More about Haile Gebrselassie

I've not given athletics too much thought today but whilst reading a report on the above in the newspaper tonight it just made me realise how lucky we are to be able to see such an incredible athlete. Nearly 40,000 people in the field for the Great North Run, running 40 wide in places, and yet one man aged 37 wins (from some world class athletes, albeit only a few) by 1 minute and 50 seconds.

Cribbing from Widipedia, just look at these records:

World Record and 'World Best' performances

Distance	Mark	Date	Location	Notes
5000 meters	12:56.96	4 June 1994	Hengelo, Netherlands
Two miles	8:07.46	28 May 1995	Kerkrade, Netherlands	Third fastest time ever
10,000 meters	26:43.53	5 June 1995	Hengelo, Netherlands
5,000 meters	12:44.39	16 August 1995	Zurich, Switzerland
5,000 meters	13:10.98	27 January 1996	Sindelfingen, Germany,	indoors
3,000 meters	7:30.72	4 February 1996	Stuttgart, Germany,	indoors
5,000 meters	12:59.04	20 February 1997	Stockholm, Sweden	indoors
Two miles	8:01.08	31 May 1997	Hengelo, Netherlands
10,000 meters	26:31.32	4 July 1997	Oslo, Norway
5,000 meters	12:41.86	13 August 1997	Zurich, Switzerland
3,000 meters	7:26.15	25 January 1998	Karlsruhe, Germany	indoors
2,000 meters	4:52.86	15 February 1998	Birmingham, UK	indoors
10,000 meters	26:22.75	1 June 1998	Hengelo, Netherlands
5,000 meters	12:39.36	13 June 1998	Helsinki, Finland
5,000 meters	12:50.38	14 February 1999	Birmingham, UK	indoors
10 kilometers	27:02	11 December 2002	Doha, Qatar	road race
Two miles	8:04.69	21 February 2003	Birmingham, UK,	indoors
15 kilometers	41:22	4 September 2005	Tilburg, Netherlands	road race, not IAAF-ratified
10 miles	44:24	4 September 2005	Tilburg, Netherlands	road race, world best
20 kilometres	55:48	15 January 2006	Tempe, Arizona, USA	en route to half-marathon
Half marathon	58:55	15 January 2006	Tempe, Arizona, USA
25 kilometers	1:11:37	12 March 2006	Alphen aan den Rijn, Netherlands	road race, not IAAF-ratified – no post-race EPO test
One hour run	21,285 m	27 June 2007	Ostrava, Czech Republic
Marathon	2:04:26	30 September 2007	Berlin, Germany
Marathon	2:03:59	28 September 2008	Berlin, Germany	current world record
30 kilometers	1:27:49	20 September 2009	Berlin, Germany	en route to marathon

And his championship record:

Olympic Games
Gold	2000 Sydney	10000 m
Gold	1996 Atlanta	10000 m
World Championships
Gold	1999 Seville	10000 m
Gold	1997 Athens	10000 m
Gold	1995 Gothenburg	10000 m
Gold	1993 Stuttgart	10000 m
Silver	2003 Paris	10000 m
Silver	1993 Stuttgart	5000 m
Bronze	2001 Edmonton	10000 m
World Indoor Championships
Gold	2003 Birmingham	3000 m
Gold	1999 Maebashi	3000 m
Gold	1999 Maebashi	1500 m
Gold	1997 Paris	3000 m
Cross Country World Championships
Bronze	1994 Budapest	Long race men

If it wasn't for Sir Chris Chataway running 1.51 just four months before his 80th birthday I would say that nobody else's performance came close to his.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chataway