MANCHESTER, England, May 20, (AFP): Ethiopian running star Haile Gebrselassie won the Great Manchester Run on Sunday in the fastest 10 kilometres time of the year.
The 39-year-old clocked 27min 39sec to claim his fifth victory on the streets of Manchester and then turned his attention to booking his place at his fifth Olympic Games.
The Ethiopian missed out on a place in the marathon at London 2012, but has his sights on competing at this summer’s London Olympics over 10,000m.
Gebrselassie, double Olympic and four-time world 10,000m champion, will run over the distance in Hengelo, the Netherlands, next Sunday in a race which will double as the Ethiopian Olympic trials, with the top three set to be selected for the team.
“I am so happy today, everything was perfect,” he said. “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 31min 35sec.
In Shanghai, Chinese athletics superstar Liu Xiang is playing down expectations for his performance at the London Olympics despite setting a season’s best time in the 110m hurdles.
Liu became China’s first ever Olympic track champion at Athens 2004 but four years later caused national angst when he dramatically pulled out injured in front of a packed Bird’s Nest Stadium at Beijing 2008.
On his home turf in Shanghai at the Diamond League meeting on Saturday, he clocked 12.97sec in wet conditions to beat two Americans, David Oliver and world outdoor champion Jason Richardson.
“I didn’t think I would run within 13 seconds, so seeing 12.97 seconds makes me extremely happy,” he said after his victory.
Speaking to reporters, he sounded a note of modesty, saying it would be an honour merely to be in the Olympics — although he also said he was practicing his English.
While China has yet to pick its three hurdlers, Liu is considered an automatic choice.
“I don’t think about breaking the world record,” he said. “I hope to keep this good form and give full play to my training. My dream is just to stand on the Olympic track.”
Fellow competitor Richardson said Liu seemed to draw strength from the home crowd, who roared as one when the Chinese hurdler crossed the finish line.
“He’s incredibly hard to beat here,” Richardson said.
“What was surprising was to see an entire country get behind one athlete. I wish we had a little bit more of that in America.”

But Liu also has to contend with the weight of expectations riding on his shoulders from the world’s most populous country.
Asked if he faced pressure, Liu said: “I’m used to pressure. I’ve never felt pressure on myself. Everyone faces pressure, what you have to do is control it.”
Liu declined to answer questions about his specific goals for the Olympics or how he might handle Dayron Robles, the reigning Olympic champion.
Robles obstructed Liu at the World Championships final last year, causing the Cuban to be disqualified after the two clashed arms.
“I hope to compete against him. But I want to say that every athlete is strong. He is only one. I’m not so bad myself,” said Liu.
Asked about the Achilles problem that forced him out of the Beijing Olympics four years ago, he responded: “We are challenging the extremes, not just having fun, so there is the risk of injury.”
“In Shanghai or overseas, I always do my best,” he said.