No wifely distractions for Bekele's bid

By Catherine Bremer

BEIJING (Reuters) - Ethiopia's Olympic champion distance runner Kenenisa Bekele has left his actress wife at home to avoid any distractions as he seeks double gold in Beijing.

Bekele, who generated one of the biggest roars yet in the Bird's Nest after holding on to his 10,000 meter Olympic title, said at a race in Scotland earlier this year that having his wife of a few months watching was stressful.

In Beijing, where he is bidding for a second gold in the 5,000 meter race on Saturday, Bekele will be running with wife Danawit Gebregziabher's name printed on his shoes but he left her behind in Ethiopia to watch the race on television.

"This competition is very tough. I should concentrate on the race," Bekele told Reuters. "If she had come maybe she would have wanted to visit around. I would have had to give her time.

"I didn't (need to) tell her," he added. "She knows everything before I tell her. She can understand. I have to do my best and concentrate on the race."

Bekele, who has eclipsed fellow Ethiopian Haile Gebrselassie to lead the field in long-distance and cross-country, said he was working on getting as much rest as possible between races.

He ran the first round of the 5,000 meters on Wednesday and has the final on Saturday, competing against America's Bernard Lagat, less than a week after last Sunday's 10,000 meter final. "It's not easy after the 10,000 meters. It's very tough. It's too many races in one week. It will be tough, I think, the 5,000 meters," Bekele said, after a meal of steak and pasta.

"I'm okay. I'm a little bit tired but I've recovered a bit. I still have two days more," he said.

The small, slender Bekele would not name a vegetable, like Usain Bolt's much-talked-about yam, as being behind Ethiopia's string of world-class runners. Instead he put it down to the east African nation's inspiring landscapes and all-natural diet.

"We are gifted from God," he said, solemnly.

Kenyan-born Lagat also has some motivational decoration on his running shoes for Saturday -- a picture of his toddler son, who he says is his biggest fan.

"My son has been the one that motivates me every time so I wanted to give him something to remember," Lagat told Reuters. "He'll always remember that Daddy really had him in mind running at the Olympics."

(editing by Keith Weir)