Haile Gebrselassie Appreciation Thread

I don't think he'll stay retired long. I think he was incredibly disappointed and some doubt crept it. The fact is that he ran 59:30 half just a few weeks ago during a marathon build up. He has plenty left in the tank, and time back home will bring things back into focus for him.

I was looking at his IAAF profile, and some things jumped out at me: 9 years in a row running sub 13 for 5000, and ran sub 27 thirteen years apart!

A great man, and an inspiration to everyone in our sport. Thanks for all the memories, Haile.

Remember when Gretsky, Jordan, and Elway all retired in the same year? All greats in their respective sports?

Geb retiring this year. This is similar to any one of them leaving. Truly a legend. I don't like calling any runner or any athlete in a sport a GOAT because it's hard to compare eras, but this has been the Geb era. I would like to see Bekele come back from his injury and move up to the marathon of course. But Geb set precedents in this sport that are amazing. The raw speed and the range that he had are great. He was an asset to this sport and nobody can dispute that.

Only Haile could get NBC to show an entire Olympic 10000 live. Great ambassador of the sport,great humanitarian/giver back in Ethiopia,greatest runner. It would be sad to finish this way but if this is it he has plenty of other stuff on his plate- likely future president of ethiopia for instance.

I remember that - 10K live on the track without a single commercial. I am not sure when we will ever see that again on national broadcast TV, considering we sometimes don't even manage to get an entire 1500m without interruption.

If naming one's child isn't enough (daughter Haillee) not certain how much more a compliment one could make :-)

I need only add that watching his announcement today brings tears to my eyes.

I believe Kenny Bekele will achieve a similar level as Geb, he has many years ahead of him to do so, but that does not replace the admiration myself and obviously many more have built for this man.

No complaints, really. It's better not to complain anymore.

A great man.

You inspire more than just the people back home Haile.

You have done so much for the sport and so much for your country.

Haile's the greatest ever!

GOAT....greatest of all time. We'll miss you, sir.

Geb is truly a legend in his own time.

a few thoughts (if it's really true):

truly a giant of a man- when EVERY SINGLE PERSON in your country know's you by sight....wow. I'll never forget being about three miles deep in the Entoto forest, with him and two other guys and we pass a little boy (maybe 5-6 yrs) carrying a stick and following some sheep/goats?....the little boy looks up and says "haile, haile!!!" burned into my mind...

an incredibly gracious host...who else would drive out of their way to pick up some random firenge (white guy) at 6am every day for training...and let me use his gym for free....show me around town...that would be like michael jordan just taking some random kid under his wing....doesn't happen. class act he is and always will be.

Selfless. truly gives back to his country. everywhere in his country you see his buildings, business', etc. He's at work by 9am, not done until 4-5pm (i can vouch for that with my own eyes...amazing to think he ran WR's with that kind of work sched!), and doesn't do it to put money in his pocket, he does it so he can employ more and more ppl. that's his whole goal is to employ as many people as possible....talk about altruistic. probably the only person I can honestly call a "hero" to me....

there will never be another like him.

cheers, dude-

I will never forget Sydney 10,000m

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkbazvD055o

12:44.39

If he never ran again after dropping the 5,000 record from 12:55 to 12:44 in that one race, he would have remained a running legend. My brain couldn't process the time. Sub 13 was still a great barrier to the elite of the time. There had to be a mistake.

Think about Bob Beamon. He had that one jump over 50 years ago and we all know him.

But Gebrselassie did a little more than just that 12:44.

In fact, Gebrselassis's career is so great that when you see a summary of his career, that 12:44 is not even likely to be be mentioned.

Really shocked out of my mind yesterday. One of the most shocking things to hear of Geb's retirement. I really hope this is too bad to be true.

Finally something everyone here can agree on. He was a great athlete and more importantly a great person. He is living a great life. I wish the best for him.

bekele>>>geb

Bad quality but still a great video.