In assessments of Geb's career and likely future in the sport, I see little (if any) mention about the mystery of his actual age. Ten years ago, Geb himself said that he thought that he was about three years older than his "official" age, but the "official" birthdate has apparently never been adjusted. Does anyone here know more about this subject?
Yes, 12 years ago at a mysterious underground location in he Pacific Northwest, Haile Gebrselassie materialized out of the shadows wearing a black trenchboat with a tiny red, yellow, and green Ethiopian flag emblen sewn into the pocket. He walked up to me, raised his hand as though to speak, then thought better of it and took off in a sprint up the steep ramp of a parking garage. I estimate he ran a 24 second 200 meters up that parking garage.
From this I estimate that Geb is actually a 46 year old Hispanic named Julio.
Anyone?
I think the point is, where did you hear "10 years ago" that he thought he was 3 years older? Because I heard him say in a Runnersworld interview within the last 2-3 years that he had a birth certificate from Addis for April 18 1973, making him 32.
He is definitely not 32
You definitely don't know for certain.
he looks to be 44.
uhhhhhh wrote:
I think the point is, where did you hear "10 years ago" that he thought he was 3 years older?
From the December 1995 issue of Track & Field News:
"He has had to struggle to reach the highest pinnancle of the sport, but at the age of '24 or 25, I think,' the smiling, delightful Gebreselassie, whose 'official' birthdate is listed as April 18, 1973, has established himself as one of distance running's all-time giants."
A couple of years ago, when Geb started to lose some races, Larry Rawson wrote an article about the subject, seeming to suggest that, although Geb was clearly older than indicated on his "official" birthdate, it had been advantageous to use that birthdate for purposes of junior competition.
I have talked to some of his family memeber and they said he was 37.
oldguy wrote:
Larry Rawson wrote an article about the subject, seeming to suggest that
Rawson said it, not Geb.
Consider the source.
I was hoping for information from people who have more information than I do, not comments from the usual idiots on this site.
Dunes Runner: Did you read the quotation from Geb? In 1995, he said that he was "24 or 25, I think." Do the math.
Your quote is from Rawson, not Geb.
And "24 or 25" is not a complete sentence.
I could do the same to your posts, and make you look like a fool. But that is not necessary. :)
oldguy wrote:
I was hoping for information from people who have more information than I do, not comments from the usual idiots on this site.
False dichotomy. Most of the people here are idiots, but some of them may still have more info than you about selected topics. Even dunes runner has its moments.
I'm an idiot as well, but I'll hazard a guess no one else has yet: Geb probably knows exactly how old he is, but isn't eager to let his competition know he's 35 and not 32.
dunes runner wrote:
Your quote is from Rawson, not Geb.
And "24 or 25" is not a complete sentence.
I could do the same to your posts, and make you look like a fool. But that is not necessary. :)
The quote is not from Rawson. The quote is from Geb. And the fact that it is not a complete sentence is an oddly irrelevant matter to raise.
If you don't know anything about the subject -- and, by the way, Rawson knows a hell of a lot more about the top runners than you do -- why not just refrain from posting anything?
Howard Dean Karnazes wrote:
Geb probably knows exactly how old he is, but isn't eager to let his competition know he's 35 and not 32.
I think Rawson's take on the matter was that Geb was, at the least, complicit in a fraud that allowed him to compete in (and win) world junior championships in 1992. Because of that, he cannot now easily admit that he is considerably older than is reflected by his "official" birthdate. Rawson expressed sadness about that, in part because it makes Geb look less-than-saintly, and in part because it makes Geb's continuing achievements at this stage in his career seem less impressive than they really are.
oldguy wrote:
The quote is not from Rawson. The quote is from Geb. And the fact that it is not a complete sentence is an oddly irrelevant matter to raise.
This quote is from Geb? "He has had to struggle to reach the highest pinnancle of the sport, but at the age of '24 or 25, I think,' the smiling, delightful Gebreselassie, whose 'official' birthdate is listed as April 18, 1973, has established himself as one of distance running's all-time giants."
The quote is not from Geb but is from someone else who said, "He", "the smiling, delightful Gebreselassie (sp)", "whose", "has established himself", all of which indicate it was not a self quote. Since you said the article was written by Rawson, isn't the quotation from him?
And Rawson, or whoever you were orginially quoting, didn't say who said "24 or 25". It could have been anyone or even himself. He did not even say "Geb said, "I am 24 or 25"".
I had given you credit for being able to read, but now you are giving considerable doubt.
oldguy wrote:
If you don't know anything about the subject -- and, by the way, Rawson knows a hell of a lot more about the top runners than you do -- why not just refrain from posting anything?
You are totally mistaken, and that is why.
oldguy wrote:
I think Rawson's take on the matter was that Geb was, at the least, complicit in a fraud
Can't you just see how that proves what an incompetent person that Rawson is, trying to insert a quote to look like Geb said it but actually could have come from anywhere and most likely Rawson just made it up.
A quote by Wary Wagweed:
"He has had to struggle to pay his electricity bill, but at the income of "4 or 5 dollars an hour" the smiling, delightful Oldguy, whose 'official' credit report is listed as excellent, has established himself as one of the City's utility experts."
Now where did you say your income is "4 or 5 dollars an hour"?
But that's what Wagweed says in this quotation, apparently coming from you.
In reality, on the way to his office, Wagweed asked a manager at McDonald's how much he'd made the previous month and then decided to insert that in the article. Then he conveniently "forgot" to put the real source, thereby making it easy to look as though the quote came from you.
Do you understand how to indicate quotations within quotations? The article that I quoted was written by Duncan Mackay in 1995. Within the article, Mackay quoted Geb.
Anyway, I sense that you're probably just messing around at this point.