The double Olympic champion had stunned the world a week ago when he announced he was quitting after dropping out of the New York City Marathon with a knee injury.

Gebrselassie, 37, announced his decision to comeback at a race in Ethiopia where he was guest of honour.

His decision sparked wild scenes of celebration at the event and was headline news across Ethiopia, where Gebrselassie is a huge hero and seen as a future President.

The world marathon record holder had begun reconsidering his decision almost as soon as he made it, admitting that he was "rethinking" his decision and said he still "loved to run".

Gebrselassie's long-time Dutch manager Jos Hermens had planned to fly to Addis Ababa this week to persuade Gebrselassie to change his mind.

"He no longer has to prove anything to anybody, he can still run in the events which give him pleasure, like the 10km road races," Hermens said.

"In ten years he could wonder why he stopped on a defeat."

Gebrselassie had previously said he wants to run at the London Olympics in 2012 and intended breaking his own world marathon record of 2 hours 3mins 59secs before bowing out.

Hermens acknowledged he was surprised by the Ethiopian's retirement announcement in New York and he wanted to convince him to race again by promising "to take away the pressure".

"[The announcement] has meant more stupid press conferences, plus lots and lots of interviews," said Hermens.

"He just needs to run without pressure, for fun, but it would not then lead to talk about the Olympic gold medal."

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


Related stories
November 2010: Legend Gebrselassie retires from running and will miss London 2012