02-01-2008, 05:34 PM
World Marathon record holder Haile Gebrselassie believes he can lower his mark still further when he takes part in the Dubai Marathon on Jan 18.
The twice Olympic 10,000m champion, who will be running his final race over 42.19km before the Beijing Olympics, clocked 2hr 04min 26sec in Berlin in September.
"He and I are sure that he can do under 2:04," his manager, Jos Hermens, said. "But he's 34 and this might be his last chance." Hermens said Gebrselassie, who has been training in his native Ethiopia, had run a 15km race this month and that his preparation was going well.
Gebrselassie, who has set 26 world records, will be paced by former world half-marathon champion Fabiano Joseph, of Tanzania, and the winner of the 2002 Boston and New York marathons, Rodgers Rop of Kenya.
The prize pot for Dubai is $1million (ã500,000) with $250,000 for the winners of the men's and women's races. A world record will earn a bonus of $1 million.
The twice Olympic 10,000m champion, who will be running his final race over 42.19km before the Beijing Olympics, clocked 2hr 04min 26sec in Berlin in September.
"He and I are sure that he can do under 2:04," his manager, Jos Hermens, said. "But he's 34 and this might be his last chance." Hermens said Gebrselassie, who has been training in his native Ethiopia, had run a 15km race this month and that his preparation was going well.
Gebrselassie, who has set 26 world records, will be paced by former world half-marathon champion Fabiano Joseph, of Tanzania, and the winner of the 2002 Boston and New York marathons, Rodgers Rop of Kenya.
The prize pot for Dubai is $1million (ã500,000) with $250,000 for the winners of the men's and women's races. A world record will earn a bonus of $1 million.