Bekele Eyes Gold

Ethiopian admits Olympic gold could tempt him to compete

By Rachel Griffiths   Last updated: 8th January 2010  

Ethiopian Kenenisa Bekele has indicated he could be lured into challenging for gold if cross country was included in the Winter Olympics programme in the future.

After triumphing in a record sixth world long race title in 2008, the 27-year-old announced it would be his last outing at the championships, where he also recorded success in the short course event on five successive occasions.

Despite his world cross country retirement, Bekele retains a great passion for the event and had no hesitation in signing an open letter proposing its addition to the Olympic programme.

The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) supported the idea in September 2008 and made an official request to the International Olympic Committee to implement the proposal, but Bekele revealed he has not heard anything official since and feels the bid has been ignored at IOC level.