World 5,000 metres champion Meseret Defar will race at the Aviva World Trials & UK Championships in a bid to secure her place on the Ethiopian team for the 10,000m at the World Championships in Berlin.The 10,000m is the only event at this weekend's trials which allows overseas athletes to take part and Ethiopia does not hold trials for the 10,000m so athletes look to race elsewhere to claim their place on the national team. To secure one of three places available, Defar will have to run faster than 30 minutes 11.87 seconds, the third fastest time already clocked during the qualifying period by Ayalew Wude.
Two of Defar's compatriots will also line up in Birmingham; 2004 Olympic silver medallist Ejegayehu Dibaba - sister of current Olympic 5,000m and 10,000m champion Tirunesh Dibaba - and Aheza Kiros.
Defar said: "The race in Birmingham is important for me as I want to show my selectors in Ethiopia that I am capable of running well in the 10,000m in Berlin. There are many good long distance women in Ethiopia, so I must put in a strong performance. This will probably be my last race before the World Championships, so this is a very important one for me."
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