(Reuters) – Olympic 5,000 and 10,000 metres champion Kenenisa Bekele will decide later in the
season whether to try for the same double at the London Games.
Damme, IAAF Diamond League athletics meeting in Brussels September 16, 2011. REUTERS/Thierry Roge
The Ethiopian, who is due to compete in the Great
Ireland Run in Dublin on Sunday, has been struggling with injury.
“I’m preparing really well to do it but I don’t
know yet, I still have to decide,” Bekele, the world record holder at both distances, told reporters.
“I have to run
in the qualifying races and make a decision later. We’ll see what happens as the season gets going.”
Bekele dropped
out of the 10,000 metres at last year’s world championships in Daegu but finished 2011 as the fastest man over the distance
after running 26 minutes 43.16 seconds in Brussels in September.
However, the 29-year-old finished a disappointing
11th in January’s Edinburgh cross country and gaining strength rather than speed has been his focus over the past three
months.
Bekele’s agent Jos Hermens believes a tough road race before he embarks on his track season at the opening
Diamond League meeting in Doha on May 11 will give a strong indication of the runner’s shape.
“My training has been
going well and I have lost the extra weight that I was carrying,” said Bekele. “So it is very good that I can come here and
have a hard race. We’ll see how it goes but I’m feeling good.”
Bekele will face a strong Spanish trio of Jesus
Espana, last year’s winner, Chema Martinez and Ayad Lamdassem in the 10 kms race at Phoenix Park.