Sileshi Sihine after his victory at the IAAF Golden League in Brussels (© AFP / Getty Images)
Double World and onetime Olympic 10,000m silver medallist Sileshi Sihine will attempt to break the World 15km record at the 2007 Zevenheuvenloop ‘Seven Hills’ in Njimegen, the Netherlands on Sunday 18 November 2007.
The 24-year-old Ethiopian, who narrowly lost to compatriot Kenenisa Bekele over the 10,000m at the 11th World Championships in Osaka, Japan, endured a mixed finish to his track season. He ran the second fastest 5000m time of 2007 at the Memorial Ivo Van Damme - IAAF Golden League meeting - on 14 September but only a week later struggled over the same distance in the IAAF / VTB Bank World Athletics Final in Stuttgart, Germany where he could only manage fifth in a highly-competitive contest won by Kenyan Edwin Soi.
However, while in the last month the majority of Ethiopia’s top runners have been resting to recover from their long track campaign, Sihine has intensified his training regime as he targets Kenyan Felix Limo’s World mark of 41:29 set in the same venue six years ago.
Sihine is no stranger to the fast course in Njimegen where in 2004 he ran the third fastest time in history over the distance to equal Haile Gebrselassie’s national record time of 41:38.
Elshadai Negash for the IAAF