Haile Gebrselassie announces retirement, but it won't stop him running
The Ethiopian great will focus on his business interests, but running is in his blood and he couldn't stop it if he wanted to
Haile Gebrselassie isn’t going to stop running, he’s just going to stop racing.
The 42-year-old Ethiopian great, a two-time Olympic champion at 10,000 meters and a multiple world-record holder at distances up to the marathon, announced his decision to retire on Sunday after competing in the Great Manchester Run. And to underline his desire to keep going, he ran the 10-kilometer course a second time with the amateur runners just for fun.
I am retiring from competitive running, not from running
“I am retiring from competitive running, not from running,” Gebrselassie said in a statement after the race, where he finished 16th among the top men. “You cannot stop running. This is my life.”
Gebrselassie’s management team said he was ending his 23-year competitive career to focus on his array of businesses at home, but he will appear once more in 2015, at the Great Scottish Run in Glasgow in October as part of his “farewell tour.”
Gebrselassie won two Olympic gold medals and four world titles in the 10,000, but had a rare ability to excel at distances ranging from the 800 meters up to the marathon to earn a place as possibly the most versatile distance runner the sport has seen. He set 27 world records and more than 60 Ethiopian national marks, succeeding on indoor tracks, outdoor tracks, cross-country courses and in road races. He held world records in the 5,000, 10,000, the half marathon and the marathon.
“I have had 23 incredible years in athletics,” Gebrselassie said, stressing he still wanted to stay active in athletics as a “running ambassador.”