体坛英语新闻：Bekele confirmed to run London Marathon

LONDON, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Ethiopian legend Kenenisa Bekele has confirmed to run the 2018 London Marathon, joining Britain's Mo Farah and Kenya's Eliud Kipchoge on the start line on Sunday 22 April, organizers said here on Saturday.

The trio of Bekele, Farah and Kipchoge have a combined total of eight Olympic gold medals and 12 World Championship golds between them.

Farah, 34, is the most decorated with four Olympic gold medals and six World Championship victories over 5,000m and 10,000m, while Bekele, 35, is the 5,000m and 10,000m world record holder (26:17:53), the second fastest marathon runner in history (2:03:03) and the owner of three Olympic and five World Championship gold medals.

Kipchoge, 33, who won the London Marathon twice, is widely seen as the greatest marathon runner of his generation. He has run an unratified marathon time of 2:00:25 and is the reigning Olympic champion over the 42.195 kilometers.

Hugh Brasher, Event Director of the London Marathon, said: "This is a truly mouth-watering prospect."

Bekele has run the past two London Marathons, finishing third in 2016 and second last year.

Bekele said: "I am thrilled to be returning to London for the third year in a row and would love to go one better than last year and win the race. Once again London has brought the best distance runners in the world together so I know it will not be easy."