The Life and Times of Haile Gebreselassie

It is impossible to talk of middle and long distance running without mentioning Haile Gebreselassie.

Born in a family of ten children in the hills of Asella, Arsi, Ethiopia on April 18, 1973, Haile Gebreselassie will go down in history as probably the best middle and long distance runner of his generation.

The story that is documented in the movie Endurance is that he was an asthma prone youngster who ran 10k ever day to school. His unique running style is testament to the books he used to carry as he ran to and from school.

Gebreselassie’s Early Career

In 1992, the world got a sneak peak at a career that would be hard to follow. He won the 5000 meter and the 10,000 meters races in the Junior World Championships in Seoul, against great competition from the perennial Kenyan runners.

 In 1993, he won the first of what would be an unprecedented four consecutive world championship titles in the men’s 10,000 meters.  In 1994, he started his world record breaking career by beating Said Aouita’s 5000 meter record by two seconds.

In 1995, Gebreselassie lowered the 10,000 meter record by an amazing 9 seconds in the Netherlands before smashing the 5000 meter records by 10.91 seconds in what was considered by the Track and Field News magazine as the performance of the year.

Gebreselassie’s Middle Career

For most long distance athletes, his resume was enough to make them retire. However, his middle career was the beginning of shocking world records as well as some of the best races ever seen in long distance running.

He started 1998, by lowering the indoor world records in the 2000 and 3000 meters. He also won the Golden League jackpot for winning all his races in that season. It was also the year where he took the 5000 meter and the 10,000 meter records from his perennial rivals Paul Tergat and Daniel Komen from Kenya.

No one is likely to forget the 2000 Sydney Olympics final that saw him become the third man in history to defend the 10,000 meters. Together with Paul Tergat, what is still ranked as one of the best track races of all time. Tergat set a blistering 26.3 seconds in the final 200 meters and he topped that with an even faster 25.4 seconds.  It ended up being a margin of victory of 0.09 seconds, closer than the 100 meter final.

Not to be outdone, in 2003 he came in second in probably the most remarkable 10,000 meter races of all time. His 5000 meters splits together with the eventual winner Kenenisa Bekele was faster than the 5000 meters race and only 17.98 seconds slower than the world record.

Later Career

Injury cost him medals in the 2004 Olympics and he retired from track to concentrate in road races. He has continued to excel even at his advanced age still breaking world records in half marathons. In 2005 he was undefeated in all his road races.

There are very few athletes like Gebreselassie and his unique smile even when running very tough races has endeared him to all athletics fans around the world. His running record of 26 world records and numerous world and Olympic titles is one to marvel at. We can only hope he continues running in this unprecedented career.

Bookmark this:

Bookmark this page