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Medal record
Haile Gebrselassie
Competitor for  Ethiopia
Men’s athletics
Olympic Games
Gold	1996 Atlanta	10000 m
Gold	2000 Sydney	10000 m
World Championships
Gold	1993 Stuttgart	10000 m
Gold	1995 Gothenburg	10000 m
Gold	1997 Athens	10000 m
Gold	1999 Seville	10000 m
Silver	1993 Stuttgart	5000 m
Silver	2003 Paris	10000 m
Bronze	2001 Edmonton	10000 m

Haile Gebrselassie (Ge'ez: ኃይሌ ገብረ ሥላሴ, haylē gebre silassē; born April 18, 1973) is an Ethiopian long distance track and road running athlete. Known for his remarkable versatility, Gebrselassie achieved major competition wins at distances between 1500 metres and marathon, moving from outdoor, indoor and cross country running to road running in the latter part of his career. He has broken 25 world records and won numerous Olympic and World Championship titles, and is widely considered one of the greatest distance runners in history.^{[1][2][3][4][5]}

Contents 1 Early career 2 Middle career 3 Later career 4 Honors 5 World Record and 'World Best' performances[15] 6 Personal bests 6.1 Outdoors 6.2 Indoors 7 References 8 External links

Gebrselassie was born as one of ten children in Asella, Arsi Province, Ethiopia. As a child growing up on a farm 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.^[6]

Gebrselassie gained international recognition in 1992 when he won the 5,000-metre and 10,000-metre races at the 1992 junior World Championships in Seoul,^[7] and a silver medal in the junior race at the World Cross Country Championships.

The next year, in 1993, Gebrselassie won the first of what would eventually be four consecutive world championships titles in the men's 10,000 meters at the 1993, 1995, 1997, and 1999 World Championships. At the 1993 World Championships, he also ran the 5,000-metre race to finish a close second behind Ismael Kirui of Kenya. In 1994 he won a bronze medal in the IAAF World Cross Country Championships. Later that year he set his first world record by running a 12:56.96 in the 5,000-metres, breaking Said Aouita's record by two seconds.

In 1995, Gebrselassie ran the 10,000-metres in 26:43.53 in Hengelo, Netherlands lowering the world record by a full nine seconds. That same summer, in Zürich, Switzerland, Gebrselassie ran the 5000 metres in 12:44.39, ripping an astonishing 10.91 seconds off the world record 12:55.30 (established by Kenya's Moses Kiptanui earlier in the year). This world record at the Weltklasse meet in Zürich was voted Performance of the Year by Track & Field News magazine. With this performance, Gebrselassie seemingly put the 5,000-meter record out of reach for quite a while, but the very next year Daniel Komen showed that this wasn't the case. At the same Weltklasse meet in Zürich, an exhausted Gebrselassie, suffering from blisters obtained on the hard track in Atlanta (where he would win the Olympic 10,000 meter gold in 1996), had no answer to the 58-second lap of Daniel Komen with 5 laps to go as Komen went on to win and just miss Gebrselassie's record, finishing in 12:45.09. In 1997, Gebrselassie turned the tables on Komen at the same meet. Coming off his third 10K world championship gold medal, Gebrselassie outkicked Komen in another Zürich classic on August 13, covering the final 200 meters in 26.8 seconds to break his 5,000-meter world record with a time of 12:41.86. Komen, in turn, took Gebrselassie's record only nine days later when Komen ran a 12:39.74 performance in Belgium.

The next year, 1998, saw Gebrselassie lowering the indoor world records for 2,000 and 3,000 meters, enjoying success outdoors by taking back both the 5,000 and 10,000 meter world records, as well as earning a share in the Golden League jackpot for winning all of his races in the Golden League series that summer. In June 1998, in Hengelo, Netherlands, Gebrselassie set a 10,000 meter world record 26:22.75, breaking Paul Tergat's world record 26:27.85, running evenly paced 13:11/13:11 5K splits.

