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Brussels - Haile Gebrselassie's long road to the 2012 London Games and a golden Olympic farewell hit another bump when the Ethiopian veteran injured both knees in training.
The world record holder was forced to pulled out of Sunday's Tokyo Marathon and will be out of action for up to six weeks, putting him doubt for a half marathon in Vienna on April 17.
"I am really disappointed as I felt great in training, and I was ready to show something special again," Gebrselassie said Thursday in a statement.
Gebrselassie pulled out of the New York Marathon in November with a knee injury and immediately said he would retire, only to go back on the decision eight days later.
Ever since, he has been centering on the London Olympic marathon.
"We have to wait and see how quickly he recovers," said Marleen Rennings, a spokeswoman from his management company. "It is going to be tight. The injury takes four to six weeks."
Gebrselassie is widely regarded as one of the greatest long-distance runners ever. He has won two Olympic gold medals and four world titles in the 10,000 meters. He set the marathon world record of 2 hours, 3 minutes, 59 seconds in Berlin two years ago.
The Tokyo Marathon was to be the 37-year-old Ethiopian's first major race back, but he had already been emboldened by winning a tough 10,000-meter race in a year-end race in Angola.
Then, about a week ago, bad luck struck.
Gebrselassie has always loved training in the barren, rugged countryside outside of Addis Ababa. He pretty much runs where the terrain takes him, and he has had several crashes in the past. This time though, he fell and his knee hit a rock, causing bruising.
He continued training, however, and to compensate for the pain, he started putting too much pressure on his other leg, causing an injury to the other knee, too, Rennings said.
"He was just extremely unlucky, because he was in great shape," Rennings said.
Gebrselassie will continue to work out in the fitness room to stay in shape.
Despite missing the spring marathons, Gebrselassie is slated for a race in the fall as a big test for London, but it is uncertain where he will compete at this stage.
Gebrselassie skipped the marathon at the 2008 Beijing Olympics for fear that pollution would affect his running. He ran the 10,000 instead and finished sixth.
At his age, any medal in London would be considered a major success.
