Haile

PVincent

Breaking News

He has announced his retirement from professional racing

PVincent

Moments ago at a post-New York City Marathon news conference, a tearful Haile Gebrselassie said he is retiring from running. The marathon world record holder, widely considered to be among the best runners in history, made the announcement to a room full of stunned journalists and took only a few questions before being led from the room.
He walked away with a noticeable limp.
The news followed a painful race for Geb, who dropped out at mile 16 with knee problems.
More details to come soon.

Woddle

His post race interview
http://www.flotrack.org/videos/coverage/view_video/237408-2010-ing-new-york-city-marathon/363913-haile-gebrselassie-announces-retirement-after-nyc

Brianderunner

Farewell to a legend.

Woddle

I was just about to head out the door for a run when I heard, I feel like crying or sth (not really)
He is my hero and always will be, I have a poster of him in front of my treadmill with 2'03'59 on it.
I hope he takes some timeout to reflect and hopefully he changes his mind.

rainbow kirby

End of an era.

Slogger Jogger

rainbow kirby wrote: »

End of an era.

Sad to see him bow out with a DNF. Hope he has a rewarding retirement. Athletics is now all the poorer with him gone from the scene.

A P

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gXuOB-PxxE
and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxuqiM7eW8Q
Thanks for the memories Haile.

donothoponpop

Last 300m vs Tergat in Sydney, slow motion with music, well worth a look.


Greatest runner ever.

Ceepo

Goodbye to a Hero to me and most of us,
Legend out and out.

rovers_runner

Greatest runner ever no doubt, records to beat the band.
He really should have pulled out yesterday if he was in doubt though, next year could have seen him fit and healthy taking to the start.

Abhainn

donothoponpop wrote: »

Greatest runner ever.

The greatest for sure

Ceepo wrote: »

Goodbye to a Hero to me and most of us,
Legend out and out.

A hero for many of us - always

token56

I'm only after seeing this now, completely devestating news. He is an absolutely wonderful person for whom I dont think I could have any more respect.

I actually found it hard to watch the end of his speech. Even in what must be the saddest day of his career he was smiling but you could see how much it meant to him.

His legacy will never be forgotten.

Aimman

Loss of a legend. I was just behind him (ok, maybe twice as slower) when he broke the WR in Berlin. After winning the Great Northern Run recently, I thought he'd have a good crack at taking the NY title too, pity he had to pull out at 16 miles. can happen to the best.

Then again, I'm sure he'll be back doing something soon. I'll send him an email and see if he's intersted in mentoring the 'Sub 2:10 DCM marathon tread' for 2011

Cool Running

A P wrote: »

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gXuOB-PxxE
and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxuqiM7eW8Q
Thanks for the memories Haile.

Now that was some finish to a race. EPIC


Sad to see him retire

TheRoadRunner

A bit of perspective lads he's only retiring he hasn't died ! Nobody can go on forever.

shels4ever

Sad to see him finsh but at 37 not a shock. Once your not in sub 2:04 marathon shape anymore you might as well pack it in..

runningcoach

He was the complete champion in my eyes . He had the talent to achieve in his races and the humanity to live gracefully outside his sporting arena.

G-Money

Woddle wrote: »

I have a poster of him in front of my treadmill with 2'03'59 on it.

Where can I haz one?


Sad to hear he has retired. Is his injury that serious that he can't get it sorted? I was hoping to see him run the marathon at the 2012 Olympics.


I particularly like these two clips, especially the end of part 2. The commentator is fantastic, along with the crowd roaring. Very motivational. Love the look on Haile's face on the last lap as he puts the hammer down.

Part 1

Part 2

ronanmac

Maybe he's not retired yet!

