Haile Gebrselassie - Middle Career

Middle Career

The next year, 1998, saw Gebrselassie lowering the indoor world records for 2,000 and 3,000 metres, enjoying success outdoors by taking back both the 5,000 and 10,000 metres world records, as well as earning a share in the Golden League jackpot for winning all of his races in the Golden League series that summer. In June 1998, in Hengelo, Netherlands, Gebrselassie set a 10,000 metres world record 26:22.75, breaking Paul Tergat's world record 26:27.85, running evenly paced 13:11/13:11 5K splits.

Just 13 days later, Gebrselassie took on the 5,000 metres mark of Komen in Helsinki, Finland. Croatian pacemaker Branko Zorko took the pace out slowly, hitting 1000 metres in 2:33.91 and dropping out at the mile. Million Wolde and Assefa Mezgebu led Gebrselassie through 2,000 metres in 5:05.62. His pacemakers could not maintain the pace, though, and Gebrselassie was left alone for a difficult solo effort six laps out. Hitting 3,000 metres in 7:38.93, even the British commentators announcing the race counted him out. With four laps to go (8:40.00), Gebrselassie needed a sub-4 minute final 1,600 metres for the record. With one lap to go and in great pain, Gebrselassie took off, recording a final lap of 56.77 seconds and a final 1,600 metres of 3:59.36 (= 4:00.96 mile) to race to a 12:39.36 world record.

In 1999, Gebrselassie starred as himself in the movie Endurance. The film chronicled his quest to win Olympic gold in the 10,000 metres in Atlanta. On the track, he won a 1500/3000 metres double at the World Indoor Track Championships, defended his Outdoor World Track Championships 10,000 metres title, and remained undefeated in all his races (which ranged from the 1,500 up to 10,000 metres).

In 2000, Gebrselassie again won all of his races, ranking first in the world yet again in both the 5,000 and 10,000 metres. At the 2000 Sydney Olympics, he became the third man in history to successfully defend an Olympic 10,000 metres title (after Emil Zátopek and Lasse Virén). The narrow Olympic victory over Kenya's Paul Tergat came down to a blistering final kick, with Tergat's 26.3 second final 200 metres being topped by Gebrselassie's even faster 25.4. The winning margin of victory was only 0.09 seconds, closer than the winning margin in the men's 100 metre dash final.

In 2001, Gebrselassie won the IAAF World half marathon and the bronze medal in the 10,000 metres at the 2001 World Championships in Athletics. In the same year, he also worked with Peter Middlebrook and Abi Masefield he conceptualized the Great Ethiopian Run, which was latterly supported by Brendan Foster, British runner Richard Nerurkar the British ambassador to Ethiopia Myles Wickstead.

On 30 August 2003, Gebrselassie topped the polls when elected as a member of the IAAF Athletes Commission. Also in 2003, at the World Championships in Paris, Gebrselassie was involved in one of the most remarkable 10,000 metres races of all time while gaining a silver medal behind countryman and protégé Kenenisa Bekele. The last half of the 10,000 metres final at the championships was completed in a staggering 12:57.24 (12:57.2 for Bekele and 12:58.8 for Gebrselassie). According to the IAAF, "Not only was this split the fastest closing 5,000 metres in the championships 10,000m (the previous record was 13:12.12, recorded in Atlanta), but it was also the fastest 5,000 metres in a global championships surpassing the 12:58.13 Salah Hissou recorded when he won the 5,000m in Sevilla'99." (This remark remained true until a week later when the World Athletic Championships 5,000 metres medalists (including Bekele) all ran faster than the second 5,000 metres split in the previous week's 10,000 metres.) "The difference between the closing 5,000 metres splits (12:57.24) and the 5,000 metres World record (12:39.36) was 17.98 seconds, which is a record. The previous best of 18.4 seconds (13:31.4 for the closing 5,000 metres when the World Record was 13:13.0) was recorded in the 1976 Olympics."

In the 2004 Athens Olympics, Gebrselassie sought to become the first man in history to win three straight Olympic gold medals in the 10,000 metres. He was unable to do so, however, he finished fifth in a race won by his compatriot Kenenisa Bekele, who had broken both of Gebrselassie's major track world records, the 5,000 metres and the 10,000 metres records. Shortly before the Athens games, Gebrselassie was unable to train for three weeks due to inflammation of his Achilles tendon. The injury was severe enough that he would not have competed otherwise, but did so because of significant pressure from his country. This loss of the final period of training likely cost him a medal.