Haile Gebrselassie

Athens: Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia is quitting the track. The world will be the poorer for it.

At a press conference here on Friday, the greatest distance runner ever said: “I’m not stopping running, I’m just leaving track. Last Friday was my last track event in international competition. I’d like to move up to marathon. The last two-three years I haven’t performed really well because of the many problems I faced with my Achilles tendon.”

Not that this was an unexpected announcement, but the effect was stunning nevertheless. He was found wanting in the 10,000m, panting for breath on home stretch, not being able to keep up and finally surrendering to the younger breed.

“I was supposed to stop after Sydney (where he won after a major tussle with Paul Tergat). Everybody was asking me then why I didn’t stop, but I wanted to compete in Athens. I haven’t got over the problem yet. I will run when I am healthy. I hope, during the next few weeks I will be fine.”

He said he now targets the marathon record. “It is really difficult because Tergat is really fast and he can improve, but everything is possible and I want to run the marathon in 2008.”

Haile is the uncrowned king in Addis Ababa. His house is really a palace, two flights of staircases reaching the raised foyer from two sides, and a garden to match, Gothic columns make it look very imposing.

In Addis Ababa, Haile has not only invested in real estate — a ten-storey building a 400-seater cinema hall and more with his wife as his business partner.

On the human side, though, he has opened two schools in Assela, where he was born, in Behar Dar, 400km from the capital.

Haile, who was once famously quoted as saying: “We don’t need starters’ guns. Guns are only for killing people (a reference from the fact that even national championships in Ethiopia often have runners lined up and the starter just bellowing ‘go’),” has controlled the international scenario with such aplomb that he has been sad to be considered once in Ethiopia as possible candidate for the Presidentship.

Haile, though, has dismissed these rumours, saying it was a different world and at this point of time he wanted to concentrate on other things, sports oriented.

He still remembers the small things of life. For example, the first time he went to Europe in 1991. He arrived with the team for the World Cross Country and was confused. He could not open windows, and the toilet was so complicated.