NEWS
Haile Gebreselassie awaited at the All Africa Games
Agence France Presse
September 11, 1995
Ethiopia team officials are anxiously awaiting the arrival of their 5,000m world record holder Haile Gebreselassie for the All Africa Games which open here on Wednesday.
Late last week they sent an urgent fax to the track star in Monte Carlo, a few days before Saturday’s final Grand Prix meeting, urging him to fly out and join the team for the Games.
“His presence will be a major boost to the rest of the team. We need him here,” said a team official on Monday.
But the official conceded Gebreselassie will not be able to compete in the 10,000m, which he won at the world championships in Sweden last month.
“The race is on Thursday and he will not be ready in time. He will just run the 5,000m,” said the official.
The Ethiopian team have little doubt Gebreselassie will guarantee them at least one gold. He smashed the 5,000m world record by nearly 11 seconds, clocking 12.44.39, at the Weltklasse meet on August 16 and there is no one here capable of beating him.
But his absence in the 10,000m will be a blow for fans wanting to see a rematch between the Ethiopian and his arch rival Josephat Machuka of Kenya, who finished fifth in Gothenburg.
Three years ago in the world junior championships Machuka punched Gebreselassie and was disqualified. Gebreselassie got his revenge at the 1993 world championships when he caused Kenya’s Moses Tanui to lose his shoe near the end of the race.
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