Haile Gebrselassie was born on April 18, 1973 as one of ten children in Asella, Arsi , Ethiopia. He is an Ethiopian long distance track and road running athlete, known for his remarkable versatility, Haile 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 as one of the greatest distance runners in history. He currently holds the Marathon world record.
As a child growing up on a farm he used to run ten kilometres to school every morning, and the same back every evening.
He 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, and a silver medal in the junior race at the World Cross Country Championships.
In 1993, Haile 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.
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, Haile 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, Haile Gebrselassie ran the 5000 metres in 12:44.39, ripping an astonishing 10.91 seconds off the world record 12:55.30. This world record at the Weltklasse meet in Zürich was voted Performance of the Year by Track & Field News magazine. With this performance, Haile Gebrselassie seemingly put the 5,000-meter record out of reach for quite a while,
In1998, Haile, enjoyed 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 1999, Haile 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, Haile 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.
In 2001, Haile Gebrselassie won the IAAF World half marathon and the bronze medal in the 10,000 meters at the 2001 World Championships in Athletics.
In August 30, 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 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.
In 2004 Athens Olympics, Haile 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.
Since leaving the track after the 2004 Olympics, Haile 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, Berlin 2007 (1st place and World Record) and Dubai 2008 (1st place).
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.)
In 2006 Haile Gebrselassie started 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 Rock 'n' Roll Arizona Marathon.
In August 5, 2007 Haile Gebrselassie won the New York City Half Marathon in 59:24, breaking the previous course record by two minutes.
In September 30, 2007 Gebrselassie won the Berlin Marathon in 2:04:26
In 18 January 2008 Dubai Marathon, Haile won in a time of 2:04:53, making it the second fastest marathon in history.
Prepared by Asrat Tilahun, communication Associate, UNDP 14 March, 2008