Skip to main content

Gebrselassie Reconfirms Intent to Run Tokyo Marathon

http://www.47news.jp/CN/201011/CN2010111501000936.html

translated by Brett Larner

Holder of the men's marathon world record of 2:03:59, Ethiopian Haile Gebrselassie wrote on his Twitter feed on Nov. 15, "Running is in my blood. I have decided to keep running competitively," officially reversing his recent announcement of retirement.

In a telephone interview the same day Gebrselassie's agent Jos Hermans confirmed, "Haile will run the Tokyo Marathon. His knee problem is not serious. With another week's rest he'll be able to get back to training." He said Gebrselassie will travel to Japan in February as previously planned.

Aged 37, Gebrselassie dropped out partway through the Nov. 7 New York City Marathon with an injury to his right knee. Following the race Gebrselassie abruptly announced his retirement. Hermans commented, "Right after the race he was very emotional and in the heat of his disappointment blurted out that he was retiring, but he still has plenty of running left in him and has no reason to quit yet."

Known as the Emperor, Gebrselassie first set the marathon world record with a 2:04:26 at the 2007 Berlin Marathon. He returned a year later to break his own mark and become the first man under 2:04.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Wow, that's big news!


Small typo:
Aged 37, Gebrselassie dropped out partway through the Nov. 7 New York Marathon with an injury to his right knee.
(not Tokyo)
Anonymous said…
It's awesome that Haile is coming back for Tokyo. I'm sure its not the deciding factor for him, but it would be interesting to know what his appearance fee is for running Tokyo.

A correction. In the third paragraph it states Gebreselassie dropped out of the "Nov. 7 Tokyo Marathon." This should probably read "New York City Marathon."

Keep up the good work.
Brett Larner said…
Whoops, that's what you get for hurrying to get something out.
Brett Larner said…
Thinking about Wanjiru's comments last week after Haile retired, I sure hope Wanjiru shows up for the chance he wanted.

Most-Read This Week

'Kobe 2024: Aitchison, Athmani Lead Record-Breaking Thursday'

  https://www.paralympic.org/news/kobe-2024-para-athletics-world-championships-aitchison-athmani-lead-record-breaking-thursday Complete results and daily schedule from the Kobe World Para Athletics Championships are here .

Chesang Wins Osaka Women's Marathon in 2:19:31, Yada Drops 2:19:57 Debut NR

This year's Osaka International Women's Marathon was a race run with a high level of methodicalness, starting slower than the planned 3:19/km but ramping up until the lead pack was skimming around the 2:20:15-30 projected finish level. After hitting halfway in 1:10:13 with a group of 6, by 25 km only 4 were left up front, sub-2:19 runners Workenesh Edesa , Stella Chesang and Bedatu Hirpa , and the debuting Mikuni Yada , and when the last 2 pacers stepped off at 30 km it was Yada who went to the front. Despite never have raced longer than the 10.6 km Third Stage at November's Queens Ekiden where she had helped the Edion team score its first-ever national title, Yada was very, very impressive, fearlessly surging from 12 km and never letting up, even laughing and smiling to fans along the course. When she started sustaining a pace around 3:15/km the projected finish dropped under 2:20 and all the way down to 2:19:28 by 35 km, and even when all 3 of the more experienced ru...

Hirayama Breaks Osaka Half CR, Martinez Set Puerto Rican NR

The Osaka Half Marathon took another big step up the domestic half marathon rankings from a mass-participation race run alongside the Osaka International Women's Marathon to one of the country's top-tier races. In the women's race, the debuting Jecinta Nyokabi (Denso) went out fast, only to be run down by veteran Yumi Yoshikawa (Canon AC) by 10 km. Nyokabi faded to 6th in 1:10:41, but Yoshikawa pushed on to a PB 1:09:14 for the win. Rina Shimizu (Noritz), Yuna Takahashi (Shimamura) and Makoto Tsuchiya (Ritsumeikan Univ.) all broke 70 minutes, Tsuchiya taking the Kansai Region collegiate title in 1:09:32 for 4th overall. Everyone in the top 10 who wasn't debuting ran a PB, a mark of how fast the day was even with cold and windy conditions. The men's race went out on sub-61 pace courtesy of Yudai Shimazu (GMO), then got a big injection of speed when Kyuma Yokota (Toyota Kyushu) took off close to 60-flat pace. Yokota opened a 10-second lead by 15 km, but over ...