49 Fun Facts About Haile Gebrselassie

In which Ethiopian town was Haile Gebrselassie born on 18 April 1973?

Asella was home to the family farm, which had no running water or electricity; his father expected him to work the land rather than race.

What caused Haile Gebrselassie's distinctive posture, with his left arm crooked?

Carrying his books to school on foot meant running ten kilometres each way with them tucked under one arm, and the arm stayed crooked when he raced on the track.

Which prize for his 1993 world title won Haile's father over?

A Mercedes-Benz came with the 10,000 m gold in Stuttgart. His father had not wanted him to run, and he backed it from then on.

In which city did Haile win his first Olympic 10,000 m gold medal, in 1996?

Atlanta brought the first of his two Olympic golds. The hard track left his feet so blistered and sore that he withdrew from the 5000 m.

In which city did Haile win the marathon four years running?

Berlin gave him four straight wins from 2006 to 2009. In 2008 he skipped the Olympic marathon, then ran 2:03:59 there five weeks later, the first time under 2:04.

What is Haile Gebrselassie's best-known nickname?

The Emperor ran an empire off the track too: he put his race winnings into property and businesses in Addis Ababa.

Which city, the Olympic host four years earlier, staged the 1992 World Junior Championships where Haile won two golds?

Seoul brought the 19-year-old both the 5000 m and 10,000 m junior titles; a year later he almost repeated the double against seniors, with 5000 m silver and 10,000 m gold.

Which Kenyan finished second to Haile in both of his Olympic 10,000 m victories?

Paul Tergat was, in Haile's own words, "my big opponent". The Kenyan later set a marathon world record, the mark Haile himself broke four years on.

Whose shoe did Gebrselassie step off at the bell in the 1993 World Championship 10,000 m?

Moses Tanui's shoe came off when Haile clipped his heel at the bell; the defending champion sprinted ten metres clear on one shoe and was caught in the final straight.

Whose 5000 m world record, unbeaten since 1987, fell to Haile's first world record in 1994?

Saïd Aouita's 12:58.39 had stood for almost seven years when the 21-year-old ran 12:56.96. Moses Kiptanui took the record from him a year later, and Haile won it back within ten weeks.

Which Kenyan took Haile's 5000 m world record in August 1997, only nine days after Haile had set it?

Daniel Komen ran 12:39.74 in Brussels on 22 August 1997, nine days after Haile's 12:41.86; Haile won the record back the following June with 12:39.36.

In which Dutch town did Haile Gebrselassie set 10,000 m world records in 1995 and 1998?

Hengelo saw four of his world records, starting with his first, over 5000 m in 1994; his last Olympic bid ended there too, with seventh place in a 2012 selection race.

Which second career did Haile say for years that he hoped to enter once his running days were over?

Politics was the ambition he voiced before the 2008 Olympics. 'I love my country and want to give something back,' he said of the future.

In which Disney-released docudrama did Haile play himself, retracing his road to a first Olympic gold?

Endurance casts his own father, brother and wife as themselves, so the father who wanted him to stay on the farm replays that conversation with him on screen.

By what margin did Haile win the 10,000 m final at the 2000 Sydney Olympics?

0.09 seconds was tighter than the 0.12 that decided the men's 100 m final at the same Games; after 25 laps he edged ahead only in the last few strides.

Which two men defended the Olympic 10,000 m title before Haile did in 2000?

Emil Zátopek and Lasse Virén retained the title in 1952 and 1976. Virén had won his first in 1972 after falling in mid-race, and still broke the world record.

Which annual mass-participation race in Addis Ababa did Haile help to found after the Sydney Olympics?

The Great Ethiopian Run, a 10 km road race, drew 10,000 entrants to its first edition in 2001, and Haile won it himself. By its eighth staging some 32,000 had signed up.

Which countryman beat Haile to 10,000 m gold at the 2003 World Championships in Paris?

Kenenisa Bekele won a race whose second half took 12:57.24, faster than any 5000 m final then run at a global championship; Haile, the four-time champion, took silver.

Why was Haile only fifth in the 2004 Olympic 10,000 m?

An inflamed Achilles tendon had kept him from proper training for three weeks. Neither he nor his manager thought him fit to race, but the pressure on him to run was intense.

Which Moroccan-born American broke his own world record to win Haile's marathon debut in 2002?

Khalid Khannouchi ran 2:05:38, four seconds inside his own 1999 mark; Haile set a fierce early pace, faded in the last two miles and was third in 2:06:35, a record for a debut.

Which 2006 race, where he finished only ninth, did Haile call 'the worst race of my career'?

The London Marathon of April 2006 left him ninth; five months later he won his next marathon in a national record 2:05:56, and he won again in Fukuoka that December.

What forced Haile to drop out of the 2007 race in the British capital at 18 miles?

An allergic reaction to pollen was the explanation given afterwards; at the time he stopped at 18 miles complaining of a stitch and saying he could not breathe.

Which track world record did Haile go to Ostrava to break in 2007?

The one-hour run had beaten him once: in 2002 leg trouble stopped his first attempt after about 40 minutes. At Ostrava he covered 21,285 m, more than 13 miles, in the hour.

In which European capital did Haile take his first marathon victory in 2005, starting from the 1928 Olympic stadium?

Amsterdam gave him a 2:06:20 win and a course record, yet he said he was not happy: he was still ahead of world-record pace at 35 km and lost it over the closing stretch.

In which Swiss city did Haile twice break the 5000 m world record?

Zürich's Weltklasse meeting saw him break the 5000 m record in 1995 and again in 1997; the second of those marks lasted only nine days.

