Quotes from Haile Gebrselassie

At the end of the day, people want to see how fast you run.

At the moment I am a little bit politician, yes. I think that could be my next step. It is not because I want power, it is because of what I think I could do for the people.

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

You lose the speed before the stamina.

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.

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

I want to go down in history.

I will always listen to my coaches. But first I listen to my body. If what they tell me suits my body, great. If my body doesn't feel good with what they say, then always my body comes first.

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

The more you are getting older, you lose a little something. Of course there is another advantage, because of your long experience you can use it.

I wanted to experience New York, to look up and see buildings.

Age for me is just a number.

I find the business world hard.

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

I wanted to be famous. I wanted people to talk about me.

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.

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.

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.

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.

I'm lucky. The best possible place in the world for training is Addis Ababa, so I am home all the time except when I am racing. I like to be there, near my family, my kids, also the real estate business I run with my wife.

In the rainy season, sometimes to get to the first lesson we had to run really quick, because we had to cross the river to school and we'd have to go up and down the bank to find a place to cross because there is no bridge.

All athletes need three things: commitment, discipline and hard work. Without that it's hard to keep running.

Once you have commitment, you need the discipline and hard work to get you there.

You need three things to win: discipline, hard work and, before everything maybe, commitment. No one will make it without those three. Sport teaches you that.