Haile Gebrselassie: Ethiopian Champion Long Distance Runner

Haile Gebrselassie (born April 18, 1973) is an Ethiopian long distance track and road running athlete. Known for his remarkable versatility, Haile achieved major competition wins at distances between 1500 metres and marathon, moving from outdoor, indoor and cross country running to road running in the latter part of his career. He has broken 25 world records and won numerous Olympic and World Championship titles, and is widely considered one of the greatest distance runners in history.

Early Career

Haile was born as one of ten children in Asella, Arsi Province, Ethiopia. As a child growing up on a farm, he used to run ten kilometres to school every morning, and the same back every evening. This led to a distinctive running posture, with his left arm crooked as if still holding his schoolbooks.

Haile gained international recognition in 1992 when he won the 5,000-metre and 10,000-metre races at the 1992 junior World Championships in Seoul, and a silver medal in the junior race at the World Cross Country Championships.

The next year, in 1993, Haile won the first of what would eventually be four consecutive world championships titles in the men's 10,000 meters at the 1993, 1995, 1997, and 1999 World Championships. At the 1993 World Championships, he also ran the 5,000-metre race to finish a close second behind Ismael Kirui of Kenya. In 1994 he won a bronze medal in the IAAF World Cross Country Championships. Later that year, he set his first world record by running a 12:56.96 in the 5,000-metres, breaking Said Aouita's record by two seconds.

In 1995, Haile ran the 10,000-metres in 26:43.53 in Hengelo, Netherlands, lowering the world record by a full nine seconds. That same summer, in Zürich, Switzerland, Haile ran the 5000 metres in 12:44.39, ripping an astonishing 10.91 seconds off the world record 12:55.30 (established by Kenya's Moses Kiptanui earlier in the year). This world record at the Weltklasse meet in Zürich was voted Performance of the Year by Track & Field News magazine.

With this performance, Haile seemingly put the 5,000-meter record out of reach for quite a while, but the very next year Daniel Komen showed that this wasn't the case. At the same Weltklasse meet in Zürich, an exhausted Haile, suffering from blisters obtained on the hard track in Atlanta (where he would win the Olympic 10,000 meter gold in 1996), had no answer to the 58-second lap of Daniel Komen with 5 laps to go as Komen went on to win and just miss Haile's record, finishing in 12:45.09.

In 1997, Haile turned the tables on Komen at the same meet. Coming off his third 10K world championship gold medal, Haile outkicked Komen in another Zürich classic on August 13, covering the final 200 meters in 26.8 seconds to break his 5,000-meter world record with a time of 12:41.86. Komen, in turn, took Haile's record only nine days later when Komen ran a 12:39.74 performance in Belgium.

Middle Career

The next year, 1998, saw Haile lowering the indoor world records for 2,000 and 3,000 meters, enjoying success outdoors by taking back both the 5,000 and 10,000 meter world records, as well as earning a share in the Golden League jackpot for winning all of his races in the Golden League series that summer. In June 1998, in Hengelo, Netherlands, Haile set a 10,000 meter world record 26:22.75, breaking Paul Tergat's world record 26:27.85, running evenly paced 13:11/13:11 5K splits.

Just 13 days later, Haile took on the 5,000 meter mark of Komen in Helsinki, Finland. Croatian pacemaker Branko Zorko took the pace out too slowly, hitting 1000 meters in 2:33.91 and dropping out at the mile. Millon Wolde and Assefa Mezgebu led Haile through 2,000 meters in 5:05.62. His pacemakers could not maintain the pace, though, and Haile was left alone for a difficult solo effort 6 laps out. Hitting 3,000 meters in 7:38.93, even the British commentators announcing the race counted him out. With 4 laps to go (8:40.00), Haile needed a sub-4 minute final 1,600 meters for the record. With one lap to go and in great pain, Haile took off, recording a final lap of 56.77 seconds and a final 1,600 meters of 3:59.36 (= 4:00.96 mile) to race to a 12:39.36 world record.

In 1999, Haile starred as himself in the movie Endurance. The film chronicled his quest to win Olympic gold in the 10,000-meters in Atlanta. On the track, he won a 1,500/3000 meter double at the world indoor track championships, defended his outdoor world track championships 10,000 meter title, and remained undefeated in all his races (which ranged from the 1,500 up to 10,000 meters).

