The character arc of Haile Gebrselassie
Born 18 April 1973 on a farm near Asella, Ethiopia. As a boy he ran about ten kilometres to school and the same distance home, carrying his books, and his left arm stayed bent from it for life. Between then and now sit two Olympic 10,000m golds, the closest final the distance has seen, a shelf of world records on track and road, and the day he became the first man to run a marathon under two hours four minutes. The line below draws the story so far, in order.
Tap the line to pluck it. Hover or tap any mark for its card. Drawn from the public record of his life; the sources are at the foot of the page.
Who is Haile Gebrselassie?
He ran to school, and never stopped.
The story starts on a farm near Asella, where one of a large family ran about ten kilometres to school each morning and ran it back each night, books under one arm. That daily run gave him his engine and his signature: a left arm held slightly crooked, as if the books were still there. There were no tracks and no coaches near the farm, only distance and the will to cover it.
On the world stage the will held. He won the 10,000m at four straight World Championships from 1993, took Olympic gold in Atlanta in 1996 and defended it in Sydney in 2000 by nine hundredths of a second, the closest final the distance has known. He broke world records at almost every distance he raced, and when the track wore on his Achilles he moved up to the marathon and kept setting them, running 2:03:59 in Berlin in 2008 to become the first man under two hours four minutes.
The line does not run only upward. Injury cost him a medal in Athens in 2004, and a bad knee stopped him mid race in New York in 2010, when he spoke of stopping for good and then chose to run on. When he finally stepped away from racing in 2015 he said, "I am retiring from competitive running, not from running." His line is worth reading because it began with a chore, the run to school, and he made that the whole of it.
The moments
Haile Gebrselassie's timeline.
The 1980s
The long run to school
Setback, and it changed his direction. A farmer's son near Asella, he ran about ten kilometres to school and back each day carrying his books, which left his left arm bent for life.
The 1990s
Two junior world titles
Milestone. At nineteen he won both the 5000m and the 10,000m at the World Junior Championships, and the wider sport took notice.
His first senior world title
Milestone, and it changed his direction. He took the 10,000m at the World Championships, the first of four straight world titles at the distance.
His first world record
Milestone. He ran 5000m in 12:56.96, the first of a long line of records on track and road.
Olympic gold in Atlanta
Milestone, and it changed everything. He answered a long drive by Paul Tergat and won the 10,000m in an Olympic record 27:07.34.
The 10,000m record falls
Milestone. He lowered the 10,000m record to 26:22.75, and took the 5000m record days later.
The 2000s
The closest final
Milestone, and it changed his direction. He held off Tergat again to keep his title by nine hundredths of a second, the closest 10,000m in Olympic history.
Fifth, and hurting
Setback, and it changed his direction. An inflamed Achilles tendon left him fifth in Athens, and turned his eye toward the marathon.
The track, or the road
Crossroads, decided.
The paths laid out: move up to the marathon, taken, or defend on the track. Two years on he ran 2:03:59 in Berlin and became the first man under two hours four minutes.
A marathon world record
Milestone. At Berlin he ran 2:04:26, taking the marathon world record after years of building toward the distance.
First man under 2:04
Milestone, and it changed everything. He ran 2:03:59 in Berlin, the first person under two hours four minutes, a mark that stood for three years.
The 2010s
A knee, and a scare
Setback, and it changed his direction. A knee problem stopped him mid race in New York and he spoke of retiring, then chose to keep going.
He steps off the track
Milestone, and it changed everything. He closed a career of two Olympic golds and dozens of records, saying he was retiring from racing, not from running.
The line reaches today still moving, which is why it is drawn now rather than at the end. What began as a run to school and back is still out there on the road every morning, in every child who runs because the distance is the only thing between them and where they mean to be.
Your turn
Every story draws a unique line.
His is five decades of running and still going. Yours is already longer than you think, and drawing it takes about a minute.
Sources
- Haile Gebrselassie, Wikipedia.
- World Athletics, athlete profile and heritage features.
- Olympic records, Atlanta 1996 and Sydney 2000 men's 10,000m finals.
- Berlin Marathon records, 2007 and 2008.
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, Haile Gebrselassie.