Haile Gebrselassie (Ethiopia)
Haile was born in Ethiopia on April 18, 1973, and retired from active sports in May 2015. The retired track and road long-distance running athlete won 2 Olympic gold medals and 4 World Championship titles – all in the 10,000 meters race. He participated in different Olympic Games, World Championships, World Cross Country Championships, World Indoor Championships, and African Championships, winning 16 medals (10 gold, 3 silver, and 3 bronze).
He came to the limelight at the 1992 World Junior Championship in Seoul, South Korea, where he won the 5,000m and 10,000m races.
Haile set 27 world records and broke 61 Ethiopian national records. In September 2008, he won the Berlin Marathon at age 35 with a world record time of 2:03:59, setting aside his previous world record by 27 seconds. His record was set aside three years later by another Ethiopian, Kenenisa Bekee, with a record time of 2:01:41 at the age of 37.
