Childhood

Haile Gebreselassie was born as one of the ten children from his father Gebreselassie Bekele and his mother Ayelech Degefu on 18 April 1973 in the Arsi Province of Ethiopia. He used to run about 20 kilometers everyday, 10 kilometers to school in the morning and the same distance back in the evening. Haile’s first race was a 1,500 meters race at his school. Although he was younger than the other competitors, he dashed quickly and managed to win the race. His victory made him to realize his potentials and encouraged him to focus on sharpening his running talent. His talent did not go unnoticed. He was invited to participate in competitions by the Ethiopian national athletics team. The rest is history.