In which event did Haile win a world road title?

The half marathon made him a world champion in only his second race at the distance: in Bristol he sprinted away from his teammate Tesfaye Jifar to win by a single second.

Why did Haile withdraw from the marathon at the 2008 Beijing Olympics?

Fear of smog harming his asthma over 42 km decided it: he called the city's air 'a threat to my health', ran the 10,000 m at those Games instead and finished sixth.

In which Andalusian city did Haile win his fourth straight world 10,000 m title in 1999?

Seville was his first 10,000 m of the season. In fierce heat he sat through a slow race and won with a last-lap sprint that nobody could match.

In which English city did Haile set indoor world records in 1998 and 1999 and win a 2003 world indoor title?

Birmingham's indoor arena saw his 5000 m run of 12:50.38 in 1999 win back the world indoor record that a Kenyan rival had taken from him a year earlier.

In which US state is Tempe, where Haile ran a world record 58:55 for 13.1 miles in 2006?

Arizona's Rock 'n' Roll race began slowly behind his pacemakers. Before 8 km he left them, ran the rest alone and took 21 seconds off the mark.

After dropping out of which race in November 2010 did Haile announce his retirement, then reconsider?

The New York City Marathon ended for him after 16 miles with a knee injury. 'For the first time, this is the day,' he said of retiring, yet he was racing again within months.

Which Kenyan broke Haile's marathon world record in September 2011?

Patrick Makau ran 2:03:38 to take 21 seconds off the mark Haile had set three years before; Haile started the same race and failed to finish.

Which female star, given a 7:52 head start, did Haile catch to win a 2012 chase race in Vienna?

Paula Radcliffe set off 7:52 ahead, the gap between the pair's best times, but bronchitis had disrupted her training. Haile swept past soon after 15 km, waving her on as he went.

What part did Haile play at London 2012, his first Games as a non-competitor?

A bearer of the Olympic flag, he carried it at the opening ceremony two months after missing selection as a runner. Ban Ki-moon and the conductor Daniel Barenboim were among the other seven.

Which Spanish honour went to Haile in 2011, citing him as the best distance runner of all time?

The Prince of Asturias Award for Sports went to him in 2011; the foundation praised his sacrifice and called his humanitarian work in Ethiopia an ethical example for athletes worldwide.

In which Nordic capital did Haile retake the 10,000 m world record in 1997?

Oslo saw him run 26:31.32 on 4 July 1997, almost seven seconds inside Salah Hissou's mark; the record was taken from him again seven weeks later.

In which race and year did Haile Gebrselassie finally retire from competitive running?

The Great Manchester Run, 2015, where he came 16th in a race he had won five times, was the end. 'I'm retiring from competitive running, not from running,' he said.

Which car maker's vehicles did Haile begin selling in Ethiopia and later assemble at his own Addis Ababa plant?

Hyundai made his company its sole Ethiopian importer. In 2019 that company opened its own plant, because cars assembled in Addis Ababa cost less than heavily taxed imports.

Which coffee chain sold beans from Haile's own Ethiopian farm as a limited lot?

Starbucks sold the sun-dried lot as Haile Estate, the name of the 1,500-hectare farm he planted in the forests of south-west Ethiopia, where he also built an all-weather road to the nearest town.

Beside which body of water did Haile open the first of his resorts in 2010?

Lake Hawassa got the first Haile Resort in 2010. He opened it with a morning of road races that started at the hotel doors, from a half marathon to a children's run.

Which German charity, founded by the actor Karlheinz Böhm, counts Haile among its ambassadors?

Menschen für Menschen grew out of a bet Böhm made on a TV game show in 1981: that fewer than one viewer in three would give a single mark. The donations that poured in anyway became his Ethiopian aid foundation.

Which sporting body did Haile Gebrselassie later serve as president of?

The Ethiopian Athletics Federation elected him president in November 2016, after a Rio Olympics that brought the country just one gold medal, its fewest since 1992.

What did Haile found in his home town and in Bahir Dar to, in his words, combat poverty?

Schools were his answer: one in his home town and a second in Bahir Dar, beside Lake Tana. 'Education is the key to combating poverty,' he said.

Besides the 3000 m, which world indoor title did Haile win?

The 1500 metres came two days after his 3000 m win in Maebashi. Kenya's Laban Rotich led with 40 metres left, and Haile still squeezed past in a championship record 3:33.77.

By roughly how much did Haile lower the 5000 m world record in a single race in 1995?

About 11 seconds: Moses Kiptanui had taken the record from him ten weeks earlier, and Haile won it back with 12:44.39, which was 10.91 seconds faster and the biggest single cut in the mark since 1932.

Which discipline, in which his great Kenyan rival excelled, did Haile say 'was always difficult for me'?

Cross-country gave him a losing start, eighth in the junior race at the 1991 world championships, and he never mastered it. His Kenyan rival won five straight world titles; Haile's senior best was a single bronze.

Which marathon did Haile win three years running from 2008?

The Dubai Marathon paid him $250,000 in 2008, then the biggest prize in marathon history, but the million dollars offered for a world record slipped away late on as he finished 27 seconds short.

Which Dutch 15K race did Haile win for the third time in November 2011?

Zevenheuvelenloop, the Seven Hills Run in Nijmegen, fell to him in 1994, 2005 and 2011; his fastest time there, 41:38 in 2001, earned only second place behind a world record.

Who took delivery of the first electric car assembled at Haile's Addis Ababa plant in July 2020?

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed received the all-electric Ioniq on 27 July 2020 and wrote that no-emission cars could help reduce pollution.