New York (TADIAS) – Haile Gebrselassie failed to secure his place on Ethiopia’s track team for the 2012 London Olympic games during trials in Hengelo, Netherlands on Sunday. The event also marked Haile’s last major race in the 10,000 meter.
“The Games in London, is over for me,” he told AFP. “I ran a good race till the last lap. I felt good but I manifestly didn’t have the speed to compete against my rivals.” He added: “That’s life. I am not disappointed…I gave all that I had.”
2012 Olympics: Haile Gives It One More Run Two-time Olympic and four-time world 10,000 metres champion Haile Gebrselassie will run one more track race in Hengelo, Netherlands this weekend while trying to make the Ethiopian team for the London 2012 Olympics. (Illustration by Zenamarkos Taye for Tadias Magazine)
Tadias Magazine
Editorial | Sports
Published: Thursday, May 24, 2012
New York (TADIAS) – Haile Gebrselassie will run his last major race in the 10,000 meter track in Holland this weekend; that is if he does not secure a spot on Ethiopia’s track team for the 2012 London Olympic games. The trials are set to take place in Hengelo, Netherlands – scheduled for Sunday, May 27th. Haile must finish in the top three to qualify for the Olympics.
“My goal is to run sub-27 minutes in Hengelo,” he told the press last Sunday following his victory at the Bupa Great Manchester Run in England. “When I am in the top three I will have to go.”
The legend, who is 39, failed to make the Olympic team as a marathoner twice, generating media speculation about his ending career. Some have suggested his stubbornness may be damaging to his brand. But Haile never lost his trademark smile and indomitable spirit, race after race, win or loss, flush with optimism about the next opportunity.
“I love running and I will always run for myself,” he toldAthletics Illustrated in April. “And I always give my best at running and try to achieve the highest possible level.”
“There will be a lot of stars running in the Olympics,” he admitted about this weekend’s race. “It will be difficult to beat them. To get into the top three and win a medal that would be wonderful.”
Haile has said that if he does not win, he will still attend the London Olympics as a spectator. Either way, he remains one of the world’s most admired athletes of all time. And an Ethiopian hero.
— Related: Gebrselassie takes another strong 10k victory in Manchester (IAAF)
New York (TADIAS) – Early last month we attended a fundraiser for the Girls Gotta Run Foundation (GGRF) in Chevy Chase, Maryland. Organizers had hoped long-distance legend Haile Gebrselassie would be the featured guest speaker. Haile, who had injured himself a day earler at the New York City Marathon, had flown directly home from NYC following the race and could not attend the gathering. The event, co-sponsored and hosted by the Chevy Chase Running Company, took place on Monday, November 8th, 2010 at the Chevy Chase Running Company store.
According to GGRF, portions of the proceeds from the event will help to “subsidize scholarships for girls to attend training at the Yaya Africa Athletics Village, an athletic center in Sululta, Ethiopia, which is presently under construction and in which Mr.Gebrselassie is a partner.” GGRF was established in 2006 to provide funds for athletic shoes, clothes, meals, coach subsidies, and other training-related expenses for disadvantaged Ethiopian girls who are training to be professional runners. One of its sponsored athletes, Dinknesh Mekash Tefer of Running Across Borders, recently broke the women’s course record for the Baxters Loch Ness Marathon in Scotland, winning her first international race.
The following video features Tigist Selam’s conversation with Dr. Patricia E. Ortman, Executive Director of the foundation, as well as footage of additional speakers at the event.
Above:Haile Gebrselassie (L) and Derartu Tulu will represent
Ethiopia at New York City Marathon on Sunday November 7th.
Tadias Magazine
Events News
Updated: Saturday, November 6, 2010
Special Note:
Ethiopian fans plan to gather at Columbus Circle, which has bleachers set up for spectators and a special stage sponsored by Continental Airlines to provide inspiration for the final .2 miles.
You can take the 1, D, or A train to 59th (8th avenue).
