What do you think Haile Gebrselassie's real age is ?

are you implying Gabreselasiee is on the juice

If his age is reported correctly then what is more impressive?

Being World Champion at age 20.

Or setting a World Record at age 35.

Skuj wrote:

This thread and others like it crack me up. Because, you know, in Ethiopa there cannot possibly be anything as modern as proper birth records. And even though Geb was 35 when he raced 2:03:59, some of you suggest he was much older. yeah. I have some land south of Florida for sale....

I lived in rural Kenya for a few months, and some of the people I stayed with weren't certain of their age. One guy showed me his high school diploma, and the date of birth on it didn't match what he told me about his age. I asked him about it, and he told me that the record keeping wasn't very accurate.

Kenya is a more developed country than Ethiopia, so I wouldn't be at all surprised is there was some uncertainty about Haile's age.

Yes when he ran 2.03.59 he was actually 53. Even though he looked much older.

Funny thing bout this is that when he ran in the World XC Champs at Boston in 92 he only looked about 17.

Skuj wrote:

This thread and others like it crack me up. Because, you know, in Ethiopa there cannot possibly be anything as modern as proper birth records.

There are, but that doesn't mean he has them.

My wife is about Haile's age and she doesn't know when she was born (it doesn't help that her country, like Ethiopia, uses a non-Western calendar). She's pretty sure that she was born in the summer and that her birth was registered about six months later. Or, you know, maybe it was registered immediately. Her father doesn't remember. I don't think that her siblings agree about whether or not it was the summer nor do they agree about the year.

Skuj wrote:

This thread and others like it crack me up. Because, you know, in Ethiopa there cannot possibly be anything as modern as proper birth records. And even though Geb was 35 when he raced 2:03:59, some of you suggest he was much older. yeah. I have some land south of Florida for sale....

Whenever questions about Geb's age are raised, comments like this inevitably follow, as if expressions of doubt about the accuracy of his "official" birthdate suggest an affinity for crackpot conspiracy theories or a conception of East Africa as a region populated by people who don't know how to use a calendar.

The truth is that different countries, cultures, and communities have different priorities and different capacities for keeping records about all kinds of things. With respect to birthdates, humans take an exceptionally long time to reach adulthood; the precise date on which they begin that journey isn't necessarily as important as some people think.

When Haile was interviewed in late 1995, he was asked how old he was. His reply: "24 or 25, I think." His "official" birthdate, then as now, was April 18, 1973. The discrepancy of two to three years seems to comport pretty well with other information that's been gathered about his life, and it doesn't seem terribly unreasonable to believe that his actual birthdate was sometime in 1970 or 1971.

If he says he is 43, we all know that he his a cheater and he stole his world junior medals.

douglas burke wrote:

having a career that he has even if he never runs again what would he gain by lying about his age.

anyone who has personal best's of ,does not need to lie.

1500- indoors-3:31

2k-4:52 indoors

5k-12:39

10k-26:22

half marathon 58:55

marathon 2:03.59

also he has a 10 race AVERAGE of

12:49 for 5k

26:44 for 10k

2:05.40 for the marathon.

when he runs against 2:04-2:06 marathoners kwambai, dechase, duncan kibet etc. he gets accused of not wanting to race competition even though he announces 4-5 months in advance which marathon he will run.

newsflash GEB DOES NOT NEED TO LIE ABOUT AGE, HE IS GREAT FOR ANY AGE.

toro wrote:

If his age is reported correctly then what is more impressive?

Being World Champion at age 20.

Or setting a World Record at age 35.

Exactly! He has been among the best of the best for 20 years... it does not matter exactly how old he is, because he either became (one of the) best in the world extraordinarily young, or stayed best in the world extraordinarily old.

Amazing man. I have a tape of the Sydney Olympics that I pull out every few years to watch the 10000 with Tergat. I don't know which part I like best... the amazing last mile, the last 50 meters, or Geb laughing and smiling as he stands at the starting line for the toughest race imaginable.

20 years at the top is mind boggling. Bernard Lagat seems to be cut from the same cloth.

He is much older than what most of you think. He is around 43/44 and played the "Junior" thing for as long as he could.

Maybe he's really a few years younger than his "official age."

Avocado's Number wrote:

When Haile was interviewed in late 1995, he was asked how old he was. His reply: "24 or 25, I think."

Link?

Then I'll show you one where he laughs at anyone who questions anything other than Apr 18, 1973.

LRC: Fun N' Free Slander! wrote:

I have met Haile, seen him up close, and yes, I think that he is well over 40.

You do realize that if it's written then it's libel, right chief?

Skuj wrote:

Avocado's Number wrote:

When Haile was interviewed in late 1995, he was asked how old he was. His reply: "24 or 25, I think."

Link?

Track

The December 1995 issue of Track & Field News, at page 6.

Not sure, but I'm just surprised they don't still have him in the world juniors. He would fit in well to the team

Nutella1 wrote:

There is a good chance that he doesn't know by 2-3 years. But over 40? Doubt it.

If he doesn´t know his age, why would he automatically be older? He might be younger.

I agree. I helped an athlete in rural kenya get a birth certificate and we just made a guess at his real age, which is around 19. His brothers were planning to list him as 17, not specifically to run as a junior, but because that's what everyone does in Kenya. The athletes I spoke to there seemed to think that Geb is at-least 40, and some suggested that he could be over 50. They said that Rudisha trained for 5-10 years before winning as a junior, and they described Wanjiru as "an old man". I certainly don't believe everything my friends in Kenya say, but it's pretty obvious that changing your age is the norm for athletes in east africa. I could easily go back in five years and get my friend a new birth certificate saying that he is 17 (with a small bribe).

What's age anyway? If he feels like he's 37, so be it.

These threads about his age are idiotic. So he looks older, so what? he trains in the sun just a few degrees north of the equator at 8000-10000 feet.

Look at those pictures from Boston '92, he looks younger than his purported age.

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