At 33, the Ethiopian distance runner is keen to win himself a place at the 2016 Summer Olympics scheduled for Rio de Janeiro.

He has taken the major step of moving to Melbourne, almost half a world away from his family and fiancee, to maximise his chances.

Gebremichael, who runs two marathons a year on average and has competed in up to five in a 12-month period, is training with Australian coach Frances Lipscombe of EPS Running.

Compact and lightly built, the quietly spoken athlete says he has been inspired by the great Ethiopian athletes of the past.

''I am inspired by them all,'' he told Fairfax Media.

Gebremichael's Australian campaign, like his races, has been carefully plotted in advance.

Before the Canberra Marathon, he competed in the Brisbane Twilight Half Marathon on March 22, when he won but pulled a hamstring.

With just over three months to the Gold Coast Marathon, the event he has his heart set on as most likely to improve his chances of Olympic selection, Gebremichael was careful to pace himself on Sunday.

''It is my great ambition to compete at the Olympics,'' he said.

This is the goal he has been pursuing since high school, when his abilities were first widely recognised.

Given the level of preparation Gebremichael is putting in for the Gold Coast Marathon, sports fans could be in for a real treat when he takes to the track as part of the event's 30,000-strong field come July. David Ellery