Bekele prepares for challenging comeback
28 Jan 2005 06:43
Kenenisa Bekele is facing the toughest contest of his career as he prepares to race over 3,000 metres at Saturday's Reebok Indoor Games in Boston.
The Olympic and World 10,000m title holder will compete for the first time since his fiancee Alem Techale tragically died during a training session on January 4 in Addis Ababa.
The Ethiopian pair had lived together for a year and had planned to get married in Addis Ababa on May 8 before the start of the intensive summer track season.
Bekele should have run in the Edinburgh International Cross Country event on January 15, but organisers accepted his late withdrawal to allow the runner more time to grieve.
However, the world 5,000m and 10,000m record-holder is now set to make his comeback and try as best he can to begin a new life.
That has seen Bekele fly into Boston determined to race well, but unsure of how he will cope with the mental and competitive strain against world-class opposition.
"What can I do because she has passed away," said 22-year-old Bekele, shortly after he arrived on United States soil for the first time.
"So many people they are sad, but I have to start my job.
"This is my first race and is good for my mind," he added.
Determined he can maintain his composure in a year which will see him chase World Cross Country and track gold medals, he insisted: "I can regain my mind and prepare for the future."