Haile Gebrselassie Retires From Athletics
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Haile Gebrselassie retires from athletics. After a 25 year career as one of Ethiopia's and the world's greatest long distance runners. The announcement of his retirement was confirmed to the IAAF by his manager Jos Hermens.
Haile Gebrselassie announced his retirement from competitive running after taking part in the Great Manchester Run yesterday. Which was to be his last competitive race. Haile Gebrselassie chose the Great Manchester Run for his last race as he always enjoyed this event which he has won five times. Haile Gebrselassie: “I am retiring from competitive running, not from running. You cannot stop running, this is my life. And I am still enjoying my farewell tour like today in Manchester.”
Haile Gebrselassie has been competing since 1992 when he won the 5000m and 10.000m title at the World Junior Championships. He had an impressive career with 27 world records, 61 Ethiopian records, two Olympic gold medals and eight world championship titles.
Haile Gebrselassie will now focus more on his businesses in Ethiopia. He employs more than 1000 people in several businesses, and is involved in real estate projects, owns four hotels, a coffee plantation and is the distributor for Hyundai in Ethiopia. His next big dream is to be part of the further development of Ethiopia. He considers community projects as his responsibility. He is a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations and involved in tree planting, road projects and he built several schools in his residential area. Haile Gebrselassie will also remain a running ambassador and wants to stay active in athletics.
Haile Gebrselassie: “I want to thank all my fans, friends, competitors and main sponsor Adidas for their support and for all they did for me. I have had 23 incredible years in athletics on the elite level! Looking forward to stay involved as a running ambassador and promote running around the world.”
