Haile Gebrselassie’s One Last Olympic Shot

He faces stiff competition in Tokyo on Sunday.

The former king of the marathon, Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia, will be giving it one last shot. The 39-year-old who is arguably one of the best distance runners of all time, is hoping to qualify for the Ethiopian Olympic squad at this Sunday’s Tokyo Marathon.

The race is expected to be fast since it also serves as an Olympic qualifier for the Japanese Olympic team.

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Gebrselassie’s last marathon was not what he had hoped for. He raced in the 2011 Berlin Marathon and didn’t finish the race, citing asthma. Patrick Makau of Kenya went on to set a new world record in 2:03:38.

In the 2010 edition of the ING New York City Marathon, Gebrselassie dropped out on the Queensboro Bridge.

Originally, Gebrselassie had hoped to go with a 2:05 marathon to make the team, but their are several equally fast Ethiopians entered in the race, which might force Gebrselassie to go under 2:05.

His main competitor on Sunday is Kenya’s Jafred Chirchir Kipchumba who clocked 2:05:48 to win last year’s Eindhoven Marathon.

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