Haile Gebrselassie was born on April 18th 1973. one of ten children in his family in Asella, Arsi Province, Ethiopia.
He is considered by many to be one of the best distance runners of all time. His prodigious distance running ability may have
resulted in part from the high elevation and thus increased altitude of his home village which was located 8,000 feet above
sea level.
Gebrselassie gained international recognition in 1992 when he won the 5,000metre and 10,000metre races at the Junior World Championships.
In 1994 he set his first world record by running a 12:56.96 in the 5,000-metres. In 1995, Gebrselassie ran the 10,000-metres in
26:43.53 in Hengelo, Netherlands, smashing the world record by nine seconds. That same summer in Zurich, Switzerland, Gebrselassie
ran the 5000metres 12:44.39, shaving an astonishing 10.91 seconds off the world record which had, in the interim been taken by
Kenya's Moses Kiptanui.
Gebrselassie took on the 5,000 meter mark of Komen in Helsinki, Finland. Croatian pacemaker Branko Zorko took the pace out too
slowly, hitting 1000 metres in 2:33.91 and dropping out at the mile. Million Wolde and Assefa Mezgebu led Gebrselassie through
2,000 meters in 5:05.62. However, his pacemakers could not maintain the pace, and Gebrselassie was left alone for a difficult solo
effort 6 laps out. Hitting 3,000metres in 7:38.93, even the British commentators announcing the race counted him out. With 4 laps
to go (8:40.00), Gebrselassie needed a sub-4 minute final mile for the record. With one lap to go and in great pain, Gebrselassie
took off, recording a fabulous final lap of 56.77 seconds and a final mile inside 4 minutes to race to a 12:39.36 world record,
one of over 20 in his illustrious career.
In 1999 Gebrselassie starred as himself in the movie "Endurance". The film chronicled his quest to win Olympic gold in the 10,000metres in
Atlanta. On the track, he won a 1,500/3000 metre double at the world indoor track championships, defended his outdoor world track
championships 10,000metre title, and remained undefeated in all his races (which ranged from the 1,500 up to 10,000metres).
In 2003 at the World Championships in Paris, Gebrselassie was involved in one of the most remarkable 10,000metre races of all
time while gaining a silver medal behind countryman and protégé Kenenisa Bekele. The last half of the 10,000metre final at the
championships was completed in a staggering 12:57.24 (12:57.2 for Bekele and 12:58.8 for Gebrselassie). According to the
IAAF, "not only was this split the fastest closing 5,000metre in the championships 10,000metre (the previous record
was 13:12.12, recorded in Atlanta), but it was also the fastest 5,000metre race in a global championships surpassing the
12:58.13 Salah Hissou recorded when he won the 5,000m in Sevilla'99.
Gebrselassie attended 2004 Atlanta Olympic Games seeking to become the first man in history to win three straight
Olympic gold medals in the 10000metre run. He was unable to do so, however, finishing fifth in a race won by his rival Kenenisa
Bekele, who had broken both of Gebreselassie's major track world records, the 5000metre and the 10000metre records. Shortly before
the Athens games, Gebrselassie had lost 3 weeks of training due to an Achilles tendon injury. It was severe enough that he would
not have competed had the race been any other than the Olympics. This loss of the final period of training, during which
Gebrselassie sharpened his finishing sprint with tough, fast sprinting climbing the steep hills surrounding his training ground
in Ethiopia, may have cost him a medal.
Since leaving the track after the Atlanta Olympics in 2004, Gebrselassie 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), and Fukuoka 2006
(1st place).
Haile Gebrselassie is rare amongst long-distance runners in that he runs on the ball of the foot (front part of the foot).
This technique is more typical in sprinters.
According to his biography on the International Olympic Committee website, as a child growing up on a farm in Ethiopia 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.
1,500 m - 3:33.73 (Stuttgart 1999)
Mile - 3:52.39 (Gateshead 1999)
3,000 m - 7:25.09 (Bruxelles 1998)
Two miles - 8:01.08 (Hengelo 1997)
5,000 m - 12:39.36 (Helsinki 1998)
10,000 m - 26:22.75 (Hengelo 1998)
10 km (road) - 27:02 (Ad-Dawhah 2002)
5 km (road) - 41:38 (Nijmegen 2001)
Ten miles (road) - 44:24 (Tilburg 2005)
20 km (road) - 55:48 (Phoenix 2006)
Half marathon - 58:55 (Phoenix 2006)
25 km (road) - 1:11:37
Marathon - 2:03:59 (Berlin 2008)
1,500 m - 3:31.76 (Stuttgart 1998)
2,000 m - 4:52.86 (Birmingham 1998)
3,000 m - 7:26.15 (Karlsruhe 1998)
Two miles - 8:04.69 (Birmingham 2003)
5,000 m - 12:50.38 (Birmingham 1999)