Ethiopian Legendary athlete Kenenisa Bekele is set to return to the tracks on Thursday for the Paris games years after his last race in London to face reigning champion Eliud Kipchoge.
Bekele, 41, last participated in the Games in London in 2012, finishing fourth in the men's 10,000m. This resulted in his being overlooked for the 2016 and 2020 Olympics.
However, a miraculous second-place result at the London marathon in April earned him a spot in the Paris Olympics with Tigist Assefa, the women's world record holder.
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Kipchoge defeated his Bekele when they met for the first time in the Paris World Championships in August 2003.
Kipchoge won the 5,000m event, finishing ahead of Moroccan Hicham El Guerrouj in second and Bekele in third.
Bekele made his marathon debut in April 2014, recording the sixth-fastest time in Paris, but his career has been plagued by injury.
Last September in Berlin, Assefa set a world record of 2:11:53 for the women's marathon, becoming the first woman to break the two-hour 12-minute barrier.
The Ethiopian men's Olympic squad includes Sisay Lemma, the Valencia marathon champion, and Deresa Geleta.
Tamirat Tola, the 2023 New York Marathon winner, and Eusedin Mohammed, the 2022 global champion, are on standby.
Gotytom Gebresilase, the 2022 world marathon winner, and Buze Diriba make up the women's reserve team.
The Olympic men's marathon will occur on August 10, followed by the women's event the next day.
