df360 wrote:
Turbo Tumo was famous for running two 2:09 marathons one week apart.
He was a beast of a runner who refused to listen to his coaches.
He died in a bus accident in ethiopia.
He is famous for saying he dropped out of the atlanta olympic marathon because he would have run slower than fatuma roba (the female champ)
he was also asked what his name meant...this is how it went
what does turbo mean? lion
what does tumo mean? leopard
he was a charachter. his results on iaaf are incomplete.
Sad indeed.
I used to "manage" Turbo. I used the Houston Marathon to break him into the US scene in 1995 or 1996. He won in 2:10:34. He followed the police car at the finish and took a wrong turn and had to run down Steve Brace at the finish by a second.
In April he ran Boston with not so good results.
In August, he ran Atlanta. The quote given to him about not running a "woman's time" was a half truth. I used it as a marketing tool for Roba whom I also managed to keep both their names in the news. It worked. (I actually heard it again for the first time watching the 1997 Boston Marathon just two nights ago. Don't ask why so late.)
His roommate in the Olympic village was some guy named Belaneh Densimo.....
In November he was scheduled to run the NYC Marathon. The Monday before the race I got an angry phone call from elite coordinator Anne Roberts because he had raced a marathon in Holland the day before. (This I didn't know. A case of not listening to coaches/managers.) He won by a second in 2:11:26. She said he was not invited to NYC. For some reason, I asked that he still be allowed to come. She finally agreed. He placed 2nd in 2:10:09 behind Leone!!
By the way, Nike never paid his $10,000 bonus for that race.
In March he was contracted to run the LA Marathon. He said he couldn't come the week of but instead went to Japan and ran 2:09 there. LA and Anne (and I) were furious. I almost got sued by the race and my days with Turbo were over.
Some told me Turbo was in his 40s, he looked it, but I had his passport info and it didn't say that but he was a fierce runner and a different sort but most my memories are fond.
Sad news indeed.