Haile and Derartu Expected to Take Charge at NYC Marathon
Published: Tuesday, November 2, 2010
New York (Tadias) – Long-distance running legends Haile Gebrselassie and Derartu Tulu are widely expected to lead the charge in their respective categories at Sunday’s New York City Marathon.
Gebrselassie, who has more than 130 major-race victories under his belt and is the current world record-holder, will run the New York City Marathon for the first time. Although questions have been raised about the possibility that the double Olympic 10,000-meter gold medalist may not be able to conquer the difficult New York City Marathon route in world record time, his agent says he remains motivated and optimistic. “We have to be realistic; we know there are not that many opportunities left,” Jos Hermens of the Netherlands told The New York Times. “But in his mind, he is so competitive, he feels he can run half a minute or a minute faster in ideal conditions and in good health.” Gebrselassie will be joined by fellow Ethiopian Gebre Gebremariam and the professional men’s defending champion Meb Keflezighi of the United States, among others.
In the pro women’s field, two-time Olympic 10,000m champion Derartu Tulu, the first Ethiopian woman to win the New York City Marathon, will defend her title while leading a pack of other women from her country. Other participating Ethiopian female athletes include the 2010 Boston Marathon champion Teyba Erkesso, Werknesh Kidane, and Bronx resident Buzunesh Deba. Derartu also faces tough competition from American Shalane Flanagan, the 2008 Beijing Olympic bronze medalist, and Mary Keitany of Kenya, the 2009 World Half Marathon champion – both making their marathon debut – as well as from experienced marathoners like Ludmila Petrova and Inga Abitova of Russia.
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2010 Abebe Bikila Award Goes To Paul Tergat of Kenya
Meanwhile, one of Haile Gebrselassie’s professional rivals, Paul Tergat of Kenya – considered to be one of the most accomplished long-distance runners of all time – will receive the 2010 Abebe Bikila award for his contributions to distance running. Tergat, who retired in 2009, will be honored at a ceremony preceding the Continental Airlines International Friendship Run on Saturday, November 6, also here in New York City.
The New York Times highlights the long and friendly competition between the Kenyan and Ethiopian athletes: “Their rivalry has been one of the richest in running history and symbolizes the development of distance running by Ethiopia (Gebrselassie) and Kenya (Tergat). Over the course of a decade, Gebrselassie, 37, and Tergat, 41, ruled the distance running world,” NYT notes. “From 1996 to 2000 Gebrselassie won titles in the 10,000 meters at the world championship and Olympic Games. Tergat finished second each time. Gebrselassie set the 10,000 world record (26 minutes 43.53 seconds) in 1995 until Tergat broke the record (26:27.85) in 1997. Gebrselassie reclaimed the record (26:22.75) in 1998, now held by Ethiopian Kenenisa Bekele (26:17.53).”
The annual prize , named after Ethiopian legend and double Olympic marathon winner Abebe Bikila, has been awarded to athletes since 1978, and it honors individuals who have made a significant contribution to the sport of long-distance running. Per Wiki: “Past winners of the award include: Olympic gold medallists Frank Shorter, Rosa Mota and Lasse Virén; world record breakers Paula Radcliffe, Khalid Khannouchi and Paul Tergat; and multiple major marathon winners Grete Waitz, Alberto Salazar and Joan Samuelson. While the award has typically been associated with elite level runners, particularly marathon runners, it has also been given to non-athletes. Fred Lebow – creator of the New York Marathon – became the first person to win the award who was not a professional athlete in 1995. The 2001 award was given to Mayor of New York Rudy Guiliani on the basis of his dedication to the city in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks. The 2009 winner, long-time road running organizer and event director Allan Steinfeld, was the third non-professional athlete to receive the award.”
If You Go:
New York City Marathon on Sunday, November 7 Daylight savings time ends at 2:00 a.m. on Sun.,
Don’t forget to set your clocks.
