Haile Gebrselassie

KEY FACTS

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Date of Birth:

18 April 1973

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Home town:

Asella, Ethiopia

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Personal best:

Olympic 10,000m Gold medals at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics & 2000 Sydney Olympics.
A multiple World Champion over distances from 1,500m to the 1/2 Marathon, Haile has set an impressive 24 world records during his career to date

"Throughout my career sport has taught me many lessons, lessons which I try to pass on to the next generation of Olympians so that they too can enjoy the amazing benefits that sport can provide you with."

Profile

Generally regarded as the finest distance runner the world has ever seen, Haile Gebrselassie has been at the top of world sport for over fifteen years. Twice an Olympic Gold medallist and a multi World Champion, he has an unrivalled range of brilliance, excelling over distances from 1,500m to the Marathon.

Haile dominated long distance track running in the 1990s during which time he made 5,000m running ‘the event’ to watch, breaking key milestones almost every time he stepped on the track and forcing a whole generation of runners to train harder in an unavailing attempt to rival him.

A front runner who also possesses a terrific sprint finish, his exploits against the clock are remarkable, breaking over twenty world records between 1994 and 2007.

After recurring leg injuries, Haile switched from track to road running in 2004 and in 2006 was the world’s number one marathon runner as attention began to focus on his attempt to qualify for his fourth Olympics in 2008.

On Sunday 28th September 2008, Haile added another milestone to his legendary athletics CV when he broke his own marathon world record to win the Berlin Marathon for the third year running. This stunning victory has set a new benchmark in long distance running, having become the first man ever to run under two hours, four minutes as he clocked 2:03:59.

World Recognition In November 2007, Haile Gebrselassie was selected by the IAAF as a finalist for the 2007 World Athlete of the Year award and crowned 2007 Inspirational Athlete of the Year.