Career

Haile gained international recognition in 1992 when he won the 5,000 meters and 10,000 meters races at the 1992 Junior World Championships in Seoul, and a silver medal in the junior race at the World Cross Country Championships. The next season, during his first year in the senior ranks, Haile won his first world champion title at Stuttgart in 10,000 meters. He went on to win four consecutive world titles at the same distance in ‘93, ‘95, ’97, and his final title in 1999 at Seville.  In 1995, he continued his dominance on the track by inking world records for both the 5,000 meters and 10,000 meters. During the Atlanta Olympics in 1996, he won the gold medal in 10,000 meters without difficulty, which he successfully defended at the Sydney Olympics in 2000. In 1998, he broke world records in distances of 2,000 meters and 3,000 meters. Haile did not face defeat at competitions in 1999 and 2000, not even at a single race. Haile’s only setback was when he suffered an injury and was not able to train adequately for the Athens Olympics in 2004, thus fell short of winning the Gold Medal for a third consecutive time in Olympics at 10,000 meters. Haile retired from the track and turned his focus on road races and marathons. He was very successful in this as well. He went on to set new records and win marathons around the world in places such as Fukuoka, Berlin, Dubai and Amsterdam. At age of 40, Haile was still able to win races. In April 2013, just before his 40th birthday, Haile won the Vienna Half Marathon in a time of 1 hour one minute. When asked by The Guardian how he manages to retain the enthusiasm to keep training and racing into his 40th year, Haile replied, “There is no secret. I am just always very careful when I am training. All athletes need three things: commitment, discipline, and hard work. Without that it’s hard to keep running for a long time.” His successes have inspired and continue to inspire a generation of Ethiopian athletes who became super champions in the world of athletics, who are dubbed as “The Green Flood.”