MANCHESTER, England ● One of the great Olympians, Haile Gebrselassie, rolled back the years to win the Bupa Great Manchester Run in the fastest 10 kilometres time of the year – and then turned his attention to booking his place at his fifth Olympic Games.
The 39-year-old’s best days may be behind him, but the double Olympic and four-time world 10,000 metres champion proved he is far from a spent force by clocking 27 minutes 39 seconds to claim his fifth victory on the streets of Manchester.
The Ethiopian great missed out on a place in the marathon at London 2012, but has his sights on competing over 10,000m, where he would come up against home favourite Mo Farah. “I am so happy today, everything was perfect,” he said.
Gebrselassie will run over the distance in Hengelo, Holland, next Sunday in a race which will double as the Ethiopian Olympic trials, with the top three set to be selected for the team.
He went on to say: “I am not surprised to run that fast. I wanted to run under 27 minutes. According to my training this year, I feel I can run faster on the track. I want to go under 27 minutes, that’s what I am thinking. If I run this fast on the road, why not on the track?
“The top three in Hengelo go to the Olympics, that’s what the federation said. At the moment if I get in the top three I go. My question is, what is the possibility in London? We’ll see.”
In the women’s race, Kenya’s Linet Masai, the former world 10,000m champion, took victory in 31mins 35secs.
Twenty-year-old Charlotte Purdue was the first Briton home in fourth, while Mara Yamauchi, who will race the marathon at the Olympics, was sixth in her first outing of the year.
Purdue, who clocked 32m 13s, is focused on getting the Olympic ‘A’ standard for the 10,000m. “I want to qualify for the Olympics, that’s my real aim this season,” she said.
Yamauchi, who came home in 32:28, said: “I am happy with that because I have not done a lot of speed work and I am training for the marathon, not the 10km. I am training for August and I am on track.”