Haile Gebrselassie (ETH) winning the men's 3000m (© Getty Images)
Ethiopia's World Indoor 3000m champion Haile Gebrselassie, is determined to regain the World Indoor record for the distance at the adidas Boston Indoor Games on 31 January, a record which he lost when Kenya's Daniel Komen ran 7:24.90 on 6 February 1998.
Only been days before Komen's run, Gebrselassie had improved the 3000m record from the 7:30.72 he had established in 1996, to 7:26.15 on the Karlsruhe track in Germany on 25 January 1998.
The winter of 1998 also saw Gebrselassie lose the 5000m World Indoor record to Komen but while he recaptured that mark the following year in Birmingham, UK (14 Feb 1999) with 12:50.38, the closest the double Olympic 10,000m champion has come to recapturing the World Indoor 3000m record is a 7:26.80 clocking (24 Jan 1999).
With younger rivals such as compatriot Kenenisa Bekele and Kenya's Abraham Chebii snapping at his heels and on many occasions now out pacing him, Gebrselassie has every incentive in the world to find the extra speed required to take the record back on 31 January in Boston.
“One thing is for sure, if I want to win a third gold medal at the 10,000 metres I will have to work hard on my speed," said Gebrselassie, and "a 3000m indoor race is a perfect tool to test it.”
While declining to make any predictions, he added: “I am confident to run a fast race. My aim is always to do something special.”
