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Haile Gebrselassie [1973-0]

Rank: 101
Athlete

Haile Gebrselassie is a retired Ethiopian long-distance track and road running athlete. He won two Olympic gold medals over 10,000 metres and four World Championship titles in the event.

Sports, Car, Change, Education, Good, Money, Work

Quote	Tags	Rank
Many people know that Ethiopia is poor. When I break a world record, maybe people get to know something else about Ethiopia, something good. We can't make planes or cars, we don't have the materials. We do what we can.	Good	101
I have to change a lot of things before I become a good marathon runner.	Change	102
When you run the marathon, you run against the distance, not against the other runners and not against the time.		103
You need three things to win: discipline, hard work and, before everything maybe, commitment. No one will make it without those three. Sport teaches you that.	Sports, Work	104
I feel a social responsibility. We need to open people's eyes. There is a lack of education in Ethiopia.	Education	105
If you're planning only to make money and nothing else, you'll be broke.	Money	106
He was not a runner, my father, but he was quick. I always remember it was very difficult to escape from him when he was angry. If he wanted to beat us he would always catch us. Even me, he could always catch me.		107
First, do enough training. Then believe in yourself and say: I can do it. Tomorrow is my day. And then say: the person in front of me, he is just a human being as well; he has two legs, I have two legs, that is all. That is mentally how you prepare.		108
The marathon always starts after 30K. That's where the problems start. You start without any problems, without any pain. All the pain comes after 30K. Sometimes, it's possible to have pain even in the finger.		109
Once you have commitment, you need the discipline and hard work to get you there.		110
My father didn't think running was sensible. He told me running is just wasting time.		111
In the rainy season, sometimes to get to the first lesson we had to run really quick, because we had to cross the river to school and we'd have to go up and down the bank to find a place to cross because there is no bridge.		112
In the marathon a crazy athlete can just keep pushing from the beginning, at a championship you don't need a time just to win the race.		113
My father thought sport was something fun - he didn't know it was a way to make money. Then I won a Mercedes at the world championships and I gave it to him. From the moment it arrived my father said: 'Good, you can support not just yourself but me too'.	Sports	114
I haven't done a marathon for a long time. So we'll see. I will need good luck.		115
You must do as your people do. If my people are poor, I must be poor. People ask me, 'Why don't you find a personal coach or a private car?' I can't. Then I won't be part of my people.	Car	116
If your body is damaged, wounded, it can be fixed, but if inside, mentally, you are wounded you cannot fix it, it's hard.		117
I'm lucky. The best possible place in the world for training is Addis Ababa, so I am home all the time except when I am racing. I like to be there, near my family, my kids, also the real estate business I run with my wife.		118
I wanted to experience New York, to look up and see buildings.		119
When I had no shoes I was comfortable - I used to run barefoot. When I wore shoes it was difficult. To run in shoes was ok, but at the beginning of my career it was hard.		120
For me a day without training is like a day without eating.		121
I always tell young athletes the same thing, 'Wherever you go, whatever you do, what must your top priority be? Running.'		122
In my life I do a lot of things but I never forget my training.		123
I'm never satisfied.		124
The more you are getting older, you lose a little something. Of course there is another advantage, because of your long experience you can use it.		125
I think if you come first with a new world record, that is the best.		126
What can you do if a part of it is uphill? You can't work out another route. You've just got to run the one they give you. But they tell me London is a nice course. Even the cobbles, I hope, are not very much of a problem for me.		201
I used to run to school, 10k every day. And this at altitude, perfect preparation, really.		202
I will always listen to my coaches. But first I listen to my body. If what they tell me suits my body, great. If my body doesn't feel good with what they say, then always my body comes first.		203
That is not enough. Sport has been great for me, a great learning place that if you want to achieve you can, even if you are from the poorest part of Africa.		204
When you promise something, you must fulfill it.		205
I remember in particular my first victory when I achieved a very fast time in what were perfect conditions but since then the wind has always been a factor against me.		206
You know the marathon in my country is just exceptional. It's like soccer in England. If England win the world cup and Ethiopia win the marathon - it's the same.		207
I was the kind of child who worked hard every day with the cows and sheep - I was a very aggressive boy.		208
Life is a kind of struggle. Life is a sort of fight.		209
At the end of the day, people want to see how fast you run.		210
Since I achieved something, running has exploded in my country. For me sometimes it is difficult even to know who the athletes are who are competing at the highest level. There are thousands.		211
Eradicate poverty. This is all that matters in my country. When I am out training I think about this a lot; when I am running it is going over in my mind. As a country we cannot move forward until we eradicate poverty.		212
When I run in Ethiopia, I look out and see eucalyptus trees and rivers.		213
You lose the speed before the stamina.		214
I love running and I will always run.		215
It is not my duty to spend my money in my country, but it is what I want to do. There is nowhere else I would like to invest.		216
My school was six miles away from where I lived on the farm. I had to walk and run, there and back every day, through gorges and over rivers. If I was late, there was a very big stick waiting for me.		217
I can't change everything by myself but I can be one of the people who are trying to change the situation.		218
Schooling is so important.		219
Always, if you win mentally, you can win physically as well.		220
Like some high official, you have to tell your brain: 'Do it. Come on. I have to do it.'		221
Some people start a sport just to reduce weight, or some say, 'My doctor ordered me to run and do exercise', and for others, they run for completely different benefits. But it is not like that with sport. We need to eat, we need to rest, but also we need to run.		222
I'm a runner first before anything else.		223
I want to avoid injuries by running only road.		224
When I wake up at 5 in the morning is it just to jog? Definitely not, I give it all of my efforts.		225
Age for me is just a number.		226
This is what I wanted. They tell me that London is the best field in history. I wanted to be part of that. Because everyone will be there it will be a wonderful challenge for me. You can see the best runners, how they look, how they run. For me to beat the best is what counts.		301
This hand is not very active always, because it was in this hand that I carried my books. My carrying hand was always my strongest. Now I think my other hand has developed more muscles from signing all those autographs.		302
You know, I want to help my country. Definitely I can help them, simply by winning races. Sure, they can follow my path to a good career. But for me it is not enough. I want to be more than that. In everything I want to be a role model.		303
At the moment I am a little bit politician, yes. I think that could be my next step. It is not because I want power, it is because of what I think I could do for the people.		304
When we race in London a world record will be the last thing on our minds.		305
I have seen things few of my countrymen have. The first time I went on an aeroplane I couldn't work out how the lavatories worked up in the sky.		306
Athletes have to be confident and I am thinking like that.		307
What is important is to win.		308
Why should I say I will retire in three or four years? You retire the very moment you utter those words.		309
I find the business world hard.		310
Athletics is in my blood.		311
You know for me when I promise something I want to deliver. If you don't, you have to disappear.		312
I want to go down in history.		313
I wanted to be famous. I wanted people to talk about me.		314
If I don't train enough, of course I'm nervous.		315
If you are a really good marathoner, you have to run New York.		316

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