Gebrselassie sets half marathon record
(AP)
Updated: 2006-01-17 09:20

Gebrselassie won the Olympic gold medal at 10,000 meters in 1996 and 2000 but has not run on the track since his fifth-place finish at the 2004 Athens Games. Instead, he switched to the roads, where he hopes to add a gold medal in the marathon at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

Last October, he aimed for Tergat's world marathon record of 2 hours, 4 minutes, 55 seconds at the Rotterdam Marathon but came up short at 2:06.20.

He has been training at 9,800 feet near his home in Ethiopia.

Sunday's time sends a message to Gebrselassie's foes that he is in top shape for the April 23 London Marathon, where Tergat will be among the competitors.

"You can see from today's record," he said when asked about his condition for London. "I hope I will do very good in the London Marathon."

There will be no "rabbits" setting the pace in that one, so Gebrselassie downplayed the opportunity for a world record there.

"London is going to be something different because everybody wants to run to win," he said. "I'm OK if I win. If I do not break the world record but win in London, it is something special. But we'll see. Anything is possible."

Cheering fans waved Ethiopian flags as he neared the finish line on the Arizona State University campus. When he crossed the finish line, a few fans and friends surrounded him, chanting "Haile! Ethiopia!" He blew kisses to the crowd.

"Everywhere in the world, there are Ethiopians," he said.