Haile Gebrselassie

Haile Gebrselassie is an Ethiopian long-distance track and road running athlete. Haile gained international recognition in 1992 when he won the 5000-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. The next 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. Later that year he set his first world record by running a 12:56.96 in the 5,000-metres, breaking Saïd Aouita\'s record by two seconds. n 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. At the 2000 Sydney Olympics, he became the third man in history to successfully defend an Olympic 10,000 metres title. In 2001, Haile won the IAAF World half marathon and the bronze medal in the 10,000 metres at the 2001 World Championships in Athletics. 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 won theBerlin Marathon four times consecutively and also had three straight wins at the Dubai Marathon. Further to this, he won four world titles indoors and was the 2001 World Half Marathon Champion. He broke 61 Ethiopian National Records ranging from 800 meters to the marathon, set 27 world records, 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. His profile is nothing if not amazing.