Haile Gebrselassie (Ge'ez: ኃይሌ ገብረ ሥላሴ, haylē gebre silassē; born April 18, 1973) is an Ethiopian long-distance track and road running athlete. Gebrselassie has achieved 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 has broken 27 world records and won numerous Olympic and World Championship titles, and is widely c...
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Haile Gebrselassie (Ge'ez: ኃይሌ ገብረ ሥላሴ, haylē gebre silassē; born April 18, 1973) is an Ethiopian long-distance track and road running athlete. Gebrselassie has achieved 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 has broken 27 world records and won numerous Olympic and World Championship titles, and is widely considered one of the greatest distance runners in history.
In September 2008, at the age of 35, he won the Berlin Marathon with a world record time of 2:03:59, breaking his own world record by 27 seconds.
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.
Gebrselassie gained international...
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