Haile Gebreselassie
Haile Gebreselassie is not the most successful long-distance runner in Ethiopian history. That feat goes to a man who said he looked up to Haile and only went on to do better than Haile – Kenenisa Bekele.
One may even say that although Bekele wins the gold medal count, Haile is more the golden metric by which outsiders and even Ethiopians look at a sport where they are quite spoiled for legends.
This is because Haile was the first Ethiopian to become a truly global sporting icon.
