Flash chat with the Great Haile Gebrselassie

© 2008 The Runner's Tribe, all rights reserved.

To say that Haile Gebrselassie’s world runs a little faster than most could be the understatement of the year, it seems all eyes in running are constantly fixed on the tiny Ethiopian great. We catch up with Haile just days before his Beijing Olympic 10,000m showdown with Kekenisa Bekele.

RunnersTribe: Haile, thanks for your time. Much has been reported about the state of your Achillies heel. How is your Achilles now and have you needed to prepare for the Olympic 10,000m differently?

HG: Everything is fine, I only missed one week of serious training, 6 weeks ago. I am as ready as possible for Beijing 10.000m

RT: Your schedule for the months following Beijing includes the Berlin Marathon on the 28th of September and the Great Australian Run in Melbourne on November 30th , against hometown favourite Craig Mottram. Are there any other races planned in between?

HG: No, this is the schedule for the moment, as I need preparation for Berlin and after Berlin I need enough recuperation.

RT: Winning an Olympic marathon gold is pretty much the only thing you have yet to accomplish, is it your plan to keep training in order to race the London 2012 marathon?

HG: Yes! I still feel very healthy, very strong and highly motivated.

RT: You have said in the past that the Sydney Olympic 10,000m final was one of the highlights for you. How does this race compare to your World Marathon record?

HG: My gold medal in Sydney and the marathon world record are two different things. For a world record, you can be more flexible to run when you are ready and you have more opportunities. For the Olympics, you have to be in perfect shape at that specific day. It took a lot of effort to win in Sydney. During the Berlin marathon I always felt in control to break the record.

Sydney Olympics 10,000m - Geb Snatches Gold

RT: You have had so many fierce rivals over the years, Paul Tergat from Kenya being one of them. Looking back do you view him as having been your toughest competitor?

HG: Yes, I respect Paul very much as an athlete and human being and we had great fights. Sometimes I feel sorry we were from the same generation, because Paul is such an extraordinary runner and person.

RT: The possibility of you getting involved in politics after your elite running days are over has been raised before. Is this something that you see yourself pursuing in order to help improve Ethiopia's widespread poverty?

HG: I will do anything possible for my country. I would like to make my country develop and grow and help with giving a better future for the people in Ethiopia. However it is unsure in what form this will happen, but I like to do everything to help my country and my people.