa Bekele confirmed to his manager Jos Hermens that he is willing to compete at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Mombasa on 24 March.
Bekele, who has won 10 World Cross Country titles already, wants to write history in Mombasa by becoming the first athlete to win 6 consecutive long course titles.
After winning his 10th World Cross Country Championships gold in Fukuoka (2006) Bekele announced that he would not compete in the event again, because there was nothing more to win. But since Bekele has changed his mind.
"After running a 2000m World best in Birmingham on 17 February and a World leading time of 7.30.51 at 3000m in Stockholm on 20 February, I started to doubt my decision. I knew that I was in great shape.”
“Fellow athletes told me to compete in Mombasa. Fans asked me to reconsider my decision and also the Ethiopian Federation and the Ethiopian Government have checked my interest over and over.”
“Next to this, I also really enjoyed competing at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in the past. I realised that I started to look for a challenge, for a reason to compete. Next to the fact that the event will be hosted in Africa, on the home soil of my friends and rivals from Kenya, I also realised that I can become the first athlete in history to win 6 consecutive 12km titles. This would be great for me, for Ethiopia, for Africa and for the sport of athletics."
Later Bekele added with a smile: "I hope that the Ethiopian Federation as well as the IAAF will still accept my entry."
Global Sports Communication for the IAAF