Ethiopian fans plan to gather at Columbus Circle, which has bleachers set up for spectators and a special stage sponsored by Continental Airlines to provide inspiration for the final .2 miles.
You can take the 1, D, or A train to 59th (8th avenue).
Above: Haile Gebrselassie, the marathon world record holder
and a two-time Olympic 10,000-meter champion, will race in
the New York Half-Marathon in March, race organizers said
Wednesday.
Ethiopia’s Haile Gebrselassie, the marathon world record-holder and a two-time Olympic 10,000-meter champion, will race in the New York Half-Marathon in March, race organizers announced Wednesday.
The 36-year-old long distance legend last competed in a US event in 2007, when he won the New York Half-Marathon in a race-record 59 minutes, 24 seconds. Gebrselassie will seek a 20,000-dollar top prize in the 100,000-dollar event.
“I’m very excited about going back to New York,” Gebrselassie said. “I got such a warm welcome when I ran the Half-Marathon in 2007. I’m sure it will be a wonderful event again and I’m looking forward to it.”
Gebrselassie, who set the world marathon record of 2:03:59 at the 2008 Berlin Marathon, will try to win his third consecutive Dubai Marathon title on Friday.
He has also won four times at Berlin as well as in Amsterdam in 2005 and Fukuoka, Japan, in 2006.
Over the 13.1-mile half-marathon distance, Gebrselassie has won nine of 10 career starts.
Above:The shareholders of the company include two athletes –
Haile Gebrselassie and Belay Welasha, as well as an Ethiopian
born Canadian businessman and former athlete Joseph Kibur.
The first private Athletics Village to be built in SulultaAddis Ababa – Yaya Africa Athletics Village P.L.C, a new company established in 2009 has begun the construction of a modern athletics village in Sululta, 11 KM outside the city of Addis Ababa.
The project is worth an estimated 80 million birr and will be constructed in three phases. The shareholders of the company include two prominent athletes – Haile Gebrselassie and Belay Welasha, as well as an Ethiopian born Canadian businessman and former athlete Joseph Kibur. The facility will include a running track, hotel, restaurant, gymnasium and sports clinic. It is to be built on 50,000 sq. m. of land and the first phase of the project is expected to be operational by September 2010.
“Haile, who has been making athletics history for the better part of two decades is about to make a new history by building the first private athletics village in the country. I am happy and excited to be
part of this history”, says Joseph Kibur, President and major shareholder of the company. “our aim is to have the facility ready well before the London Olympics so that there will be enough time to
produce new talent and continue Ethiopia’s winning tradition”.
Once the facility is fully operational, selected individuals will be provided with the range of services required for world class athletes. This would include proper diet created by a professional, psychological training, climate controlled training rooms to simulate high humidity and hot conditions, doctors and massage professionals or injury prevention and treatment.
In addition to providing services for local athletes, the hotel in the facility will also be used to house foreign athletes interested in high altitude training. By making the facility a tourist destination it will earn the country foreign currency.
Above:Ethiopia’s marathon runner Haile Gebrselassie (L) and
his country fellow Atsede Habtamu Besuye greet the audience
after winning in the 36 Berlin marathon September 20, 2009.
Gebrselassie clocked 2:06:08 and Besuye 2:24:47. (Reuters)
BBC
Sunday, 20 September 2009
Haile Gebrselassie won the Berlin Marathon for the fourth year in a row on Sunday but missed out on breaking his own world record. His time was two hours, six minutes and eight seconds, but warm conditions ended any hopes of him breaking the record he set in last year’s race. “I expected more from my opponents, but I made sure I ran my best,” said the 36-year-old Ethiopian. “The last kilometres were really hard, it was too hot for a new world record.” He added: “I was tired, I pushed too much.” Read more.
Above:Ethiopian marathon runner Haile Gebrselassie and
American sprinter Tyson Gay go neck and neck in an Adidas
spot that offers an interesting insight into the running men
and their best performances. (ADweek)