In 2000, Haile again won all of his races, ranking first in the world yet again in both the 5,000 and 10,000 meters. At the 2000 Sydney Olympics, he became the third man in history to successfully defend an Olympic 10,000 meter title (after Emil Zátopek and Lasse Virén). The narrow Olympic victory over Kenya's Paul Tergat came down to a blistering final kick, with Tergat's 26.3 second final 200 meters being topped by Haile's even faster 25.4. The winning margin of victory was only 0.09 seconds, closer than the winning margin in the men's 100 meter dash final.

In 2001, Haile won the IAAF World half marathon and the bronze medal in the 10,000 meters at the 2001 World Championships in Athletics.

On August 30, 2003, Haile topped the polls when elected as a member of the IAAF Athletes Commission. Also in 2003, at the World Championships in Paris, Haile was involved in one of the most remarkable 10,000 meter races of all time while gaining a silver medal behind countryman and protégé Kenenisa Bekele. The last half of the 10,000 meter final at the championships was completed in a staggering 12:57.24 (12:57.2 for Bekele and 12:58.8 for Haile). According to the IAAF, "[n]ot only was this split the fastest closing 5,000 meters in the championships 10,000m (the previous record was 13:12.12, recorded in Atlanta), but it was also the fastest 5,000 meters in a global championships surpassing the 12:58.13 Salah Hissou recorded when he won the 5,000m in Sevilla'99." (This remark remained true until a week later when the World Track & Field Championship 5,000 meter medalists (including Bekele) all ran faster than the second 5,000 meter split in the previous week's 10,000 meters.) "The difference between the closing 5,000 meter splits (12:57.24) and the 5,000 meter World record (12:39.36) was 17.98 seconds, which is a record. The previous best of 18.4 seconds (13:31.4 for the closing 5,000 meters when the World Record was 13:13.0) was recorded in the 1976 Olympics."

In 2004 Athens Olympics, Haile was seeking to become the first man in history to win three straight Olympic gold medals in the 10000 meter run. He was unable to do so, however, finishing fifth in a race won by his compatriot Kenenisa Bekele, who had broken both of Haile's major track world records, the 5000 meter and the 10000 meter records. Shortly before the Athens games, Haile was unable to train for 3 weeks due to inflammation of his Achilles tendon. The injury was severe enough that he would not have competed otherwise, but did so because of significant pressure from his country. This loss of the final period of training likely cost him a medal.


Later Career

Since leaving the track after the 2004 Olympics, Haile has focused on road racing and the marathon. His adult marathons to date include London 2002, Amsterdam 2005 (1st place), London 2006, Berlin 2006 (1st place), Fukuoka 2006 (1st place), London 2007, and Berlin 2007 (1st place and World Record).

In 2005 Haile went undefeated in all of his road races. This included a British All-Comers record in the 10K at Manchester (27:25), a win in the Amsterdam Marathon in the fastest marathon time in the world for 2006 (2:06:20), and a new world best for 10 miles in Tilburg, The Netherlands (44:24). (His unofficial split of 41:22 at the 15K mark was 7 seconds faster than the official world best.)

Haile started 2006 positively by beating the world half marathon record by a full 21 seconds, recording a time of 58 minutes and 55 seconds on January 15th. He broke the record, his first one on American soil, by running the second half of the Arizona Rock 'n' Roll Marathon. During the race he also broke Paul Tergat's 20 km record, both records having stood since 1998. (Haile passed the 20 km mark in 55:48.) 2006 also marked another victory for Haile as he shattered the 25 km world road record by 68 seconds in a time of 1:11:37. The race was organized where Haile and six other runners would run 5 kilometers and then cross the starting line of the 20 kilometer Alphen race in Alphen aan den Rijn of the Netherlands. However this record wasn't recognised by the IAAF, since he wasn't checked for blood doping (EPO).

On April 23, 2006, he finished 9th in the London Marathon with a time of 2:09:05 (the race was won by Kenyan Felix Limo, who clocked 2:06:39). Haile referred to the 9th-place finish as "the worst race of my career". However, on September 24 he came back with a win in the Berlin Marathon in the fastest time of the year, 2:05:56. This was followed by a win in the Fukuoka Marathon, Japan in 2:06:52. His time in Berlin made him only the fifth man in history to run under 2:06 for the marathon.

