Haile Gebrselassie

Haile Gebrselassie (ኀይሌ ገብረ ሥላሴ; born 18 April 1973) is an Ethiopian former long-distance track, road running athlete, and businessman.

He won two Olympic gold medals and four World Championship titles over the 10,000 metres.

Haile triumphed in the Berlin Marathon four times consecutively and also had three straight wins at the Dubai Marathon.

In 1992, Haile gained international recognition in Seoul, South Korea, when he won the 5000-metre and 10,000-metre races at the 1992 World Junior Championships and a silver medal in the junior race at the World Cross Country Championships held in Boston, the United States.

The following year, in 1993, Haile won the first of what would eventually be four consecutive world championships titles in the men's 10,000 metres at the 1993, 1995, 1997, and 1999 World Championships.

His win in 1993 was however his most infamous as he accidentally stepped on the heel of Moses Tanui's shoe at the bell, causing it to fly off his foot.

After the contact, with just one shoe, an angered Tanui moved out to a 10-meter lead, only to have Haile run him down on the final straight.

Also at the 1993 World Championships he ran in the 5,000-metre race to finish a close second behind Ismael Kirui of Kenya.

In 1994 he won a bronze medal at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships.

Later that year he set his first world record by running 12:56.96 in the 5,000 metres, breaking Saïd Aouita's record by almost two seconds.

In 1995, Haile ran the 10,000 metres in 26:43.53 in Hengelo, the Netherlands, lowering the world record by nine seconds.

That same summer, in Zürich, Switzerland, Haile ran the 5000 metres in 12:44.39, taking 10.91 seconds off the world record 12:55.30 (established by Kenya's Moses Kiptanui earlier in the year).

Later that summer he won the 10k world championship with his final 200m being run in 25 seconds.

This world record at the Weltklasse meet in Zürich was voted "Performance of the Year" for 1995 by Track & Field News magazine.

At the same Weltklasse meet in Zürich in 1996, an exhausted Haile, suffering from blisters obtained on the hard track in Atlanta (where he had won the Olympic 10,000 metres gold), had no answer to the 58-second lap of Daniel Komen with five 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 beat Komen in another Zürich classic on 13 August 1997, covering the final 200 metres in 26.8 seconds to break his 5000 metres 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.

The next year, 1998, saw Haile lowering the indoor world records for 2000 and 3000 metres, enjoying success outdoors by taking back both the 5000 and 10,000 metres 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 metres 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 5000 metres mark of Komen in Helsinki, Finland.

Croatian pacemaker Branko Zorko took the pace out slowly, hitting 1000 metres in 2:33.91 and dropping out at the mile.

Million Wolde and Assefa Mezgebu led Haile through 2000 metres in 5:05.62.

His pacemakers could not maintain the pace, though, and Haile was left alone for a problematic solo effort six laps out.

Hitting 3000 metres in 7:38.93, even the British commentators announcing the race counted him out.

With four laps to go (8:40.00), Haile needed a sub-4-minute final 1,600 metres for the record.

He also earned four world titles indoors and was the 2001 World Half Marathon Champion.

Haile had major competition wins at distances between 1,500 metres and the marathon, moving from outdoor, indoor and cross country running to road running in the latter part of his career.

He broke 61 Ethiopian national records, ranging from 800 metres to the marathon, set 27 world records, and is regarded as one of the greatest long distance runners in history.

He won the 2008 Berlin Marathon with a world record time of 2:03:59, breaking his own world record by 27 seconds.

The record stood for three years.

Haile's 10,000 m Masters age group world record remains unchallenged since 2008.

Due to his various achievements on track & road running events, many called him as the "Emperor of the Distance Running".

Haile was cited as one of the top 100 most influential Africans by New African in 2011.

During the Hachalu Hundessa riots in 2020, Oromo mobs targeted the businesses and properties of non-Oromos.

Haile's hotels and resort were burned and 400 employees lost their jobs.

In 2021, in the midst of the Tigray War, he pledged to join the fighting against the Tigray People's Liberation Front.

Haile was born as one of ten children in Asella, 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 he was still holding his school books.