Just 13 days later, 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 meters in 2:33.91 and dropping out at the mile. Millon Wolde and Assefa Mezgebu led Gebrselassie through 2,000 meters in 5:05.62. His pacemakers could not maintain the pace, though, and Gebrselassie was left alone for a difficult solo effort 6 laps out. Hitting 3,000 meters 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 1,600 meters for the record. With one lap to go and in great pain, Gebrselassie took off, recording a final lap of 56.77 seconds and a final 1,600 meters of 3:59.36 (= 4:00.96 mile) to race to a 12:39.36 world record.

In 1999, Gebrselassie starred as himself in the movie Endurance. The film chronicled his quest to win Olympic gold in the 10,000-meters in Atlanta. On the track, he won a 1,500/3000 meter double at the world indoor track championships, defended his outdoor world track championships 10,000 meter title, and remained undefeated in all his races (which ranged from the 1,500 up to 10,000 meters).

In 2000, Gebrselassie again won all of his races, ranking first in the world yet again in both the 5,000 and 10,000 meters. At the 2000 Sydney Olympics, he became the third man in history to successfully defend an Olympic 10,000 meter title (after Emil Zátopek and Lasse Virén). The narrow Olympic victory over Kenya's Paul Tergat came down to a blistering final kick, with Tergat's 26.3 second final 200 meters being topped by Gebrselassie's even faster 25.4. The winning margin of victory was only 0.09 seconds, closer than the winning margin in the men's 100 meter dash final.

In 2001, Gebrselassie won the IAAF World half marathon and the bronze medal in the 10,000 meters at the 2001 World Championships in Athletics.

On August 30, 2003, Gebrselassie topped the polls when elected as a member of the IAAF Athletes Commission. Also in 2003, at the World Championships in Paris, Gebrselassie was involved in one of the most remarkable 10,000 meter races of all time while gaining a silver medal behind countryman and protégé Kenenisa Bekele. The last half of the 10,000 meter 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, "[n]ot only was this split the fastest closing 5,000 meters in the championships 10,000m (the previous record was 13:12.12, recorded in Atlanta), but it was also the fastest 5,000 meters in a global championships surpassing the 12:58.13 Salah Hissou recorded when he won the 5,000m in Sevilla'99." (This remark remained true until a week later when the World Track & Field Championship 5,000 meter medalists (including Bekele) all ran faster than the second 5,000 meter split in the previous week's 10,000 meters.) "The difference between the closing 5,000 meter splits (12:57.24) and the 5,000 meter World record (12:39.36) was 17.98 seconds, which is a record. The previous best of 18.4 seconds (13:31.4 for the closing 5,000 meters when the World Record was 13:13.0) was recorded in the 1976 Olympics."^[8]

In 2004 Athens Olympics, Gebrselassie was seeking to become the first man in history to win three straight Olympic gold medals in the 10000 meter run. He was unable to do so, however, finishing fifth in a race won by his compatriot Kenenisa Bekele, who had broken both of Gebrselassie's major track world records, the 5000 meter and the 10000 meter records. Shortly before the Athens games, Gebrselassie was unable to train for 3 weeks due to inflammation of his Achilles tendon. The injury was severe enough that he would not have competed otherwise, but did so because of significant pressure from his country. This loss of the final period of training likely cost him a medal.^[9][10]

Since leaving the track after the 2004 Olympics, 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), Fukuoka 2006 (1st place), London 2007, and Berlin 2007 (1st place and World Record).

In 2005 Gebrselassie went undefeated in all of his road races. This included a British All-Comers record in the 10K at Manchester (27:25), a win in the Amsterdam Marathon in the fastest marathon time in the world for 2006 (2:06:20), and a new world best for 10 miles in Tilburg, The Netherlands (44:24). (His unofficial split of 41:22 at the 15K mark was 7 seconds faster than the official world best.)

