Team Ethiopia

Haile Gebrselassie smashed his marathon world record by 27 seconds, winning the Berlin Marathon in a city where he has had so much success. Gebrselassie, 35, of Ethiopia, took advantage of excellent conditions on a flat course to finish in 2hours, 3minutes, 59seconds. Despite an ailing calf, he shattered the mark he set in Berlin last year and became the first man to win this race three times. Gebrselassie thanked the crowd of about 1 million for helping him set his 26th world record. Gebrselassie first ran in Berlin in 2006 and clocked 2:05:56 before breaking the world record last year. In three years, he has improved nearly two minutes on his time. “Berlin is my lucky city,” Gebrselassie said. In the women’s race, Irina Mikitenko of Germany won in 2:19:19. She improved her personal best by more than four minutes to record the seventh-fastest time for a woman

Tsegaye Kebede comes from behind and wins Bronze medal in Men’s Marathon, Deriba Merga who was in the lead pack for most of the race finished 4th and Gashaw Asfaw finished 7th.

Kenya’s Wanjiru wins Kenya’s first ever Olympic gold medal in Marathon. Morocco finished second and takes the Silver.

World record-holder Haile Gebrselassie decided not to run the race because of concerns about air pollution.

BEIJING: Kenenisa Bekele made it a unique double Olympic long-distance double for Ethiopia on Saturday with relentless front-running that wore down everyone who dared to keep pace in the 5,000 meters.

In 30 degree C (86 degree F) heat, cutting through the muggiest of conditions at the Bird’s Nest, Bekele took over from his teammates with 2 kilometers to go an imposed such a punishing pace that he didn’t need an explosive finishing kick this time, just unmatched stamina.

His win by 30 meters over Eliud Kipchoge added to his 10,000 victory for the first double since Lasse Viren in Montreal 32 years ago.

And with Tirunesh Dibaba doing the same in the women’s distance races, it was the first long-distance sweep for one nation.

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Ethiopia’s Tirunesh Dibaba sprinted to gold in the slowest 5,000 metres race in four Olympics to become the first woman to win both long distance races at the same Games.

The 23-year-old world record holder won the 10,000m in the second fastest time a week ago but the early laps of Friday’s race more closely resembled the pace of the morning’s 50km walk.

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 ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) - Ethiopia’s runners have won at least one gold medal at almost every Olympics since 1960. The country’s other athletes have been shut out.

Now a member of the Ethiopian team for the Beijing Games intends to fight his way onto the podium, against overwhelming odds.

Molla Getachew is Ethiopia’s only Olympic boxer, an anomaly in a country known for its superstar distance runners. His opponents are the last in a long line of problems standing between him and a gold, including a lack of equipment, no professionals to train against and a disapproving mother.

But when the Beijing Games open in August, he will represent Ethiopia in the 112-lb. flyweight division, a weight class dominated by well-equipped fighters from Mexico, Thailand and Japan.

“I feel sad because I’m the only boxer representing my country at the Olympics,” said the 22-year-old, who spends four hours a day training at an airless, grimy gym in the Ethiopian capital.

Boxing is popular elsewhere in Africa - neighboring Kenya is full of boxing clubs and boasts several champions - but Ethiopia’s poverty makes the sport’s equipment inaccessible to many.

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BEIJING (AP) -Kenenisa Bekele has successfully defended his Olympic 10,000-meter title in a competition record time, leading teammate Sileshi Sihine in an Ethiopian 1-2 again.

Bekele hit the front 450 meters from the finish Sunday and crossed in 27 minutes, 1.17 seconds to beat the record he set four years ago.

Sihine, who was second at the Athens Olympics and at the last two world championships, took silver in 27:02.77. Micah Kogo of Kenya won bronze in 27:04.11.

Haile Gebrselassie, who won the 10,000 at the 1996 and 2000 Games, faded to finish in sixth place. The 35-year-old Ethiopian switched to the marathon after the Athens Olympics, where he finished fifth. He opted against competing in the marathon in Beijing because of pollution concerns.

Team Ethiopia Beijing 2008 Schedule

The Ethiopian Olympic Committee announced its strong squad of 36 athletes for Beijing 2008, which is due to begin on Friday. You can find out the list of athletes below and the schedule for Team Ethiopia. All times are local time in Beijing which is 12 hours ahead of EDT. For instance 8 AM in College Park, Maryland is 8 PM in Beijing. Click here for the official schedule from Beijing 2008 Olympics official website.

Ethiopia will also be represented in Boxing by Molla Getachew in the 112-lb.(51 KG) flyweight division. The 51 Kilogram flyeweight is scheduled for August 12 at Workers’ Gymnasium in Beijing.

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