How old do you think Gebrselassie is?

I really doubt he is 40 but I can see him being a few years older than 34. Maybe 36-37.

37-38

I find it impossible to believe that a distance runner who has been competing at long as Geb can still be in top form at age 34. He's 31-32 at oldest.

he looks like hes in his 50s.

No way wrote:

I find it impossible to believe that a distance runner who has been competing at long as Geb can still be in top form at age 34. He's 31-32 at oldest.

You are an idiot. 1992 World Junior Champs. If he is 31 now, would have been 16 then.

5000 m Haile Gebrselassie

Ethiopia 13:36.06 CR

10 000 m Haile Gebrselassie

Ethiopia 28:03.99 CR

A couple years ago I was talking to a Kenyan at the Miami marathon who said he was certain Geb was older than he claimed to be. I'm not sure why he would lie about his age?? Maybe he doesn't know for sure??

This question has come up repeatedly. I honestly think that his progression (and current form) suggests that he actually was born about when he claims to have been born (1973).

I ran for a couple summers with Mike Mamo who was an Ethiopian who grew up in Baltimore and had run with Hailes brother. He also claimed that Geb was significantly older than 34.

No way wrote:

I find it impossible to believe that a distance runner who has been competing at long as Geb can still be in top form at age 34. He's 31-32 at oldest.

I don't think it's impossible to set a world record at 36-37. Carlos Lopes did it.

Miruts Yifter was supposedly 41 years old when he won gold medals in the 5000 and 10000 meters in Moscow. Maybe he was actually 45 years old.

78 years old

Track and Field News interviewed Haile for its December 1995 issue, when he was named athlete of the year. He was asked about his age, which had been a matter of some debate from very early on in his career. As I recall, he said that he thought that he was about 25 or 26 at the time, which would make him at least three years older than the official track and field records now indicate. That would also mean that he had participated in junior competition when he was no longer a junior.

A few years ago, when Haile started getting outkicked in races, Larry Rawson once again brought up the subject of Geb's age. Rawson thought that Geb was at least three years older than he was now claiming to be, and Rawson seemed to believe that Haile was sticking to the younger age to avoid controversies about his participation in junior competition when he was no longer eligible for junior competition. Rawson was obviously torn about the matter, because he clearly thought that Haile was a wonderful person.

I believe that Haile was born in 1969 or 1970. I also believe that some in the athletics world have avoided the matter because it reflects somewhat unfavorably on Haile, who is justifiably viewed as a great ambassador of the sport.

“You can’t believe that Ethiopian calendar. It’s different from everyone else’s."

Yeah, calendar year 1 is arbitrary, but I think the earth orbits the sun at pretty much the same rate in Ethiopia as it does here. He's claiming that the Ethiopian year is 40/34 as long as ours?

While I don't think that Rawson's view deserves any more credibility than that of other "experts," your basic point could very well be true. It is possible that he could be 2 or 3, or perhaps even 4, years older than his "official" age. That said, it would strike me as slightly odd if he only really began to break through to the top (in 1992) at the age of 22 or 23, rather than at 18 or 19. But who knows?

Sorry for the double post.

One of my college students is from Ethiopia and we were talking about this a few days back. He stated that since Haile is from a rural area a good distance from a major city there is a high likelyhood that accurate records of his birth don't exist. My student has an older step brother born in a similar locale and didn't have any birth records. He needed them to go to school, so the family had to go back to the area to have records made by talking to people who could vouch for his age. Also, my student stated that life is hard enough in rural areas that many/most families don't celebrate birthdays nor keep track of ages. Birthdays are just another day. My student did state that Ethiopians born in urban clinics and hospitals generally have accurate records. His thoughts were that Haile may be a few years older than the stated 34 and that many from rural areas of Ethiopia look older than they are because life is hard for them.

Avocados Number wrote:

I also believe that some in the athletics world have avoided the matter because it reflects somewhat unfavorably on Haile, who is justifiably viewed as a great ambassador of the sport.

I imagine those same individuals have also avoided probing into the Jos Hermans doping connections. Better that Geb should retire first, anyway.

900?

Geb is old guys...likewise to KK they are not what they claim to be. Have you seen Geb closely? lines of aging are obvious on his face!