Gebrselassie started 2006 positively by beating the world half marathon record by a full 21 seconds, recording a time of 58 minutes and 55 seconds on January 15th. He broke the record, his first one on American soil, by running the second half of the Arizona Rock 'n' Roll Marathon. During the race he also broke Paul Tergat's 20 km record, both records having stood since 1998. (Gebrselassie passed the 20 km mark in 55:48.) 2006 also marked another victory for Gebrselassie as he shattered the 25 km world road record by 68 seconds in a time of 1:11:37. The race was organized where Gebrselassie and six other runners would run 5 kilometers and then cross the starting line of the 20 kilometer Alphen race in Alphen aan den Rijn of the Netherlands. However this record wasn't recognised by the IAAF, since he wasn't checked for blood doping (EPO).^[11]

On April 23, 2006, he finished 9th in the London Marathon with a time of 2:09:05 (the race was won by Kenyan Felix Limo, who clocked 2:06:39). Gebrselassie referred to the 9th-place finish as "the worst race of my career".^[12] However, on September 24 he came back with a win in the Berlin Marathon in the fastest time of the year, 2:05:56. This was followed by a win in the Fukuoka Marathon, Japan in 2:06:52. His time in Berlin made him only the fifth man in history to run under 2:06 for the marathon.

In London on April 22, 2007 Gebrselassie challenged the 2006 London Marathon winner Felix Limo, the 2005 London Marathon winner Martin Lel, the 2004 Athens gold medalist Stefano Baldini, the 2006 New York Marathon winner Marilson Gomes dos Santos, and the current marathon world record holder Paul Tergat in what organizers anticipated would be an exciting race.^[13] However Gebrselassie dropped out at the 18 mile stage complaining of a stitch and inability to breathe, which turned out to be an allergic reaction to the pollen in the air. This left the 2005 winner Martin Lel to come home in first place.

One month later, Gebrselassie made a surprise return to the track where he ran a 26:52.81 in finishing 5th in a very competitive 10,000 meter race in Hengelo, The Netherlands. What made Gebrselassie's time so noteworthy, besides being the 8th time in his career to run under 27 minutes (more than anyone in history) is the fact that Gebrselassie is the only man older than 30 to break 27 minutes in the 10,000 meters. Moreover, his twelve year range of doing so (from 1995 to 2007) is remarkable.

On June 27, 2007, Gebrselassie launched an attack upon the world record for the one hour run, in Ostrava, Czech Republic. This record attempt was successful as Gebrselassie passed the hour mark at 21,285 m (13 miles 397 yards), thus eclipsing the previous best, 21,101 m, set by Mexican Arturo Barrios in La Fléche, France, on 30 March 1991. Furthermore, Gebrselassie covered 50 laps (20,000 m) in 56:25.98, another world best, well within the previous 56:55.6 also set by Barrios in 1991. These were his 23rd and 24th world records.

Gebrselassie made his running debut in New York City when he won the New York City Half Marathon on August 5, 2007 in 59:24, breaking the previous course record by two minutes. He has a perfect record of 8-0 in winning all of his half marathons.

On September 30, 2007 Gebrselassie won the Berlin Marathon in 2:04:26^[14] (4:44.8 per mile), setting the world record and shaving 29 seconds off Paul Tergat's record, set on the same course in 2003. His victory further energized the celebrations of the Ethiopian Millennium (unique to the Ethiopian calendar), which began on September 12, 2007. On the winners podium he wore a blue ribbon to signify his support for Vicky's Water Project - a project set up in memory of Vicky Buchanan to bring clean running water to Lera Town in Ethiopia.

