Haile again! On the way to his 2:03:59 World record in Berlin (© Victah Sailer)
New York, USAHaile Gebrselassie announced his retirement from athletics after dropping out of the ING New York City Marathon today (7).
The 37-year-old Ethiopian, widely regarded as the greatest distance runner of all time, pulled out of the race after 16 miles on the Queensboro Bridge suffering from a swollen right knee and then told a shocked news conference he was quitting the sport after 18 years at the top.
In response to the news, IAAF President Lamine Diack commented:
“Sporting hero, legend, genius! It’s virtually impossible to overstate the stature of Haile Gebrselassie as an athletics superstar, and so it was with great sadness that I received the news of Haile’s sudden retirement due to injury.”
“The multiple World and Olympic champion and World record breaker is widely acknowledged as one of the all-time greats of athletics but for millions around the world he is more than a sporting icon, his generous and warm character providing a perfect example of how to conduct yourself in life with the utmost dignity," concluded President Diack.
After nearly two glittering decades, ‘I think this is the day’
“I have had no discussions with my manager, with anybody else, but I have discussed it with myself and I think it’s better to stop here,” said the tearful World marathon recordholder who was making his New York debut.
“I have never thought about retiring before. But for the first time, now, I think this is the day. Let me stop and do other work; let me do another job. Let me give the youngsters a chance.”
Gebrselassie arrived in New York feeling some tendonitis in his right knee and had an MRI scan on Saturday which revealed a build-up of fluid. The double Olympic 10,000m champion, and favourite to win the 41st New York Marathon, ran with the leaders for 16 miles before pulling up short as the race prepared to passed into Manhattan for the first time.
As his compatriot Gebre Gebremariam went on to win on his Marathon debut in 2:08:14, Gebrselassie headed for the medical tent and a personal decision that will rock the athletics world. [NB: Read the race report here.]
“Of course, I’m a little bit disappointed, disappointed with myself,” he said. “I knew about this problem when I arrived in New York. I thought that it was not serious, but things happen which I can’t change.
“I don’t want to complain anymore after this, which means it’s better to stop here.
“I did really very hard training to win this race. It didn’t work. Each time I have a problem like this it’s hard, and to complain again and again is bad.
“You know how many times I complain? Before I came here I trained so hard. It’s better to stop here.
“I have no complaints. It’s better not to complain anymore.”
An end to one of the sport’s most illustrious careers
At that, his face wet with tears, Gebrselassie limped out of the press conference and away from the sport after an astonishing international career stretching back to 1992 when he won the 5000m and 10,000m at the IAAF World Junior Championships in Seoul.
A glittering array of honours followed, including four IAAF world 10,000m titles, two Olympic victories in 1996 and 2000, and 27 World records or World bests on the track and road at distances ranging from 2000m to the Marathon including, most recently, the first sub-two hour four minute marathon in Berlin 2008.
This is only the second time he has failed to finish a Marathon (the first was in London in 2007), and only the fourth time in 13 races since his debut in 2002 that he has failed to win.
Only six weeks ago he ran 59:33 to win the Great North Run Half Marathon in Tyneside, UK, and said just two days ago that the New York race was the start of his build up to an assault on the Olympic Marathon title in London 2012.
Matthew Brown for the IAAF
