Haile Gebreselassie Olympic video in Atlanta 1996 and Sydney 200 courtesy of IOC
Haile Gebreselassie(1973-) is the greatest distance runner of our time.
Haile has smashed world records 17 times. He was the world record holder in 5000 and 10000
which are now held by countryman Kenenisa Bekele.
As a child growing up on a farm in Ethiopia, Haile Gebrselassie ran ten kilometres to school
each day and another ten kilometres back home. As an adult, he ran with his left arm crooked,
the effect of years spent running with books under his arm. By the time of the 1996 Olympics,
Gebrselassie was the reigning world record holder at 10,000m and the twice defending
world champion. It was expected that he would receive a serious challenge from
cross-country champion Paul Tergat of Kenya and that is exactly what happened.
Tergat and Gebrselassie pulled away from the rest of the field after 8000m.
Gebreselassie tracked Tergat until the final lap and then surged ahead to win by six
metres. Gebrselassie and Tergat renewed their rivalry at the Sydney Olympics in 2000.
Again they left the rest of the runners behind and again Tergat led as they entered the final lap.
This time the finish was even closer, as Gebrselassie did not edge ahead of Tergat until the very last stride,
in what would prove to be one of the most exciting finishes in Olympic history.
At the Athens Olympic Games in 2004, Haile Gebrselassie finished 5th in the 10,000m Olympics
In the news
Haile Gebrselassie smashed the United Kingdom all-comers 10k record
BBC Interview With Haile
Gebrselassie reigns in Manchester
Haile Gebrselassie smashed the United Kingdom all-comers 10k record as he won the Bupa Great Manchester Run in style.
The Ethiopian shaved 14 seconds off Felix Limo's old mark to cross the line in 27 minutes,
25 seconds ahead of Juan Carlos de la Ossa and Sergiy Lebid.
10000m Gold Atlanta 1996
10000m Gold Sydney 2000
World Championships
Gold 4 times in 1993,1995,1997 and 1999