• 1993
  • 1993 World Championships in Athletics
    • 10,000 metre gold medal
    • 5,000 metre silver medal
  • 1993 IAAF African Athletics Championships
    • 5,000 metre silver medal
    • 10,000 metre bronze medal
• 1994 IAAF World Cross Country Championships - bronze medal
• 1995
  • 1995 World Championships in Athletics
    • 10,000 m gold medal
• 1996
  • 1996 Summer Olympics
    • 10,000 m gold medal
• 1997
  • 1997 World Championships in Athletics
    • 10,000 m gold medal
  • 1997 IAAF World Indoor Championships
    • 3,000 m gold medal
• 1999
  • 1999 World Championships in Athletics
    • 10,000 m gold medal
  • 1999 IAAF World Indoor Championships
    • 1,500 m gold medal
    • 3,000 m gold medal
• 2000
  • 2000 Summer Olympics
    • 10,000 m gold medal
• 2001
  • 2001 World Championships in Athletics
    • 10,000 m bronze medal
  • 2001 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships winner
• 2003
  • 2003 IAAF World Indoor Championships
    • 3,000 m gold medal
  • 2003 World Championships in Athletics
    • 10,000 m silver medal

Distance	Mark	Date	Location	Notes
5000 metres	12:56.96	1994-06-04	Hengelo, Netherlands
2 miles	8:07.46	1995-05-27	Kerkrade, Netherlands	not an IAAF record event
10,000 metres	26:43.53	1995-06-05	Hengelo, Netherlands
5,000 metres	12:44.39	1995-08-16	Zurich, Switzerland
5,000 metres	13:10.98	1996-01-27	Sindelfingen, Germany,	indoors
3,000 metres	7:30.72	1996-02-04	Stuttgart, Germany,	indoors
5,000 metres	12:59.04	1997-02-20	Stockholm, Sweden	indoors
2 miles	8:01.08	1997-05-31	Hengelo, Netherlands	not an IAAF record event
10,000 metres	26:31.32	1997-07-04	Oslo, Norway
5,000 metres	12:41.86	1997-08-13	Zurich, Switzerland
3,000 metres	7:26.14	1998-01-25	Karlsruhe, Germany	indoors
2,000 metres	4:52.86	1998-02-15	Birmingham, UK	indoors
10,000 metres	26:22.75	1998-06-01	Hengelo, Netherlands
5,000 metres	12:39.36	1998-06-13	Helsinki, Finland
5,000 metres	12:50.38	1999-02-14	Birmingham, UK	indoors
10 kilometres	27:02	2002-12-11	Doha, Qatar	road race
2 miles	8:04.69	2003-02-21	Birmingham, UK,	indoors
15 kilometres	41:22	2005-09-04	Tilburg, Netherlands	road race, not officially timed, not IAAF record event
10 miles	44:24	2005-09-04	Tilburg, Netherlands	road race, not officially timed
20 kilometres	55:48	2006-01-15	Tempe, Arizona, USA	en route to half-marathon record
Half Marathon	58:55	2006-01-15	Tempe, Arizona, USA
25 kilometres	1:11:37	2006-03-12	Alphen aan den Rijn, Netherlands	road race, not recognised by IAAF - no post-race EPO test
20,000 metres	56:25.98	2007-06-27	Ostrava, Czech Republic,	en route to 1 hour record
1 hour run	21,285 m	2007-06-27	Ostrava, Czech Republic
Marathon	2:04:26	2007-09-30	Berlin, Germany

Distance	Mark	Date	Location
1,500 m	3:33.73	1999-06-06	Stuttgart
Mile	3:52.39	1999-06-27	Gateshead
3,000 m	7:25.09	1998-08-28	Brussels
Two miles	8:01.08	1997-05-31	Hengelo
5,000 m	12:39.36	1998-06-13	Helsinki
10,000 m	26:22.75	1998-06-01	Hengelo
10 km (road)	27:02	2002-12-11	Ad-Dawhah
15 km (road)	41:38	2001-11-11	Nijmegen
Ten miles (road)	44:24	2005-09-04	Tilburg
20 km (track)	56:26.0	2007-06-27	Ostrava, Czech Republic
One hour (track)	21,285 m	2007-06-27	Ostrava, Czech Republic
20 km (road)*	55:48	2006-01-15	Phoenix
Half marathon	58:55	2006-01-15	Phoenix
25 km (road)	1:11:37	2006-03-12	Alphen aan den Rijn (not recognised by IAAF)
Marathon	2:04:26	2007-09-30	Berlin

