Gebrselassie yearning for more than victory

Last week in Stockholm, Gebrselassie set out to reclaim the 3,000-metre mark from Komen. Gebrselassie ran to victory, but failed to post a new record time.

“I won the race, but I was not happy,” Gebrselassie told a news conference yesterday. “When I break world records I am very happy. If I don’t break the world record I am not happy.”

Gebrselassie said his countrymen share those great expectations.

“At Stockholm there were many people and they expect world records,” Gebrselassie said of the hundreds of Ethiopian fans at the meet. “I ran very well and I won, but the people were not satisfied. At the moment all they expect and careabout is breaking world records.”

Gebrselassie, 24, currently holds only the 2,000 metre indoor mark of 4:52.86, having shattered Irishman Eamonn Coghlan’s 11-year-old mark of 4:54.07 earlier this month at Birmingham, England.

After training for the next three months in the mountains of Ethiopia, Gebrselassie will launch his attack on the 10,000 and 5,000 metre records on June 1 at Hengelo in the Netherlands.

“For myself, I run for the people,” said Gebrselassie, the Olympic 10,000 metres champion. “I can not say that I run for myself, the people push me for a nice result. I’m proud of them. They always push me. It’s a good thing for me.”

Gebrselassie was selected the winner of the Jesse Owens Award by an international panel. Last year he set world record at 5,000 and 10,000 metres.

Gebrselassie garnered 107 points to claim the honor ahead of Kenyan-born Dane Wilson Kipketer, the 800-metre world record holder, with 95. Marion Jones, the US champion sprinter, was third with 66.