Kenenisa Bekele came into the Dubai Marathon with plenty of hype, as he aimed to break the marathon world record time of 2h:02min:57s on Friday. The Ethiopian legend even sounded bullish about his prospects of doing so.
Little did he know that disaster would befall him at the event.
Bekele tripped and fell at the starting line of the Dubai Marathon, and ultimately had to drop out during the race due to the injury he suffered during the fall.
“I was at least in the same shape as in Berlin and ready for something special today,” Bekele said after the marathon.
“But after a hard fall just after the start, my body was out of balance and I got cramps in my left calf trying to run at world record pace!”
The 34-year-old went on to say, “I like to think of many scenarios, but this was definitely not one of them!”
However, despite the setback Bekele is already looking forward to the next big marathon.
“See you in London in April!”
