Haile Gebrselassie is an Ethiopian former long-distance track, road running athlete, and

businessman. He won two Olympic gold medals and four World Championship titles over
the 10,000 metres. Haile triumphed in the Berlin Marathon four times consecutively and also had
three straight wins at the Dubai Marathon. Further to this, he earned four world titles indoors and
was the 2001 World Half Marathon Champion.

Haile had major competition wins at distances between 1500 metres and the marathon, moving
from outdoor, indoor and cross country running to road running in the latter part of his career. He
broke 61 Ethiopian national records ranging from 800 metres to the marathon, set 27 world
records, and is regarded as one of the greatest distance runners in history. [4][5][6][7][8] He won
the 2008 Berlin Marathon with a world record time of 2:03:59, breaking his own world record by
27 seconds. The record stood for three years. Haile's 10,000 m Masters age group world
record has not been challenged since 2008.

Haile was cited as one of the top 100 most influential Africans by New African in 2011. Haile
was born on 18 April 1973, as one of ten children in Asella, 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 he was still holding his
school books.

In 1992, Haile gained international recognition in Seoul, South Korea, when he won the 5000-
metre and 10,000-metre races at the 1992 World Junior Championships and a silver medal in the
junior race at the World Cross Country Championships held in Boston, the United States.

The following year, in 1993, Haile won the first of what would eventually be four consecutive
world championships titles in the men's 10,000 metres at the 1993, 1995, 1997, and 1999 World
Championships. His win in 1993 was however his most infamous as he accidentally stepped on
the heel of Moses Tanui's shoe at the bell, causing it to fly off his foot. After the contact, with
just one shoe, an angered Tanui moved out to a 10-meter lead, only to have Haile run him down
on the final straight. Also at the 1993 World Championships he ran in the 5,000-metre race to
finish a close second behind Ismael Kirui of Kenya. In 1994 he won a bronze medal at the IAAF
World Cross Country Championships. Later that year he set his first world record by running
12:56.96 in the 5,000 metres, breaking Saïd Aouita's record by almost two seconds.
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In 1995, Haile ran the 10,000 metres in 26:43.53 in Hengelo, the Netherlands, lowering the
world record by nine seconds. That same summer, in Zürich, Switzerland, Haile ran the 5000
metres in 12:44.39, taking 10.91 seconds off the world record 12:55.30 (established by
Kenya's Moses Kiptanui earlier in the year). Later that summer he won the 10k world
championship with his final 200m being run in 25 seconds. This world record at the Weltklasse
meet in Zürich was voted "Performance of the Year" for 1995 by Track & Field News magazine.
At the same Weltklasse meet in Zürich in 1996, an exhausted Haile, suffering from blisters
obtained on the hard track in Atlanta (where he had won the Olympic 10,000 metres gold), had
no answer to the 58-second lap of Daniel Komen with five laps to go as Komen went on to win
and just miss Haile's record, finishing in 12:45.09. In 1997, Haile turned the tables on Komen at
the same meet. Coming off his third 10K world championship gold medal, Haile beat Komen in
another Zürich classic on 13 August 1997, covering the final 200 metres in 26.8 seconds to break
his 5000 metres world record with a time of 12:41.86. Komen, in turn, took Haile's record only
nine days later when Komen ran a 12:39.74 performance in Belgium

The next year, 1998, saw Haile lowering the indoor world records for 2000 and 3000 metres,
enjoying success outdoors by taking back both the 5000 and 10,000 metres 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, Haile set a 10,000 metres
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, Haile took on the 5000 metres mark of Komen in Helsinki,
Finland. Croatian pacemaker Branko Zorko took the pace out slowly, hitting 1000 metres in
2:33.91 and dropping out at the mile. Million Wolde and Assefa Mezgebu led Haile through
2000 metres in 5:05.62. His pacemakers could not maintain the pace, though, and Haile was left
alone for a problematic solo effort six laps out. Hitting 3000 metres in 7:38.93, even the British
commentators announcing the race counted him out. With four laps to go (8:40.00), Haile needed
a sub-4-minute final 1,600 metres for the record. With one lap to go and in great pain, Haile took
off, recording a final lap of 56.77 seconds and a final 1,600 metres of 3:59.36 (= 4:00.96-mile) to
race to a 12:39.36 world record.

