Haile Gebrselassie

“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.”

“Why should I say I will retire in three or four years? You retire the very moment you utter those words.”

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

“For me a day without training is like a day without eating.”

“My father didn't think running was sensible. He told me running is just wasting time.”

“When you promise something, you must fulfill it.”

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

“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.”

“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.”

“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.”

“In my life I do a lot of things but I never forget my training.”

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

“I want to avoid injuries by running only road.”

“This hand is not very active always, because it was in this hand that I carried my books. My carrying hand was always my strongest. Now I think my other hand has developed more muscles from signing all those autographs.”

“I haven't done a marathon for a long time. So we'll see. I will need good luck.”

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

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

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

“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.”

“I remember in particular my first victory when I achieved a very fast time in what were perfect conditions but since then the wind has always been a factor against me.”