In London on April 22, 2007 Haile challenged the 2006 London Marathon winner Felix Limo, the 2005 London Marathon winner Martin Lel, the 2004 Athens gold medalist Stefano Baldini, the 2006 New York Marathon winner Marilson Gomes dos Santos, and the current marathon world record holder Paul Tergat in what organizers anticipated would be an exciting race. However Haile dropped out at the 18 mile stage complaining of a stitch and inability to breathe, which turned out to be an allergic reaction to the pollen in the air. This left the 2005 winner Martin Lel to come home in first place.

One month later, Haile made a surprise return to the track where he ran a 26:52.81 in finishing 5th in a very competitive 10,000 meter race in Hengelo, The Netherlands. What made Haile's time so noteworthy, besides being the 8th time in his career to run under 27 minutes (more than anyone in history) is the fact that Haile is the only man older than 30 to break 27 minutes in the 10,000 meters. Moreover, his twelve year range of doing so (from 1995 to 2007) is remarkable.

On June 27, 2007, Haile launched an attack upon the world record for the one hour run, in Ostrava, Czech Republic. This record attempt was successful as Haile passed the hour mark at 21,285 m (13 miles 397 yards), thus eclipsing the previous best, 21,101 m, set by Mexican Arturo Barrios in La Fléche, France, on 30 March 1991. Furthermore, Haile covered 50 laps (20,000 m) in 56:25.98, another world best, well within the previous 56:55.6 also set by Barrios in 1991. These were his 23rd and 24th world records.

Haile made his running debut in New York City when he won the New York City Half Marathon on August 5, 2007 in 59:24, breaking the previous course record by two minutes. He has a perfect record of 8-0 in winning all of his half marathons.

On September 30, 2007 Haile won the Berlin Marathon in 2:04:26 (4:44.8 per mile), setting the world record and shaving 29 seconds off Paul Tergat's record, set on the same course in 2003. His victory further energized the celebrations of the Ethiopian Millennium (unique to the Ethiopian calendar), which began on September 12, 2007. On the winners podium he wore a blue ribbon to signify his support for Vicky's Water Project - a project set up in memory of Vicky Buchanan to bring clean running water to Lera Town in Ethiopia.

source: Wikipedia

Quotes

• At the moment I am a little bit politician, yes. I think that could be my next step. It is not because I want power, it is because of what I think I could do for the people.
• 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.
• He was not a runner, my father, but he was quick. I always remember it was very difficult to escape from him when he was angry. If he wanted to beat us he would always catch us. Even me, he could always catch me.
• I have to change a lot of things before I become a good marathon runner.
• I haven't done a marathon for a long time. So we'll see. I will need good luck.
• I think if you come first with a new world record, that is the best.
• I used to run to school, 10k every day. And this at altitude, perfect preparation, really.
• I will always listen to my coaches. But first I listen to my body. If what they tell me suits my body, great. If my body doesn't feel good with what they say, then always my body comes first.
• I'm lucky. The best possible place in the world for training is Addis Ababa, so I am home all the time except when I am racing. I like to be there, near my family, my kids, also the real estate business I run with my wife.
• 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.
• My father thought sport was something fun - he didn't know it was a way to make money. Then I won a Mercedes at the world championships and I gave it to him. From the moment it arrived my father said: 'Good, you can support not just yourself but me too'.
• Oh yes, yes they did, but it came from a long time ago, it was not possible for me to change it. Me and the style, we have grown together.
• 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.
• That is not enough. Sport has been great for me, a great learning place that if you want to achieve you can, even if you are from the poorest part of Africa.
• This hand is not very active always, because it was in this hand that I carried my books. My carrying hand was always my strongest. Now I think my other hand has developed more muscles from signing all those autographs.
• 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.
• 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.
• When we race in London a world record will be the last thing on our minds.
• You know, I want to help my country. Definitely I can help them, simply by winning races. Sure, they can follow my path to a good career. But for me it is not enough. I want to be more than that. In everything I want to be a role model.
  

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Melaku says:

Haile is a role model for Ethiopian youth, a champion by anyone's definition. The celebrated young musician, Teddy Afro, praised Haile in one of his latest hits.

Haile, I heard, is also a philanthropist. He gave money for the construction of an elementary school in Gojjam district. The other point worth mentioning is that Haile played a big role in the reconciliation effort made by Professor Ephraim Yitzak and Pastor Danield to resolve the vicious problem between the government and the leaders of the Coalition for Unity and Democracy Party. Bravo Haile! Please keep up your peace efforts!