*en route to half-marathon

Distance	Mark	Date	Location
1,500 m	3:31.76	1998-02-01	Stuttgart
2,000 m	4:52.86	1998-02-15	Birmingham
3,000 m	7:26.15	1998-01-25	Karlsruhe
Two miles	8:04.69	2003-02-21	Birmingham
5,000 m	12:50.38	1999-02-14	Birmingham

• IAAF profile for Haile Gebrselassie
• Gebrselassie approaching Record for Running Records
• Gebrselassie's World Records, rankings, race history, recent news, and more.

v • d • e Olympic champions in men's 5 miles and 10000 m
As five miles	1906: Henry Hawtrey • 1908: Emil Voigt
As 10000 metres	1912: Hannes Kolehmainen • 1920: Paavo Nurmi • 1924: Ville Ritola • 1928: Paavo Nurmi • 1932: Janusz Kusocinski • 1936: Ilmari Salminen • 1948:  Emil Zátopek • 1952:  Emil Zátopek • 1956: Vladimir Kuts • 1960: Pyotr Bolotnikov • 1964: Billy Mills • 1968: Naftali Temu • 1972: Lasse Virén • 1976: Lasse Virén  • 1980: Miruts Yifter • 1984: Alberto Cova • 1988: Brahim Boutayeb • 1992: Khalid Skah • 1996: Haile Gebrselassie • 2000: Haile Gebrselassie • 2004: Kenenisa Bekele

Records
Preceded by William Sigei	Men's 10,000 m World Record Holder June 5, 1995 – August 23, 1996	Succeeded by Salah Hissou
Preceded by Salah Hissou	Men's 10,000 m World Record Holder August 4, 1997 – August 22, 1997	Succeeded by Paul Tergat
Preceded by Paul Tergat	Men's 10,000 m World Record Holder June 1, 1998 – June 8, 2004	Succeeded by Kenenisa Bekele
Preceded by Samuel Kamau Wanjiru	Men's Half Marathon World Record Holder January 15, 2006 – February 9, 2007	Succeeded by Samuel Kamau Wanjiru
Preceded by Paul Tergat	Men's Marathon World Record Holder September 30, 2007 –	Succeeded by Incumbent
Sporting positions
Preceded by Khalid Skah	Men's Zevenheuvelenloop Winner (15 km) 1994	Succeeded by Josphat Machuka
Preceded by Ismael Kirui	Men's 5.000m Best Year Performance 1994 – 1995	Succeeded by Daniel Komen
Preceded by Daniel Komen	Men's 3.000m Best Year Performance 1997 – 1998	Succeeded by Hicham El Guerrouj
Preceded by Daniel Komen	Men's 5.000m Best Year Performance 1998 – 1999	Succeeded by Brahim Lahlafi
Preceded by Fabian Roncero	Men's Half Marathon Best Year Performance 2002	Succeeded by Hendrick Ramaala
Preceded by Sileshi Sihine	Men's Zevenheuvelenloop Winner (15 km) 2005	Succeeded by Micah Kogo
Preceded by Robert Cheboror	Amsterdam Men's Marathon Winner 2005	Succeeded by Solomon Bushendich
Preceded by Zersenay Tadesse	Men's Half Marathon Best Year Performance 2006	Succeeded by Samuel Wanjiru
Preceded by Evans Rutto	Men's Fastest Marathon Race 2005 – 2006	Succeeded by Incumbent
Preceded by Philip Manyim	Berlin Men's Marathon Winner 2006 – 2007	Succeeded by Incumbent

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