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Haile (second, in green) on the way to becoming two-time 10,000 m Olympic champion
in Sydney in 2000

In 1999, Haile starred as himself in the movie Endurance. The film chronicled his quest to win
Olympic gold in the 10,000 metres in Atlanta. On the track, he won 1500/3000 metres double at
the World Indoor Track Championships, defended his Outdoor World Track Championships
10,000 metres title, and remained undefeated in all his races (which ranged from 1500 up to
10,000 metres).

In 2000, Haile again won all of his races, ranking first in the world in both the 5000 and 10,000
metres. At the 2000 Sydney Olympics, he became the third man in history to successfully defend
an Olympic 10,000 metres 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
last 200 metres being topped by Haile'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-metre dash final.

On 26 August 2001, he ran his first half marathon (16 wins out of 20) and won in 1:04:34. Also
in 2001, Haile won the IAAF World half Marathon Championships and the bronze medal in the
10,000 metres at the 2001 World Championships in Athletics. In the same year, he
conceptualized the Great Ethiopian Run with Peter Middlebrook, which was latterly supported
by Brendan Foster, British runner Richard Nerurkar the British ambassador to Ethiopia Myles
Wickstead.

On 30 August 2003, Haile topped the polls when elected as a member of the IAAF Athletes
Commission. Also in 2003, at the World Championships in Paris, Haile was involved in one of
the most remarkable 10,000 metres races of all time while gaining a silver medal behind
countryman Kenenisa Bekele. The last half of the 10,000 metres final at the championships was
completed in a staggering 12:57.24 (12:57.2 for Bekele and 12:58.8 for Haile). According to the
IAAF, "Not only was this split the fastest closing 5000 metres in the championships 10,000m
(the previous record was 13:12.12, recorded in Atlanta), but it was also the fastest 5000 metres in
a global championship 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 Athletic
Championships 5000 metres medalists (including Bekele) all ran faster than the second 5000

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metres split in the previous week's 10,000 metres.) "The difference between the closing 5000
metres splits (12:57.24) and the 5000 metres 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 5000 metres when the
World Record was 13:13.0) was recorded in the 1976 Olympics.

In the 2004 Athens Olympics, Haile sought to become the first man in history to win three
straight Olympic gold medals in the 10,000 metres. He was unable to do so; however, he finished
fifth in a race won by his compatriot Kenenisa Bekele, who had broken both of Haile's major
track world records, the 5000 metres and the 10,000 metres records. Shortly before the Athens
games, Haile was unable to train for three 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 in the final period of training likely cost him a
medal.

Since leaving the track after the 2004 Olympics, Haile has focused on road racing and the
marathon. His adult marathons to date include London 2002 (3rd place), Amsterdam 2005 (1st
place), London 2006 (9th place), Berlin 2006 (1st place), Fukuoka 2006 (1st place), London
2007 (DNF), Berlin 2007 (1st place and World Record), Dubai 2008 (1st place), Berlin 2008 (1st
place and another World Record), Dubai 2009 (1st place) Berlin 2009 (1st place), Dubai 2010
(1st place), and NYC 2010 (DNF).

In 2002, Haile made his debut at the marathon at the London Marathon. He started the race at a
very fast pace, within world record time. He was unable to hold it, however, as world record
holders Khalid Khannouchi and Paul Tergat both eventually passed him. Khannouchi broke his
world record, while Haile finished third.

In 2005, Haile went undefeated in all of his road races. This included a British all-comers' record
in the 10K in Manchester (27:25), a win at 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 Ten Miles race,
The Netherlands (44:24). (His unofficial split of 41:22 at the 15K mark was 7 seconds faster than
the official world best.)

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Haile started 2006 positively on 15 January by setting his first world record on American soil.
He ran the half marathon of the Rock 'n' Roll Arizona Marathon to beat Samuel Wanjiru 2005
record for the distance by a full 21 seconds with a time of 58 minutes and 55 seconds. During the
race he passed the 20 km mark in 55:48, breaking also Paul Tergat's record for this distance
which had stood since 1998. That year also marked another victory for Haile as he shattered the
25 km world road record (albeit in non-IAAF ratified fashion) by 68 seconds in a time of
1:11.37. The race was organized where Haile and six other runners would run 5 kilometres and
then cross the starting line of the 20-K Alphen race in Alphen aan den Rijn of the Netherlands.

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

In London on 22 April 2007, Haile challenged the 2006 London Marathon winner Felix Limo,
2005 London Marathon winner Martin Lel, 2004 Athens gold medalist Stefano Baldini, 2006
New York Marathon winner Marílson Gomes dos Santos, and the then marathon world record
holder Paul Tergat in what organizers anticipated would be an exciting race. However Haile
dropped out at the 18-mile (29 km) 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 the first place.

