 Gebrselassie is the current half-marathon champion |
Ethiopian track star Haile Gebrselassie says he will not target Paul Tergat's world record when they face each other in next month's London Marathon. The double Olympic champion and his Kenyan rival head the field for the race in the capital on 23 April.
"I am still chasing the world record but London will certainly not be the place," said Gebrselassie.
"When we race in London, a world record will be the last thing on our minds, more so given the strong field."
Tergat, who was Gebrselassie's main rival on the track, set the marathon world record of two hours, four minutes, 55 seconds in Berlin in September 2003.
But Gebrselassie, who retired from the track after the 2004 Athens Olympics and whose best is 2:06.20 set in Amsterdam last year, is keen to challenge that mark.
"I might have chased the record a bit too soon after retiring from the track, not realising that road racing and track running are very different," he said.
"I tried to break it in Amsterdam last year but I realised just how difficult it is."
The 2005 London champion Martin Lel, 2004 winner Evans Rutto and South Africa's Hendrick Ramaala, who was second in New York to Tergat in November, will all run in this year's race.
MMIX
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