GEBRSELASSIE CASTS DOUBT ON RETIREMENT PLANS
By Paul Hirst, Press Association Sport
Marathon world record-holder Haile Gebrselassie appears to be re-considering his decision to retire from athletics.
The 37-year-old tearfully announced his retirement from the sport after pulling out of Sunday's ING New York Marathon with 10 miles remaining due to a knee injury.
The double Olympic gold medallist, regarded by many as the greatest long-distance runner of all time, was adamant that the time was right to call time on his career, telling a press conference: "I'm not going to run anymore. It's better to stop here."
The Ethiopian made the decision without consulting any of his coaching staff - and hinted that he be about to make a dramatic u-turn after posting two messages on Twitter today.
"What a disappointing weekend, I didn't plan to come back to Ethiopia this way. I wanted to succeed in New York," Gebrselassie wrote after returning to his homeland.
"Now it is time for me to think about a lot of things," he continued.
"I still love running. I will always run. Just give me some time to think things over."
Compatriot Gebre Gebremariam, who won the men's race in New York in a time of two hours, eight minutes and 14 seconds, thinks Gebrselassie made the decision in the heat of the moment and is confident that he will race again.
He said: "When I get back home I will start to speak to him to try to make him think again. He has to run two or three more races. I think he will change his mind.
"Haile is the king of athletics. He decided... after getting the injury. I think he was very emotional at that time."
Lord Coe, a double Olympic champion himself, led the tributes to Gebrselassie yesterday, saying: "We will wait a long time before an athlete dominates over so many distances and across such an extraordinary time period as Haile Gebrselassie has done.
"The litmus test for a successful athlete is longevity at the very highest level and he had that in abundance.
"There is nothing he couldn't do - and he did it with style. I believe he is the greatest athlete of the last 50 years and arguably the best of all time."

rovers_runner

The dream is still alive so.......

Sammy vs. Haile - Berlin 2011 or London 2012?

Pherekydes

rovers_runner wrote: »

The dream is still alive so.......

Sammy vs. Haile - Berlin 2011 or London 2012?

Don't forget the chap who won on Sunday in his debut. He finally looks to have found his ideal event. Race directors will be falling over themselves to sign him up.

shels4ever

In 2 years time Haile will be almost 40 so if he were to pull of a 2012 victory he would be the greatest ever. Sammy will be in his prime then too and who know who else will pop up over the next 12/18 months

rovers_runner

Can see Kebede improving further too over time.
He has already ran 2:05 three times in the space of 12 months....

ecoli

Lads Geb or Wanjiru running the OG is very unlikely fact of the matter is there is too much money to be lost for the likes of these guys. Geb opted to run the 10k over the marathon in Beijing. Wanjiru is making too much money between the appearance fees of big city marathons and the world Majors(which he won 500,000 for as recently as monday).
The days of a the OG being the pinnacle of marathon running are long gone. No doubt you will get top class talent in them but many will opted not to do them whether they are aiming for records and using pace makers or commanding a hefty appearance fee. Marathon running has become financially viable for many distance runners which is part of the attraction in recent times

fiddy3

ecoli wrote: »

Lads Geb or Wanjiru running the OG is very unlikely fact of the matter is there is too much money to be lost for the likes of these guys. Geb opted to run the 10k over the marathon in Beijing. Wanjiru is making too much money between the appearance fees of big city marathons and the world Majors(which he won 500,000 for as recently as monday).
The days of a the OG being the pinnacle of marathon running are long gone. No doubt you will get top class talent in them but many will opted not to do them whether they are aiming for records and using pace makers or commanding a hefty appearance fee. Marathon running has become financially viable for many distance runners which is part of the attraction in recent times

Doubt that, and I think Haile and Wanjiru will be in London if they're still running. They're both already multi-millionaires, and I've no doubt the Olympic gold (albeit their second/third one) would outweigh any payday for either of them. I'm sure Radcliffe and Tergat would also swap their world record runs and any of their marathon wins/paydays for an olympic marathon gold in a heartbeat.

ecoli

fiddy3 wrote: »

Doubt that, and I think Haile and Wanjiru will be in London if they're still running. They're both already multi-millionaires, and I've no doubt the Olympic gold (albeit their second/third one) would outweigh any payday for either of them. I'm sure Radcliffe and Tergat would also swap their world record runs and any of their marathon wins/paydays for an olympic marathon gold in a heartbeat.

