Picture by PA Wire/PA Images
Ethiopian Kenenisa Bekele is not one to give up easily.
Just as he destroyed his racing rivals with his blistering speed and unmatched aggression on the athletics track, the three-time Olympic champion maintained his incredible competitiveness and passion for his runs when he stepped up to compete at the marathon distance.
The middle-distance track superstar hasn't been able to match his track and cross-country accomplishments, where he earned 19 global titles, but whenever he was written-off, he silenced his critics with a strong comeback race, none more so than with his last chance run to make the African nation's team for Paris 2024.
Six months ago, Bekele shared with us his desire to return to the Olympics after a rollercoaster 12 years.
"I have so many goals still. The Olympics is in front of us… I really want to participate in the marathon at the Olympics,” he told Olympics.com ahead of the 2023 Valencia Marathon.
Back then, it seemed a far-fetched dream, as the man who once dominated the men's 5km and 10km distances hadn’t finished a race in over 12 months, and it had been nearly three years since he had topped the podium.
A fourth-place finish in the Spanish coastal town seemed to have limited his chances of making the cut for the Ethiopian team, where mainly winners of major city marathons have made the cut.
Bekele had been overlooked for selection for Tokyo 2020 in 2021, despite being the second-fastest marathoner ever at the time.
His 2:01:41 marathon career-best from Berlin in 2019 still makes him the third-fastest man in history over the distance, behind two-time Olympic champion Eliud Kipchoge, and the late Kelvin Kiptum.
In April, with his dream of Paris 2024 seemingly slipping away, he opted for one final race - at the 2024 London Marathon - with the aim of forcing himself into the team for the 42.2km distance at an Olympics.
On the streets of London he came in a remarkable second behind Kenya’s Alexander Mutiso.
Nearly a month later, Bekele, who last competed at the Olympics on the track at London 2012, was confirmed in a six-member Ethopia team for Paris 2024, where he will be 42.
The return to the national squad, after a chequered marathon career blighted by injuries, just affirms his pedigree.
“For me to stay for a long time, like 15 years, even 20, you know, it's not easy. Very few athletes do this,” Bekele previously told us
“I've been struggling with injury… The injuries have moved from one place of the body to another. It has been a disaster. Marathon training is really difficult… Every day you train, go for long runs…very hard challenging training and not to no to finish in a good way is hard.
“You can struggle with many things. It could be an injury. There are many obstacles, it's not easy. Passing all those obstacles and coming back makes it special.
“[But] my mind tells me that I can still do better in the marathon…I have so many goals. Maybe [Paris] will be my last Olympics," he said.
It will be a special return to the French capital, where Bekele recorded an impressive marathon debut, winning there in 2014.
He heads to back Paris where he will face his all-familiar Kenyan rival Kipchoge, the man who beat him to the world title when France hosted the 2003 championships. Kipchoge won the 5000m ahead of Hicham El Guerrouj as Bekele finished third.
At the Olympics, the five-time world champion's Ethiopian teammates will be reigning Boston Marathon champ Sisay Lemma, who also topped the Valencia run last year, and Sevilla 2024 winner Deresa Geleta. The 2023 New York marathon champion Tamirat Tola and Eusein Mohammed were named as reserves on the men's team.
World record holder Tigist Assefa, the first woman to dip under the two-hour and 12-minute mark, will line up in the women’s marathon in Paris. Alongside her will be the world marathon gold medallist from Budapest, Amane Beriso, and Megertu Alemu, who was fourth in London this year.
The two reserves on the women's team are the 2022 world champion Gotytom Gebreslase and Buze Diriba, the fourth place finisher in Boston last month.
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