Manchester, UK - Looking almost as strong as in his best years Haile Gebrselassie demolished a top class field in the Bupa Great Manchester Run on Sunday.

The great Ethiopian won the 10k race clocking a world leading time of 27:39. After this amazing display of the 39-year-old another Olympic Games appearance look like a realistic prospect now. It was the fifth win in Manchester for Gebrselassie after victories in 2005, 2009, 2010 and 2011.

Genzebe Dibaba stormed to an Ethiopian record in the women's 1500m, her compatriot Hagos Gebrhiwet won men's 5000m, whilst Kenyans Milcah Chemos Cheywa (3000m S/C women) and Leonard Kosencha (800m men) took comfortable wins on a rainy evening at the Samsung Diamond League meeting in Shanghai, China on Saturday.

An impressive Dibaba totally dominated the race from the moment the pacemaker dropped out with a composed surge to the line, clocking 3:57.77, a national record, a meeting record and the fastest in the world for two seasons.

Kenenisa Bekele feels he has nothing left to prove after a spectacular running career but still fully intends to defend his Olympic 5,000 and 10,000 metres titles in London later this year.

The Ethiopian will be gunning for an unprecedented third successive 10,000 metres gold in London in a feat that was beyond middle distance greats Paavo Nurmi, Emile Zatopek, Lasse Viren and Haile Gebrselassie, who all won it twice.

Somalia's hope of using football to wash away some of their dreadful past and making it to a major football event came to a disappointing end after they suffered a crushing 5-0 defeat at the hands of Ethiopia on Wednesday, May 16 in the second leg of the 2014 World Cup qualifier.

Somalia's national football team, the Ocean Stars,had high hopes of making it to the next round of the qualifiers after the first leg played in Djibouti last weekend ended 0-0.

Last summer, when they took a service trip to Ethiopia with head coach Joker Phillips, Athletics Director Mitch Barnhart and others, Danny Trevathan and Stuart Hines weren’t entirely sure what was in store for them. The experience ended up being a life-changing one, with the two rising seniors witnessing a culture and a lifestyle unimaginably far removed from their own.

Bafana Bafana head coach Pitso Mosimane has announced a 27-member squad for the upcoming 2014 World Cup qualifiers against Ethiopia and Botswana, as well as a friendly international match against Gabon.

Bafana Bafana will face Ethiopia on Sunday 3 June at the Royal Bafokeng Sports Palace in Phokeng near Rustenburg.

Ethiopia- Dubai Marathon champion and world leader Ayele Abshero and recently-minted national women’s record holder Tiki Gelana will lead Ethiopia’s strong Marathon squad for the London 2012 Olympic Games.

The selection, which is made based on the finishing times of athletes in 2012, sees many high-profile stars including Olympic bronze medallist Tsegaye Kebede and national record holder Haile Gebrselassie miss the cut. Yemane Tsegaye, winner of the Rotterdam Marathon in April and the second fastest Ethiopian behind Abshero, also misses the cut after competing in two marathons over the selection period, an action that was deemed in violation for the Ethiopian Athletics Federation’s selection procedure.

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia - St. George FC has retaken the lead of the Ethiopia Premier League with a 2-1 victory over Harar Brewery here yesterday.

St. George now seats at the top of the league with 49 points (21 matches), followed by Dedebit FC with 48 points (22 matches) and EEPCO with 42 points (22 matches).

In other matches, Sidama Coffee defeated Ethiopian Coffee 2-1 at home to jump two spots to 8th; Commercial Bank of Ethiopia also made a similar move with a 1-0 win over Hawassa City 1-0, while Adama City and Dire Dawa City failed to take home field advantage after they were both held to scoreless matches by Mugher Cement and Arba Minch respectively.

A road race in Oxford has been won by an Ethiopian runner involved in a scheme to train East African athletes.
Edao Weily, who won the annual Town and Gown Race, had trained with Running Across Borders which was established by an Oxford University graduate.
Mr Weily, 25, said he was "really happy to have won" his first competitive race in the UK.
About 3,000 runners took part in the event, raising up to £120,000 for Muscular Dystrophy research.

Manchester, UK – Ayele Abshero, currently the 2012 season marathon world leader thanks to his 2:04:23 run in Dubai, will face Haile Gebrselassie and Patrick Makau, the past and present incumbents of the title, at the Bupa Great Manchester Run on Sunday 20 May.

Abshero first showed his vast potential for the future with his 2009 IAAF World Cross Country junior title, before steering a different career pathway from that normally adopted by Ethiopian athletes, including Gebrselassie.

Bekele, the reigning Olympic champion and world record holder over both distances, has been hampered by injury over the past two years, but proclaimed himself here to be "free of injury" although not training at 100 per cent.

The 29 year-old, who has 16 world titles to his name, raced just once in 2010 and twice in 2011 as he attempted to shrug off calf and knee injuries.

He suffered a disastrous world championships in Daegu, South Korea, last year, limping out of the 10,000m and withdrawing from the 5,000m.

Dedebit FC defeated St. George 3-1 here today to cut down the lead to just one point, although the latter has still one match in hand.

This marked the second defeat of the season for St. George in 20 matches following their 1-0 loss to Dire Dawa City in the 3rd week of first round back in December 13, 2011.

Manchester, UK - Reigning World Marathon record holder Patrick Makau to take on Ethiopian Haile Gebrselassie at the Bupa Great Manchester Run on 20 May.

Makau broke Gebrselassie's World record in the Marathon by 21 seconds at last September's BMW Berlin Marathon, with a time of 2:03:38.

Having lived in Calgary for five years, Kenyan native Bernard Onsare has adjusted to temperatures cold enough to flash freeze a lithe, no-body-fat African runner.

So, he had to chuckle a little when Ethiopian Gezahgn Eshetu, making his first visit to Canada, showed up for the start of Sunday morning’s BMO Vancouver Marathon with gloves on, even if it was a crisp, but pleasant 9 C under sunny skies.

Eugene, Oregon - Steve Prefontaine would have loved this year’s men’s 5000m field at the meet named in his honour. After all, the world’s best are competing in his trademark Olympic event at the fourth stop on the 2012 Samsung Diamond League circuit, and it includes an impressive group of fearless young talent, along with some Americans with extreme motivation. Plus, the race will occur on Saturday, 2 June at Hayward Field, the cathedral of quality distance running made famous by the likes of Prefontaine.