Former marathon world record holder Haile Gebrselassie insists he is not going to retire and is targeting success at the 2012 Games in London. The 38-year-old Ethiopian dropped out of his second successive marathon in Berlin on Sunday and saw his record time broken by Kenyan Patrick Makau.

But he told BBC Sport: "I don't want to miss the Olympics. (...) It is London and to win here is something very special. I want to go down in history."

The Ethiopian initially stepped off the road after 27km of the race, before finally dropping out eight kilometres later, meaning he has still yet to secure the qualification time to appear at the Olympics next year. "Last Sunday I tried my best but it didn't work," Gebrselassie added. "Now I'm looking forward. I'm planning for the next marathon.

"I'm thinking about qualifying [for the 2012 Olympics]. The qualification time has to be something special. We Ethiopians have to run at least 2:04 or 2:05, because only the top three go to London. "Many of the Ethiopians have already run these times so I have to be careful if I want to be in London. That is why I ran fast in Berlin at the beginning of the race and, of course, I didn't finish."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/olympics/london_2012/15087906.stm