Quotes By Haile Gebrselassie

He was not a runner, my father, but he was quick. I always remember it was very difficult to escape from him when he was angry. If he wanted to beat us he would always catch us. Even me, he could always catch me.

If I don't train enough, of course I'm nervous.

You lose the speed before the stamina.

I was the kind of child who worked hard every day with the cows and sheep - I was a very aggressive boy.

At the end of the day, people want to see how fast you run.

I remember in particular my first victory when I achieved a very fast time in what were perfect conditions but since then the wind has always been a factor against me.

It is not my duty to spend my money in my country, but it is what I want to do. There is nowhere else I would like to invest.

I feel a social responsibility. We need to open people's eyes. There is a lack of education in Ethiopia.

I haven't done a marathon for a long time. So we'll see. I will need good luck.

I wanted to be famous. I wanted people to talk about me.

In the rainy season, sometimes to get to the first lesson we had to run really quick, because we had to cross the river to school and we'd have to go up and down the bank to find a place to cross because there is no bridge.

If your body is damaged, wounded, it can be fixed, but if inside, mentally, you are wounded you cannot fix it, it's hard.

I think if you come first with a new world record, that is the best.

I will always listen to my coaches. But first I listen to my body. If what they tell me suits my body, great. If my body doesn't feel good with what they say, then always my body comes first.

I love running and I will always run.

For me a day without training is like a day without eating.

What is important is to win.

I want to go down in history.

You must do as your people do. If my people are poor, I must be poor. People ask me, 'Why don't you find a personal coach or a private car?' I can't. Then I won't be part of my people.

Why should I say I will retire in three or four years? You retire the very moment you utter those words.

In my life I do a lot of things but I never forget my training.

This hand is not very active always, because it was in this hand that I carried my books. My carrying hand was always my strongest. Now I think my other hand has developed more muscles from signing all those autographs.

I have seen things few of my countrymen have. The first time I went on an aeroplane I couldn't work out how the lavatories worked up in the sky.

You know, I want to help my country. Definitely I can help them, simply by winning races. Sure, they can follow my path to a good career. But for me it is not enough. I want to be more than that. In everything I want to be a role model.

My father thought sport was something fun - he didn't know it was a way to make money. Then I won a Mercedes at the world championships and I gave it to him. From the moment it arrived my father said: 'Good, you can support not just yourself but me too'.

I'm a runner first before anything else.

Once you have commitment, you need the discipline and hard work to get you there.

My father didn't think running was sensible. He told me running is just wasting time.

I wanted to experience New York, to look up and see buildings.

I used to run to school, 10k every day. And this at altitude, perfect preparation, really.