One month later, Haile made a surprise return to the track for the first of two stadium races that
summer. In the first, he ran a 26:52.81 finishing fifth in a very competitive 10,000 metres race
in Hengelo, The Netherlands. It was the first time a man over 30 ran the 10,000 m in less than 27
minutes. Then, on 27 June 2007, Haile launched an attack upon the world record for the one hour
run, in Ostrava, Czech Republic. This record attempt was successful as Haile passed the hour
mark at 21,285 metres (13 miles 397 yards), eclipsing the previous best of 21,101 metres, set by
Mexican Arturo Barrios in La Flèche, France, on 30 March 1991. Furthermore, Haile covered 50

5
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.

Haile made his running debut in New York City when he won the New York City Half
Marathon on 5 August 2007, in 59:24, breaking the previous course record by two minutes. His
win in the Lisbon Half Marathon (59:15) in March 2008 gave him a perfect record of 9–0 in
winning all of his half marathons. He lost his first half marathon in Den Haag (14 March 2009),
when he was beaten by Sammy Kitwara (59:47 for Kitwara, 59:50 for Haile.

On 30 September 2007, Haile won the Berlin Marathon in 2:04:26 (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 12 September 2007.

Before the 2008 Dubai Marathon, his manager suggested that Haile would be able to run a sub
2:04 time for a new world record. While Haile agreed that a sub 2:04 was possible, he stated that
the conditions would need to be perfect for such a time. The event was held on 18 January 2008
and was won by Haile in a time of 2:04:53, making it the second-fastest marathon in history.
However the early pace had been too fast and he was unable to continue at that speed, resulting
in a time 27 seconds short of his world record.

At the Hengelo FBK-Games on 24 May, Haile ran 26:51.20 for the 10,000 metres to finish a
close second behind countryman Sileshi Sihine's 26:50.53. This is the Master 35-39 age group
world record. His nine career sub-27-minute 10,000-meter performances are more than any other
athlete except for Kenenisa Bekele, who also has nine.

Because of Beijing's air pollution levels, Haile decided to withdraw from the marathon at
the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He suffers from asthma and said that running in such conditions
might be harmful to his health. Haile later admitted that he regretted the decision as the Beijing
air was cleaner than expected. He did, however, run the 10,000 metres on 17 August, finishing
sixth with a time of 27:06.68. The gold medal went to his countryman and current world record
holder, Kenenisa Bekele with a 27:01:17 Olympic record winning time.[30] The following month,
on 28 September 2008, he defended his Berlin Marathon title, averaging 2:56.5 per kilometer

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(4:43.7 per mile) for a time of 2:03:59, breaking his own world record by 27 seconds.Haile
competing at the FBK Games in Hengelo in 2009

Haile won the Dubai Marathon on 16 January 2009 but fell short of breaking his own world
record that he had set four months earlier on the flat course. He finished in 2:05:29, well ahead of
countryman Deressa Chimsa. In September of that year, he won the Berlin Marathon for the
fourth consecutive time. He attempted to break the world record he had set the previous year but,
despite a quick start, warm conditions saw him finish in 2:06:08, two minutes away from his best
mark. He did, however, pass the 30-kilometer point in 1:27:49, which was a new world record
for a road 30K.[31][32]

In 2010, he tried to attack his world record for the third consecutive time at the Dubai Marathon
2010. Although he won the race with a time of 2:06:09, he failed to break his 18-month world
record. In a post-race interview, Haile revealed that he had suffered back pain, requiring
intensive pre-race physiotherapy, resulting from having slept in a bad position. His problems
continued at the NYC Half Marathon, where he pulled up mid-race visibly uncomfortable in his
running. He had an easy victory in the inaugural edition of the 10K de Madrid in April.[35] He
scored his third victory at the Great Manchester Run the following month, although he missed
out on Micah Kogo's course record. He followed this with his first win at the Great North Run in
September, finishing the half marathon in a time of 59:33 minutes.

He is also mentor and ambassador for the G4S 4teen, a programme supporting 14 young athletes.

On 7 November, after dropping out of the 2010 New York City Marathon with an inflamed knee,
Haile announced his retirement. Days later, he posted to his Twitter account that he was
reconsidering his decision and wanted to run in the 2012 London Olympics. Haile had stated
previously that after retiring he would like to enter politics, with scepticism from the public
about his knowledge on politics and the unfamiliar culture of celebrities holding public office
in Ethiopia. However he won his first race back in a 10k road race in Angola with a new course
record of 28:05 and beat countryman Deriba Merga and the Kenyan Josphat Menjo who had run
the fastest 10000m of that year.

