Triple world record holder and Olympic 10,000 metres champion Kenenisa Bekele will make his professional mile debut next month at the Millrose Games in New York, organisers of the indoor meeting have confirmed.
The Ethiopian, twice IAAF athlete of the year and world record holder at 5,000 and 10,000 metres outdoors and 5,000 metres indoors, will face Kenyan-born American Bernard Lagat in the February 3rd meeting at Madison Square Garden.
"I've always liked the challenge of the shorter distance, and with no major championships for me in 2006 this is my chance," Bekele said in a statement. "I like to run in the US and I have heard a lot about this mile race in New York City."
Lagat last year broke Irishman Eamonn Coghlan's 24-year-old mile record at the meeting, winning in 3:52.87. Now a US citizen, he twice won Olympic medals at 1,500 metres while representing Kenya.