Quotes By Haile Gebrselassie

Athletes have to be confident and I am thinking like that.

I have to change a lot of things before I become a good marathon runner.

Many people know that Ethiopia is poor. When I break a world record, maybe people get to know something else about Ethiopia, something good. We can't make planes or cars, we don't have the materials. We do what we can.

I'm never satisfied.

I always tell young athletes the same thing, 'Wherever you go, whatever you do, what must your top priority be? Running.'

When I had no shoes I was comfortable - I used to run barefoot. When I wore shoes it was difficult. To run in shoes was ok, but at the beginning of my career it was hard.

In the marathon a crazy athlete can just keep pushing from the beginning, at a championship you don't need a time just to win the race.

When I run in Ethiopia, I look out and see eucalyptus trees and rivers.

This is what I wanted. They tell me that London is the best field in history. I wanted to be part of that. Because everyone will be there it will be a wonderful challenge for me. You can see the best runners, how they look, how they run. For me to beat the best is what counts.

Life is a kind of struggle. Life is a sort of fight.

I find the business world hard.

You know the marathon in my country is just exceptional. It's like soccer in England. If England win the world cup and Ethiopia win the marathon - it's the same.

When you run the marathon, you run against the distance, not against the other runners and not against the time.

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.

The marathon always starts after 30K. That's where the problems start. You start without any problems, without any pain. All the pain comes after 30K. Sometimes, it's possible to have pain even in the finger.

You know for me when I promise something I want to deliver. If you don't, you have to disappear.

Some people start a sport just to reduce weight, or some say, 'My doctor ordered me to run and do exercise', and for others, they run for completely different benefits. But it is not like that with sport. We need to eat, we need to rest, but also we need to run.

When I wake up at 5 in the morning is it just to jog? Definitely not, I give it all of my efforts.

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.

Since I achieved something, running has exploded in my country. For me sometimes it is difficult even to know who the athletes are who are competing at the highest level. There are thousands.

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

Schooling is so important.

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

What can you do if a part of it is uphill? You can't work out another route. You've just got to run the one they give you. But they tell me London is a nice course. Even the cobbles, I hope, are not very much of a problem for me.

Always, if you win mentally, you can win physically as well.

Athletics is in my blood.

That is not enough. Sport has been great for me, a great learning place that if you want to achieve you can, even if you are from the poorest part of Africa.

Eradicate poverty. This is all that matters in my country. When I am out training I think about this a lot; when I am running it is going over in my mind. As a country we cannot move forward until we eradicate poverty.

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.