New York City marathon: Olympian Kenenisa Bekele ready to make history

The legendary distance runner Kenenisa Bekele believes he can make more history in the 50th edition of the New York City marathon on November 7. The 39-year-old is a three-time Olympic gold medalist over 5,000 and 10,000 meters. He will be headlining the men’s event in New York.

The Ethiopian runner, ahead of the event, said, “Really, I wanted to have a good result in the USA, that’s why I chose the New York marathon.”

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His only previous marathon in the US ended in a fourth-place finish in Chicago seven years ago. 

“The New York marathon is big publicity and a really big marathon race. To achieve a good result in this marathon would be perfect, and for me, it’s also really good to make more history in sports,” he said. 

In the last outing he had, Berlin Marathon, Bekele finished within two seconds of Eliud Kipchoge’s world record time two years ago. He said he fell foul to a poor night’s sleep as he finished third, more than a minute behind winner Guye Adola.

“I was not ready for that race,” Bekele explained. “A few weeks before the race, I was not really confident. It’s a little bit tough for me because the day before also I couldn’t sleep well, I really had bad luck the day before in the night. That also made me very tired.

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“I’ve recovered well … At this moment, I’m really strong. I hope I’ll achieve a good result on Sunday.”

His  5,000m world record stood for 16 years before it was broken by Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei last year. The 10,000m record stood for 15 years and was broken by Cheptegei. 

“I still feel that I am the best and better than anyone. I think every athlete and others should think like that,” Bekele told Sports Illustrated in August. 

“I know the course is tough and there are also no pacemakers in the race. It’s more about concentration and a tactical race,” said Bekele.