Athletics: Gebrselassie beats own mark

Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia broke his own 3,000m world indoor record by more than 4.5 seconds in Karlsruhe, Germany yesterday. The Ethiopian clocked 7min 26.14sec, beating the mark of 7:30.72 that he set in Stuttgart on 4 February 1996.

Last year, he failed to break the record on this same track by less than a second, but yesterday he was on a blistering pace from the start. When the second pacemaker dropped out after 1500m, Gebrselassie never let up.

"I was very concentrated," said the two-time Olympic 10,000m champion. "I knew what I was capable of running, but the pacemakers dropped out a little bit early. Still I was able to keep going."

Gebrselassie said his goal for the season was to regain his outdoor 5,000m and 10,000m records, both of which he lost to the Kenyans Daniel Komen and Paul Tergat last August. "I'm concentrating on records above all this year," he said. "I want to achieve the best run at both distances during this summer."