Kenenisa Bekele Quotations

There is no major outdoor track title to aim for next year so Birmingham will be a vital part of my season.

With no major championships scheduled, I am looking forward to chasing for the prize.

With no individual global championships to aim at in 2006, my focus is the Golden League this summer, and I am looking forward to challenging for the US$1 million prize.

Yes it hurt, it was a hard race and he made me work with everything I had for the win.

Since we were very close, I was checking to see if anyone would catch up or try to pass me.

My getting to this position is something that doesnt completely surprise me at this point,

I did not expect him to be that close compared to the world championships last year. He is an athlete with potential.

It is for me a difficult race. I had never raced under 3,000 meters, so this is a very tough race for me. Maybe for the future it gives me confidence to improve. I'm not disappointed because it's my first time.

It is possible for me to improve my time in Brussels. I have good shape, and if the weather conditions are good, and normally, in Brussels the weather is good each year, the time is possible.

It gives me a lot of motivation to achieve the double for the last time. It not only brings glory to my country but to myself. It's a wonderful opportunity.

I was expecting him to do what he did and go early, he's done it before so it didn't come as a surprise. It hurt - it was a hard race and he made me work with everything I had for the win.

The 3,000 meters record has stood for a long time.

I was not trying to save any energy for tomorrow's race. The short race is the tougher race and this was the one I was concerned about.

Today's race was tough because of the wind. The wind made it hard to break away and I needed every ounce of strength to pull away from the other runners.

There are a lot of people who would like to snatch the title from me. I think the short race is tougher than the long one because it requires speed and there are a lot of strong athletes, but I'm confident I can win.

There are many strong athletes and I'm sure they've trained harder this year. A lot of people would like to snatch these titles from me.

The race was very fantastic, ... Today, I had my brother with me. He did everything very good. Today, everything was perfect.

This was a great result for Ethiopia, but Tirunesh stole the show with her win.

It was a little bit difficult for him he is very young. I help him, we train together. I hope for him in the future he has a lot of talent.

I've always liked the challenge of the shorter distance, and with no major championships for me in 2006 this is my chance. I like to run in the U.S. and I have heard a lot about this mile race in New York City.

I've achieved everything there is to accomplish in cross country. I've competed in the cross country world championships for six years and now it's time to step aside and make way for some of our younger athletes.

After winning titles outdoors and in cross-country, indoors is like a fun-run for me.

After winning titles outdoors and at cross country, this is a bit of fun for me. I knew all my opponents and the way they run because we've competed before against each other.

Actually, this is a test, an experiment for me.

No victories are ever easy but today was the toughest. We've never finished this close. The course was very flat and fast, and it was very windy, so it was hard to drop the other competitors.

As you know, I started the year with great grief. Let alone to be eligible to be for this award, I never expected to return to competition in such a way to do this well.

It's a stress-free competition that is intended to raise awareness about the sport in China since the Olympics will be held there in three years.

It was a very close race. This course is flat and there was a lot of wind today and that was the reason.

It's possible for me to improve my time in Brussels. I'm in good shape and if the weather conditions are good, the time is possible.

It's incredible what happened tonight, ... I gave everything as I ran the 5000 meters. I was so happy that we couldn't find the right words. But we didn't need them.

I want to run both races. It's not easy to compete in both races and this year I want to complete the double race for the last time.

I want to step aside and make way for my young Ethiopian team mates. I do not want anyone to think that I will not run again next year because the event is being staged in Kenya.

I want to step aside and make way for my young Ethiopian team mates.

It's not always easy when it's your first competition. I'm happy that I won.

I knew I was in record shape coming into the race but sometimes the pace of the race doesn't go your way. The third lap slowed right down and I just couldn't get back onto the pace after that.

I really wanted to come here and see New York City. It's been an ambition of mine. This race is very short for me, but it's good for me, too. I know it's going to be tough, but I've come here to do my best.

I have prepared well and I have the confidence I can win.

However I can say that Friday's world record goes some way to wiping away the memories of that dreadful tragedy,

I cannot achieve anything new. I'm leaning towards not competing at the world cross country anymore.

This year is very difficult for me to run after I after I lose my fiancee. I'm not preparing very well. I have sadness in my heart.