PARIS (AP) — Ethiopian running great Kenenisa Bekele will make his marathon debut in Paris, putting on hold a high-profile rematch with Mo Farah.
Bekele’s participation in the Paris Marathon on April 6 follows his first half marathon at the Great North Run in Britain in September, which he won by a second ahead of Farah, the Olympic champion in the 5,000 and 10,000 meters.
Farah is due to debut in the distance a week later at the London Marathon on April 13.
The 31-year-old Bekele won gold in the 5,000 and 10,000 at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the world championships in Berlin the following year. Farah matched that feat by claiming the long-distance double at the 2012 London Games and at last year’s worlds in Moscow.
