Gebrselassie targets third gold

By Tom Fordyce BBC Sport

Haile Gebrselassie is already a legend of the track

Haile Gebrselassie has set his sights on a third Olympic 10,000m title - and his race for sporting immortality will begin in Birmingham this month.

The Ethiopian, arguably the greatest distance runner of all time, took his second Olympic gold in Sydney but lost his world 10,000m crown in 2001, before suffering another defeat on his marathon debut in London last April.

Now Gebrselassie is determined to re-establish himself as the world's best - beginning with a crack at the world two-mile record at the Norwich Union Grand Prix at the National Indoor Arena on 21 February.

"To me, it's important to break the record because of what has happened in the last two years," he told BBC Sport Online.

Birmingham is like a home town to me because there are so many supporters

Haile Gebrselassie

"I can accept what happened in London, but what happened at the Worlds in Edmonton was tough.

"If I can break the two-mile record, win the World Indoors and then regain my World 10,000m title this summer, that will make me feel a lot better."

Gebrselassie has a wonderful record at the NIA, and incredible support.

He smashed the world indoor 5,000m record there in 1999 with one of the great performances on the boards, cheered on by thousands of ecstatic Ethiopian supporters.

"Birmingham is like a home town to me because there are so many supporters from my home country," he said.

"The atmosphere here when you run is fantastic, almost perfect. Last time I was here, almost half the crowd was Ethiopian. If I break the record, it will be together with the audience."

With the World Indoors also at the NIA, in March, Gebrselassie knows he has the ideal conditions to continue a rehabilitation that began with a $1m pay-day when he set a new road 10km best in Doha last December.

And while he says that he will run another marathon soon, either late this year or early next year, it is the 10,000m that will be his focus at the Athens Olympics next summer.

"I want to do the hat-trick," he said. "It will not be easy, but I will try. And if I can run in Athens, it will be the 10,000m.

"It will be very hard to run the marathon there - it will be so warm.

"I want to keep improving. The past is good, but my motivation comes from what I can do in the future. I am always looking forward."

Gebrselassie added that the injury that kept him out on Sunday's indoor meeting in Stuttgart, a thigh strain, is only a temporary set-back brought on by doing intensive speed work in training.

Tickets for the Norwich Union Grand Prix can be bought on 0870 444 4440.