Bekele to race in opening Doha Diamond League meet

Ethiopian running legend Kenenisa Bekele will start his campaign for a fourth Olympic gold this summer by running the 3,000m at the opening Diamond League meet of the season in Doha on May 11.

The defending 5,000m and 10,000m Olympic champion, and world record-holder in both events, has spent almost two years on the sidelines due to a string of injuries, making his comeback last September when he won the 10,000m in Brussels.

In his first ever outing in Doha, the Ethiopian will race the 3,000m – an event he has not competed in since his triumph at the World Athletics Final in Thessaloniki in September 2009.

“The presence of Kenenisa Bekele is officially confirmed,” meeting director Abdulla al-Zaini announced this week.

“The athletics outdoor season will once again start from Doha and this year the challenge looks bigger, as 2012 is an Olympic Games year.”

The women’s 3,000m will feature the reigning world champion in both the 5,000m and 10,000m, Kenya’s Vivian Cheruiyot.

Cheruiyot will be joined by team-mate Pamela Jelimo, the Olympic 800m champion and recently-crowned world indoor champion.

Last year’s Diamond League meeting featured no US or Jamaican sprinters of note because it clashed with the Jamaica Invitational Meeting in Kingston, which has been upgraded from ‘continental’ to an IAAF World Challenge Meeting.

As a result, the best sprinters from Jamaica and the United States opted to stay closer to home.

This year, the calendar has been reshuffled and the Jamaica International Invitational will now be held on May 5, potentially opening up the way for Jamaican sprinters to compete in Doha.