Athletics: Bekele joins London Marathon field alongside Kipchoge and Farah

Ethiopia's Kenenisa Bekele runs during the Men's elite race at the London marathon on April 23, 2017 in London. / AFP PHOTO

Bekele is the world record-holder for 5000m (12:37:35) and 10,000m (26:17:53), the second fastest marathon runner in history (2:03:03) and has three Olympic and five World Championship gold medals.

Bekele has run the past two London Marathons. He finished third in 2016 in 2:06:36 when he admitted he was at just 90 per cent fitness, and was second last year in 2:05:57 behind Daniel Wanjiru.