Kenenisa Bekele has lost his bet. The 39-year-old Ethiopian had made Berlin a priority. He had also said he wanted to break the world record. But the Ethiopian legend had to settle for 3rd place. His compatriot Guye Adola won the race this Sunday.
The 39-year-old athlete wants to try again. "One day I will try. I know it will be very hard, but I am confident. It was a difficult race, I didn't really expect it. I came to try and it didn't work 100%. I gave it my best shot but I'm really tired," he said after the race.
Kenenisa Bekele, double champion in Berlin (2016 and 2019) also explains this defeat by a lack of preparation. "My preparation was not perfect, I had the Covid nine months ago, and I had doubts before the race," he admitted after finishing in 2h 06 min 47 sec, "but for the future, I am really confident in my abilities. My plan is not just to break the world record, I want to go even further.''