This weekend will see Ethiopian athletes competing in events on both sides of the Atlantic, as Tirunesh Dibaba seeks to defend her Edinburgh Cross Country title in Scotland on Saturday and Haile Gebrselassie attempts to break the World Half Marathon Record on Sunday in Phoenix, Arizona. Kenenisa Bekele, who was unable to compete last year, will also be taking part in this year’s VisitScotland Great Edinburgh Cross Country International on Saturday, and is current favourite to win.

Tirunesh, who won last year’s race before going on to complete a great track double at the World Championships in Helsinki when she took both the 5000 and 10,000 metres, will also be accompanied by her sister, Ejegayehu. In all, eleven races will take place tomorrow, with the main women’s race at 1.30pm and the men’s at 2pm.

Meanwhile, Haile will make his attempt at the World Half Marathon record on Sunday at the P.F. Chang's Rock 'n' Roll Arizona Marathon and Half-Marathon in Phoenix, and will be accompanied by three Ethiopian pacesetters - Tessama Absharo, Habte Jifar and Abiyote Guta. He will attempt to beat the 59 minutes and 16 second record set in September 2005 in Rotterdam by Kenya’s Samuel Wanjiru.

"It is an overwhelming honour to have Haile competing ..." Tim Murphy, President of Elite Racing, Inc., said.

"He is the best distance runner in the world and we are thrilled to host his world record attempt. Haile has a history of not just breaking records, but shattering them. And he is such a charismatic person, a little guy with a big heart. What a great ambassador for the sport of running."

"He is excited about the challenge and looking forward to it," Mike Long, coordinator for Elite Racing, Inc., the event's founder, said.

"He's been training very hard. He wanted to run here. He had heard about the course from other Ethiopians who have run here."

ENDS