Abdi arrived in Belgium on Tuesday after an intensive training camp in the French Pyrenees. “Everything went well, I managed to train hard there,” the 34-year-old from Ghent said at the pre-event press conference in the athletes’ hotel. I am really looking forward to Friday, the Allianz Memorial Van Damme is a great celebration of athletics for the entire country.”<\/p>\n
On Friday over 35,000 spectators will push Abdi, a bronze medal winner in the Olympic marathon, to a memorable time in the 10,000m. “My last participation was in the Covid year 2020, when we sadly had to run in an empty stadium. I remember receiving a Belgian flag after my hour run, but on my lap of honour I could only show it off to the birds…”<\/p>\n
This time around the stadium will be pulsating if Abdi breaks the Belgian and European records. The Belgian record dates back to the 1999 Memorial, a 26:52.30 set by Mohammed Mourhit, while the European record is held since 2011 by Abdi’s friend Mo Farah (26:46.57), who joined Abdi’s training camp. <\/p>\n
“Mo even paced me in training,” Abdi revealed. “He is helping me and I think he would be happy for me if I took his record.” But first I am focusing on the Belgian record, I need that one. The current BR is not clean,” Abdi stated firmly. “Everyone in my environment is pushing me to break the record. I am going to start on a Belgian record schedule on Friday, but if I feel the European one is possible too then I won’t turn that one down either.”<\/p>\n
Abdi is not worried his current personal best – a 27:24.41 – is far removed from either record. “The 10,000 metres have never been a specific goal for me. I am still focused on the Olympic marathon in Paris next year, but the 10,000 records are a nice goal in between. I’ve been training more on speed on the track recently, which is necessary for this record attempt. But if you want a fast marathon, you also need to work on your speed. So 80% of my preparation is the same.”<\/p>\n
With France’s Jimmy Gressier Abdi will face another fast European on Friday. Could he spoil the party? “I like a challenge,” Abdi smiled. “Look, the Memorial is part of the Diamond League. The best athletes in the world are here. Jimmy and I can push each other to a higher level and help each other once the pacers have done their bit. He has been messaging me a lot the past few days. In the 1500 metres he’s faster than me, but the 10K is a different story.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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