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Since I achieved something, running has exploded in my country.

Haile Gebrselassie

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Haile Gebrselassie
Age: 51
Born: 1973
Born: April 18
Athletics Competitor
Long-Distance Runner
Marathon Runner
Olympic Athlete
Asela
Haile Gebrselassie
Something
Exploded
Achieved
Since
Running
Country

More quotes by Haile Gebrselassie

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I find the business world hard.
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Like some high official, you have to tell your brain: 'Do it. Come on. I have to do it.'
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When I run in Ethiopia, I look out and see eucalyptus trees and rivers.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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When you promise something, you must fulfill it.
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Age for me is just a number.
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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.
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When I wake up at 5 in the morning is it just to jog? Definitely not, I give it all of my efforts.
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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.
Haile Gebrselassie
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I feel a social responsibility. We need to open people's eyes. There is a lack of education in Ethiopia.
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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.
Haile Gebrselassie
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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.
Haile Gebrselassie
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I know what I want when I start a marathon: to win! But what do you want? Make sure you're clear in advance and don't go out too fast.
Haile Gebrselassie
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I want to go down in history.
Haile Gebrselassie
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My father thought sport was something fun - he didn't know it was a way to make money.
Haile Gebrselassie
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If I don't train enough, of course I'm nervous.
Haile Gebrselassie
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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.
Haile Gebrselassie
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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.
Haile Gebrselassie