Explore Quotes by Haile Gebrselassie

I think if you come first with a new world record, that is the best.

I'm a runner first before anything else.

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.

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.

I was the kind of child who worked hard every day with the cows and sheep - I was a very aggressive boy.

I always tell young athletes the same thing, 'Wherever you go, whatever you do, what must your top priority be? Running.'

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.

Why should I say I will retire in three or four years? You retire the very moment you utter those words.

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.

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.

I can't change everything by myself but I can be one of the people who are trying to change the situation.

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.

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.

I have to change a lot of things before I become a good marathon runner.

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.

When I run in Ethiopia, I look out and see eucalyptus trees and rivers.

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.

If you're planning only to make money and nothing else, you'll be broke.

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.

Athletes have to be confident and I am thinking like that.

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.