Sawt Falasteen - Belgium's marathon hope Bashir Abdi eyes medal run in Paris

"For me, as a Belgian athlete, it's an Olympics that feels almost like being at home," Abdi, 35, told AFP.

The European record holder for the marathon with a time of 2hr 03min 36sec has studied each step of the 42.195-kilometre (26.2-mile) route snaking past the world-famous landmarks of the French capital.

"It's Paris, I'm excited," he said.

Abdi knows it's going to be a tough race on the hilly course through the city and pointed to a particularly tough section at around the 30-kilometre mark.

"Then from there until the finish, it's very lovely. Nice big roads, no hills anymore, and of course historical parts of Paris, beautiful monuments, buildings," he said.

Abdi's build-up to the Olympics in Paris has faced hurdles, with an injury at the start of the year leading to an enforced two-month pause.

But after resuming running in March, he's optimistic about his chances.

"I hope I'll be fresher than the other athletes," he said from his training camp in the hills around Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.

"I am healthy, am doing good, and I am very excited for the most important race of 2024."

Before heading to Paris, he did some final attitude work in the Pyrenees.

And the tragic absence of Kenyan world record holder Kelvin Kiptum will be felt at the Paris race after he died in a car crash in February aged 24.

"It was shocking news," said Abdi.

For him recollections of Kiptum's record-smashing run at the Chicago marathon last October remain fresh.

"I remember the day before the race, I asked him what the plan was. He was joking, saying 'I’ll try the world record tomorrow'," Abdi recalled.

"As soon as we started the race, he just started flying."

- 'Never dreamed' of running -

The quest for Olympic gold over the legendary distance was by no means a childhood dream when Abdi left conflict-wracked Somalia at the age of nine.

"In my young age, I did not even know there was another sport besides football," he said.

"I never dreamed of being a runner."

Soon after arriving in Belgium he joined a local football club in a move that helped him make friends, learn the language and adapt to his new surroundings.

"Belgium is definitely where I feel home," Abdi, who lives in the city of Ghent with his wife and four children, said.

"It's the country that welcomed us."

After a knee injury and operation a few years later, Abdi turned to running on the advice of a friend.

Then came his first races, first successes and a glittering career.

Now Abdi's gearing up for his third Olympics.

When the pain and fatigue kick in towards the end of the race, he says he'll be thinking about the "sacrifices" he has made to get to this point.

And the special spirit of the Olympics will also motivate him.

"You have to wait four years before you can realise your dreams, your goals. It's something beautiful," he said.

"It's something you cannot describe the meaning of it. It's something that definitely changed my life."

Z.AbuSaud--SF-PST