by: LetsRun.com

May 10, 2015

This time it’s official.

Haile Gebrselassie, one of the world’s greatest, if not the greatest distance runner, has retired from competitive running after finishing 16th at the Morrison’s Great Manchester Run on Sunday in 30:05.

Gebrselassie ends his career with 2 Olympic gold medals, 4 outdoor World Championship gold medals, and 27 world records, having set the world records at 5,000m, 10,000m, and the marathon as he led the sport into a new area. Gebrselassie was the best long-distance track runner in the world from 1993 to 2000, and then became a force at the marathon, becoming the first man to break 2:04:00 in the marathon running 2:03:59 at Berlin in 2008.

Gebrselassie was known for his accomplishments on the track and his amazing smile off it as he was one of the sports great ambassadors for two decades.

Article continues below player

Unbelievably, Gebrselassie’s retirement is getting very little coverage. Prior to race a tipster with Ethiopian connections emailed us and said that he believed this tweet to be true:

and that Gebrselassie would retire after the race.

The tipster was right as Reuters has a picture of Gebrselassie finishing Manchester here and says, “During an interview afterwards he announced his retirement.”

A short article does not do enough justice to Gebrselassie’s career, so it’s probably best to let the fans give their thanks to Haile as he has been one of the most popular athletes in the sport for two decades. Share your thoughts here: Thank You Haile: The Great One Haile Gebrselassie has Officially Retired

Five years ago after the ING NYC Marathon, Haile Gebrselassie said he was retiring but he changed his mind and went on to set many master’s world records afterwards.

Gebrselassie’s retirement follows that of Paula Radcliffe last month.

Share your thoughts here: Thank You Haile: The Great One Haile Gebrselassie has Officially Retired

Great Manchester Results (Bernard Lagat broke Haile’s master’s world record, more on that here)