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Haile missed the 2011 Tokyo Marathon due to an injury, but won the half marathon at
the Vienna City Marathon on 17 April 2011. About a month later Haile easily won the Great
Manchester Run in England for the fourth time, finishing in 28:10. On 26 September he suffered
a double setback when he dropped out of the Berlin Marathon (again suffering from respiratory
difficulties of exercise-induced asthma) and saw his world records for 30 kilometres and the
marathon broken by the man with whom he had been duelling, Patrick Makau. Haile was absent
from the press conference later that day, but his manager Jos Hermens announced that while it
was "the end of an era of record-breaking for Haile, it's not the end of his career".[35] He returned
to his winning ways at the Birmingham half marathon with a new course record and followed
that up with a win at the Zevenheuvelenloop in November, taking his third career victory at the
Dutch 15K race.[35]

In 2012, Haile ran in the Tokyo Marathon and, after surging to the lead and putting a gap on the
field with 6 km to go, faded and finished in 4th, in a time of 2:08:17. However, he bounced back
to win the Vienna Half Marathon in 1:00:52, catching Paula Radcliffe who was given a 7:52-
minute head-start. He was not selected for the Olympic marathon team, but after winning
the Great Manchester Run with a fast time of 27:39, beating marathon world record
holder Patrick Makau, world marathon leader Ayele Abshero and Olympic marathon
medallist Tsegay Kebede, by a distance of over 100 metres, he decided to aim for a place in
the 10,000 m race.[43] He attempted to earn an Olympic spot at the Fanny Blankers-Koen
Games in Hengelo, the stadium in which he had broken four world records. However, in
extremely hot weather he finished seventh with a time of 27:20.39, sixth amongst Ethiopians,
and did not qualify for the 2012 Summer Olympics.[44] However, he did appear at the opening
ceremony as one of the eight flagbearers who brought the Olympic flag into the stadium.
Another outing at the Fukuoka Marathon, however, saw him enter as the favourite but drop out at
32 km.[45]

On 14 April 2013, Haile won the open field of the Vienna City half marathon with a time of
01:01.14. He set his first over-40 world record with a time of 46:59 for 10 miles in Switzerland,
on 15 September 2013. He took 3rd overall in the 2013 BUPA Great North Run, 32 seconds
behind the winner Kenenisa Bekele and 31 seconds behind the reigning Olympic and world
champion Mo Farah.

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Haile has announced his retirement from competitive running after finishing 16th in the Great
Manchester Run on Sunday 10 May 2015. It brings to an end a 25-year career in which he
claimed two Olympic gold medals, eight World Championship victories and set 27 world
records. "I'm retiring from competitive running, not from running. You cannot stop running, this
is my life," he told BBC Sport.

Currently, Haile is the former president of the Ethiopian Athletics Federation, has been
selling Hyundai cars in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, since 2009, and cooperates with Hyundai for
the Marathon Motors Engineering factory there which started assembling the electric Hyundai
Ioniq in July 2020.[46] He has become a small-lot coffee farmer in Ethiopia. His coffees can be
found under his estate name, Haile Estate, such as the Sun Dried Ethiopian Haile Estate Coffee,
which is distributed by Starbucks Reserve.[47]

Haile Gebrselassie ventured into an entrepreneurship career in 1995, investing earnings from his
achievement that led to establishing companies. Until recent years, he has had 600 staff and
offices every day. In 2010, Haile opened Haile Resorts in Lake Hawassa, and the resort quickly
expanded its destinations to Amhara, Oromia , Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People's
Region and He recently inaugurated the most awaited Grand Haile Resort in Addis
Ababa[48] around Lam bert, near its HQ office in Addis Ababa.[49] Haile has a dealership
for Hyundai cars in Ethiopia & Started assembling Hyundai electric cars in 2020.[50][51][52]

Haile owned Marathon Motors, a vehicle business that also assembles Hyundai cars, and which
recently rolled off the first electric car from its assembly plant.[53][54] Haile owned several
businesses and is involved in real estate projects and owns four hotels, a coffee plantation. In
2015, there was estimated 1,000 employees and reached 3,000 employees across his investments
in Ethiopia and beyond. Haile currently received 30 million birr revenue from various
businesses.