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Haile the greatest ever Haile Gebreselassie is widely regarded as the greatest distance runner of all time. A legend on the track, he is now moving up to the marathon to continue his record-breaking career. The world's greatest distance runner in the world grew up in the village of Asela, near Arsi in Southern Ethiopia. The seventh of 10 children, the 27 year old (Mar 2002) Haile Gebrselassie stands just 5ft 4in tall and weighs in at 8st 9lbs, most of that being legs and lungs.
His inspiration came from his countrymen, the marathon legend, Abebe Bikila and 5,000m and 10,000m Olympic gold winner Miruts Yifter, affectionately known as Yifter the Shifter. As a child Gebrselassie had to run the 10 kilometres each way to school everyday. It was this daily running carrying books that according to his coach, Dr. Wolde Kostre, was responsible for his distinctive running style which has a slight crook in his left. His childhood also saw Gebrselassie often asked to chase down on foot any of the family horses that broke loose. So compelling is his story that he's the subject of the Disney biographical motion picture "Endurance," which chronicles his rise to prominence and Olympic glory. The developing athlete was also supplied with an excellent diet on his father's farm and by the time he was 16, without any formal training, he was able to clock a remarkable 2h 42mins in the Addis Ababa marathon. This brought him to the attention of the national coaches and he moved to Addis Ababa. In 1991 he finished eighth in the world youth championships in Belgium. The following year he became world junior champion at 5,000m and 10,000m. By 1993 he was the fastest man in the world over 10,000m and second fastest in the 5,000m with gold and silver at the Stuttgart World Championships. It was the start of his domination of the 10,000m event. No wonder he can afford to say with a smile: "I need to move to the marathon instead of 10,000 and 5,000 metres because there are many 10,000 and 5,000 runners coming up and I have to give a chance for them." In 1994 his first world record came as he broke Said Aouita's six year old 5,000m mark with a time of 12:56.96 in Hengelo, Holland. Since then 15 indoor and outdoor distance records have fallen to the little man with the shy , engaging smile. Atlanta in 1996 brought his first Olympic gold at 10,000m and he retained his crown in Sydney four year later after an epic duel with Kenya's Paul Tergat. The two athletes could only be separated after a sprint finish by the diminutive Ethiopian just saw him finish ahead. After that the world could be forgiven for thinking that Haile could do just about anything. Even though it was his first race of the year after an injury disrupted season, he was odds on favourite to win the 2001 10,000m gold in the Edmonton World Championships. It was the end of a run of two Olympics and four World Championships as the Kenyan duo Kosgei and Kamathi beat him down the home stretch. He was as gracious as ever, even in defeat. "I'm not disappointed, why should I be?" he said. "I tried my best but in the last 100m I don't know what happened. I couldn't do anything. I had no problems with blisters but my right calf hurt a bit. I felt quite confident until the last lap. The Kenyan really surprised me, I was not expecting that to happen. I felt I was in very good condition. I have trained well, even though I have not competed. The race itself wasn't very fast, but it was complicated. Some laps fast, some laps slow. I thought that any kind of race would suit me, it seems I was wrong." It's marathons now and believe him when he says: "I have enough speed. The only thing I need is the endurance and then it will be no problem." |
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Onigbinde Baby
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