I hope I’ll achieve a good result on Sunday.”įor race organizers, who called off last year’s New York City Marathon amid the pandemic, it is a boon to have a figure like Bekele on the start line on Sunday. “I’ve recovered well … At this moment, I’m really strong. It’s a little bit tough for me because the day before also I couldn’t sleep well, I really had bad luck the day before in the night. “A few weeks before the race, I was not really confident. “I was not ready for that race,” Bekele explained.

Maja Hitij/Getty Images Europe/Getty Imagesĭespite expectations that he could challenge Kipchoge’s record of two hours, one minute and 39 seconds in Berlin this year, Bekele says he fell foul to a poor night’s sleep as he finished third, more than a minute behind winner Guye Adola. To achieve a good result in this marathon would be perfect, and for me, it’s also really good to make more history in sports.”īekele has a point to prove after a disappointing outing six weeks ago at the Berlin Marathon – the race at which he came within two seconds of Eliud Kipchoge’s world record time two years ago.īekele catches his breath after this year's Berlin Marathon. “The New York marathon is big publicity and a really big marathon race. “Really, I wanted to have a good result in the USA, that’s why I chose the New York marathon,” Bekele told reporters this week. With his only previous marathon in the United States a fourth-place finish in Chicago seven years ago, the Ethiopian is hungry for success as he prepares to take to the streets of the Big Apple.

The New York City Marathon returns on Sunday following a two-year hiatus, and at the front of the field, legendary distance runner Kenenisa Bekele is primed to “make more history” in his storied career.īekele, a three-time Olympic gold medalist over 5,000 and 10,000 meters, is the headline name competing in the men’s elite field in New York.

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