Kenenisa Bekele hopes his quest for a hat trick of World Championship titles will continue at the Norwich Union British Grand Prix in Sheffield on July 15.

The Ethiopian is looking for his third consecutive 10km gold medal in Osaka later this summer, but will first compete in the shorter distance of 3km at the Don Valley Stadium.

As the current world number one, Bekele will head to Sheffield as the race favourite but he faces stiff competition in the form of Commonwealth Champion Craig Mottram and European Cross Country Champion Mo Farah.

And Mottram in particular has been keen to voice his desire at having the chance to race against Bekele, in the hope of beating one of the best long distance runners of all time, as he did at last year’s World Cup.

“I’m not running too many races this year, so to allow me more recovery time and ensure that I’m always running at my best,” said Bekele, whose only race to date this summer was a two-mile victory in Hengelo.

“I relish the opportunity to run against a class field, like Craig  Mottram and Mo  Farah , it will help me with my World Championship preparation. 

“My focus is now to have a great summer, starting with the Norwich Union British Grand Prix in Sheffield, where I know I will be competing with strong competitors .

“It will be my first race at the Don Valley stadium and I am really looking forward to it.  I am feeling good and looking forward to the challenge.”

Bekele is yet another big name to be added to the already impressive Sheffield bill, which includes Tyson Gay, Oscar Pistorius, Jeremy Wariner, Bernard Lagat, Liu Xiang, Sanya Richards, Veronica Campbell, Carolina Kluft and Allyson Felix, to name but a few.

Tickets for the Norwich Union British Grand Prix at the Don Valley Stadium, Sheffield on Sunday 15th July are available by phone on 0870 402 8000 or online at www.ukathletics.net/tvevents