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 father thinking
My father didn't think running was sensible. He told me running is just wasting time.
running country athlete
Since I achieved something, running has exploded in my country. For me sometimes it is difficult even to know who the athletes are who are competing at the highest level. There are thousands.
running school perfect
I used to run to school, 10k every day. And this at altitude, perfect preparation, really.
running nice giving
What can you do if a part of it is uphill? You can't work out another route. You've just got to run the one they give you. But they tell me London is a nice course. Even the cobbles, I hope, are not very much of a problem for me.
running challenges london
This is what I wanted. They tell me that London is the best field in history. I wanted to be part of that. Because everyone will be there it will be a wonderful challenge for me. You can see the best runners, how they look, how they run. For me to beat the best is what counts.
running country
Since I achieved something, running has exploded in my country.
running rivers tree
When I run in Ethiopia, I look out and see eucalyptus trees and rivers.
running new-york ifs
If you are a really good marathoner, you have to run New York.
country running moving
Eradicate poverty. This is all that matters in my country. When I am out training I think about this a lot; when I am running it is going over in my mind. As a country we cannot move forward until we eradicate poverty.
running people the-end-of-the-day
At the end of the day, people want to see how fast you run.
running want injury
I want to avoid injuries by running only road.
running retiring
I'm retiring from competitive running, not from running. You cannot stop running, this is my life,
running careers shoes
When I had no shoes I was comfortable - I used to run barefoot. When I wore shoes it was difficult. To run in shoes was ok, but at the beginning of my career it was hard.
running school bridges
In the rainy season, sometimes to get to the first lesson we had to run really quick, because we had to cross the river to school and we'd have to go up and down the bank to find a place to cross because there is no bridge.