Twice Olympic and four-times world 10,000 metres champion Haile Gebrselassie may run his final competitive track race over the distance in Hengelo, Netherlands, next month.
The Ethiopian, who will turn 39 tomorrow, dominated over 25 laps in the 1990s before switching to road racing and the marathon after the 2004 Olympics in Athens.
“This will be my last 10,000 metres race,” Gebrelassie told a news conference in Vienna yesterday a day after he beat women’s marathon world record holder Paula Radcliffe in their half-marathon head-to-head in the Austrian capital. The Briton was given a head start of seven minutes 52 seconds.
“But I still feel good. There is only a small difference compared to 2011. I am just a bit slower now.”
Gebrselassie will run the 10,000 at the Fanny Blankers-Koen Games in Hengelo on May 27.