Gebrselassie said: ‘‘I’ve been in many competitions before where I’ve felt pressure just as in the Olympics at Atlanta and Sydney.

‘‘Many people want to see a world record in London. If it is possible I will try to do what people expect.

‘‘Athletes always focus on doing their best in any race. Of course I think about winning. I think I can say I am ready to do something special.’’

Gebrselassie’s statement might seem a pipe dream particularly as many other great runners including his Kenyan arch-rival Paul Tergat, the five times World Cross Country champion have struggled coming to terms with the marathon.

But Gebrselassie and his manager Jos Hermens, once a marathon runner himself, have carefully thought out a winning battle plan for the brilliant 28-year-old Ethiopian.

They have asked for the pacemakers to take the field through the half distance in 62 and a half minutes.

‘‘Running between one hour two and one hour three minutes is nothing,’’ insisted Gebrselassie, winner in Lisbon over 13.1 miles in a national record 59mins 40secs three weeks ago.

But the experienced double Olympic and five-times world 10,000 metres champion admitted: ‘‘The question is what will happen in the second half of the race. I believe if you can run fast from the beginning you can keep it going to the end.’’

Gebrselassie’s training partners include Olympic bronze medallist Tesfaye Tola and last November’s New York Marathon champion Tesfaye Jifar.

‘‘We train every day. They’ve given me advice, particularly on the last part of the competition.

‘‘They have taught me a lot and I’ve learned a lot,’’ admitted Gebrselassie.

‘‘It will be different when we race together but we’ll try to help each other.

‘‘But here it is an individual not a team competition. We will try to help each other. All Ethiopians are friends and we will try to do things together.’’

But knowing it was possible he might hit the marathon ‘‘wall’’, Gebrselassie admitted: ‘‘If they are in better shape I will tell them to go on their own.’’

Sessions at an altitude of 2500m above sea level have been an everyday occurrence.

‘‘Sometimes we ran for three hours and then a little bit more, but never further than 35 kilometres running at marathon pace,’’ said Gebrselassie.

Listed joint 2-1 favourite with defending champion Abdelkader El Mouaziz, Gebrselassie insisted he had not identified any main rival including the 7-1 Tergat.

The debutant said: ‘‘I don’t think about any significant person. I’ll keep it to watching the man in front.

‘‘If it’s Tergat I’ll follow him. But in the marathon you never know who will be best. It’s difficult to say it will be this athlete or that athlete.’’

Certainly London organisers anticipate a vintage performance from arguably the world’s greatest-ever distance runner.

Just to ensure he ran his first marathon in their race is understood to have cost them a fee in the region of £250,000.

‘‘The biggest in the history of athletics,’’ according to race director David Bedford after the deal was signed in October.