Ethiopia's two-time Olympic champion, Haile Gebrselassie, is one of the African stars who will compete at the IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics, which begin March 14 in Birmingham, England.
Haile will race in the men's 3,000 meters event in Birmingham. The speedy Ethiopian appears to be in peak form ahead of the World Indoor Championships. Last month in Birmingham, at the Norwich Union Grand Prix meet, Haile set a new world indoor record in the two-mile run, clocking 8:04.69. He describes the World Indoor Championships as the start of his campaign for a third Olympic gold medal next year in Athens in the 10,000 meters.
Another African Olympic champion who will compete in Birmingham is Maria "The Maputo Express" Mutola of Mozambique. Maria will race in her specialty, the 800-meters. She is aiming for her fifth World Indoor Championships gold medal, unprecedented for a female athlete in a single event. Another strong contender for a gold medal is Ethiopia's Berhane Adere, who will compete in the women's 3,000 meters race.
Meanwhile, Namibian star Frankie "The Flash" Fredericks pulled out of the World Indoor Athletics Championships. Frankie decided to return home to await the birth of his first child.
Please tune in to the "Sonny Side of Sports," "Daybreak Africa Sports" and "Nightline Africa Sports," broadcast on the English-to-Africa Service of the Voice of America, for more coverage of the African athletes at the IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics. "The Energetic" Andy Edwards will be filing reports from Birmingham.