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
training eating
For me a day without training is like a day without eating.
sports running exercise
Some people start a sport just to reduce weight, or some say, 'My doctor ordered me to run and do exercise', and for others, they run for completely different benefits. But it is not like that with sport. We need to eat, we need to rest, but also we need to run.
training never-forget forget
In my life I do a lot of things but I never forget my training.
brain officials
Like some high official, you have to tell your brain: 'Do it. Come on. I have to do it.'
running real kids
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.
winning want marathon
I know what I want when I start a marathon: to win! But what do you want? Make sure you're clear in advance and don't go out too fast.
fitness feel-good firsts
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.
morning giving effort
When I wake up at 5 in the morning is it just to jog? Definitely not, I give it all of my efforts.
sports want enough
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.
running school rivers
My school was six miles away from where I lived on the farm. I had to walk and run, there and back every day, through gorges and over rivers. If I was late, there was a very big stick waiting for me.
running
I love running and I will always run.
birthday numbers age
Age for me is just a number.
years four three
Why should I say I will retire in three or four years? You retire the very moment you utter those words.
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.