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Smiling Gebrselassie breaks one-hour record

June 28, 2007 01:09 IST
Twice Olympic 10,000 metres champion Haile Gebrselassie broke the world one-hour record at the Ostrava grand prix on Wednesday, running 21.285 km.

The 34-year-old surpassed Mexican Arturo Barrios's previous mark of 21.101 km, set in La Fleche, France, on March 30, 1991.

"At around the halfway point I felt I could get the record," a smiling Gebrselassie told reporters by the finish line. "I felt comfortable the whole way."

On the way to the new mark, Gebrselassie also broke the 20-km world record time of 56 mins 55.60 secs, set by Barrios during his run in 1991. The Ethiopian clocked 56:25.98.

Gebrselassie, the best distance runner of his era, retired from track running to concentrate on the marathon after the 2004

Athens Olympics.

In preparation for Wednesday's record attempt he made a surprise return to the track in the Dutch town of Hengelo last month, clocking 26 minutes 52.91 seconds in a 10,000m race.

Alan Crosby
Source: REUTERS
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