Look at 2008 Geb pulls out of OG marathon citing pollution as issue only to run the 10000m instead. 1 month later ran Berlin Marathon.

fiddy3

ecoli wrote: »

Look at 2008 Geb pulls out of OG marathon citing pollution as issue only to run the 10000m instead. 1 month later ran Berlin Marathon.

He did cite pollution as the reason for it though, with his allergy problems being well documented beforehand in London marathon. Fair enough it's suspicious that he then runs the 10k. There's no way Wanjiru will dodge London though, defending his Olympic title will secure his legacy (not to mention his financial leverage in the future) and make him probably the best marathoner in history. I think beijing and athens worried a lot of people due to ridiculous temperatures/pollution to run a marathon in, and that won't be the case in london. Feel free to bump this thread and hurl abuse at me in august 2012 if I'm wrong though.

ecoli

fiddy3 wrote: »

He did cite pollution as the reason for it though, with his allergy problems being well documented beforehand in London marathon. Fair enough it's suspicious that he then runs the 10k. There's no way Wanjiru will dodge London though, defending his Olympic title will secure his legacy (not to mention his financial leverage in the future) and make him probably the best marathoner in history. I think beijing and athens worried a lot of people due to ridiculous temperatures/pollution to run a marathon in, and that won't be the case in london. Feel free to bump this thread and hurl abuse at me in august 2012 if I'm wrong though.

Dont worry i am just playing the devils advocate today (didnt get my morning coffee:D). I can see where you are coming from regarding Wanjiru but i think the fact is with or without another OG he will be able to command appearance fees from any marathon in the world (especially if Geb does retire though reports from him now that he has time to reflect we could well see him make a U turn)

pgmcpq

TheRoadRunner wrote: »

A bit of perspective lads he's only retiring he hasn't died ! Nobody can go on forever.

Yes, but I think we'd all like to see him go out on top ... not having dropped out of a race. NY has not been kind to him the last two years - he dropped out of the NY HM last year after an asthma attack.

G-Money

donothoponpop wrote: »

Last 300m vs Tergat in Sydney, slow motion with music, well worth a look.


Greatest runner ever.

There's something about that clip, the start of it I mean. The slow motion running with the camera following them. They look so graceful or something, it's very relaxing to watch.

donothoponpop

ecoli wrote: »

Lads Geb or Wanjiru running the OG is very unlikely fact of the matter is there is too much money to be lost for the likes of these guys. Geb opted to run the 10k over the marathon in Beijing. Wanjiru is making too much money between the appearance fees of big city marathons and the world Majors(which he won 500,000 for as recently as monday).
The days of a the OG being the pinnacle of marathon running are long gone. No doubt you will get top class talent in them but many will opted not to do them whether they are aiming for records and using pace makers or commanding a hefty appearance fee. Marathon running has become financially viable for many distance runners which is part of the attraction in recent times

Skip to 4:25 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gXuOB-PxxE . Fingers crossed!

ecoli

Looks like he is making a U turn according to this site:

http://www.diretube.com/breaking-news/haile-gebrselassie-will-run-for-london-2012-olympic-announced-today-video_e77dccde4.html

ronnie085

ecoli wrote: »

Looks like he is making a U turn according to this site:

http://www.diretube.com/breaking-news/haile-gebrselassie-will-run-for-london-2012-olympic-announced-today-video_e77dccde4.html

+1 Just seen it on sky sports news

christeb

straight from the horses mouth - http://twitter.com/#!/HaileGebr

Sosa

Haile

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/athletics/9190495.stm

G-Money

I don't know if this makes me a sad case, but with all the talk of austerity, draconian budgets, bail-outs, the news of Haile reversing his decision has made me feel like there's some sunshine peaking through the dark clouds...

Slogger Jogger

Great news. We're all human so. I've crossed the line on a few marathons and said never again . Never make a decision in the aftermath of a marathon is the lesson I suppose.