Ethiopian legend Bekele returns to Olympics after 12 years

Nairobi: Ethiopian running legend Kenenisa Bekele will return to the Olympics for the first time in 12 years after he was named in a 10 member team fo...

Nairobi: Ethiopian running legend Kenenisa Bekele will return to the Olympics for the first time in 12 years after he was named in a 10-member team for the Paris Games on Thursday.

Bekele, 41, last competed in the Games in London in 2012 when he finished fourth in the men's 10,000m before being overlooked for the 2016 and 2020 Olympics.

However, a remarkable second-place finish at the London marathon in April was enough to earn him a place for the Paris Olympics in a squad which also features women's world record holder Tigist Assefa.

Bekele, who has won three Olympic golds in the 5,000m and 10,000m, will renew his rivalry with reigning Olympic champion and former world record holder Eliud Kipchoge who was named in the Kenyan team on Tuesday.

Kipchoge got the better of his Ethiopian rival when the two met for the first time at the Paris world championships in August 2003.