Haile Gebrselassie
Haile Gebrselassie
Haile Gebrselassieis a retired Ethiopian long-distance track and road running athlete. He won two Olympic gold medals over 10,000 metres and four World Championship titles in the event. He won the Berlin Marathon four times consecutively and also had three straight wins at the Dubai Marathon. Further to this, he won four world titles indoors and was the 2001 World Half Marathon Champion...
ProfessionRunner
Date of Birth18 April 1973
CityAsella, Ethiopia
running athlete priorities
I always tell young athletes the same thing, 'Wherever you go, whatever you do, what must your top priority be? Running.'
training never-forget forget
In my life I do a lot of things but I never forget my training.
training eating
For me a day without training is like a day without eating.
car people poor
You must do as your people do. If my people are poor, I must be poor. People ask me, 'Why don't you find a personal coach or a private car?' I can't. Then I won't be part of my people.
winning wells ifs
Always, if you win mentally, you can win physically as well.
people trying situation
I can't change everything by myself but I can be one of the people who are trying to change the situation.
believe two training
First, do enough training. Then believe in yourself and say: I can do it. Tomorrow is my day. And then say: the person in front of me, he is just a human being as well; he has two legs, I have two legs, that is all. That is mentally how you prepare.
commitment hard-work discipline
Once you have commitment, you need the discipline and hard work to get you there.
running athlete commitment
All athletes need three things: commitment, discipline and hard work. Without that it's hard to keep running.
running distance half-marathons
When you run the marathon, you run against the distance, not against the other runners and not against the time.
became careful eight last longer months serious
I became serious about it over the last eight months because I have to be careful with the things that I have to do. You have to concentrate on everything. I concentrate on longer training. We'll see Sunday, it will be something interesting.
gives love
I love the music. It gives you energy.
competitor learn learnt needed paul prepared ran
I needed Paul in the race, not only because he is my competitor but because he is my friend. When I see him run, I can learn a lot from him. When he ran the world record, I learnt from how he ran and how he prepared for it. I need him to get experience.
last next
If it happens, wonderful. If not, what can I do?. This is not my first competition. It's not my last competition. I will try for it next time. We'll see.