Haile Gebrselassie (Amharic: ኀይሌ ገብረ ሥላሴ, romanized: Haylē Gebre Silassē; born 18 April 1973) is an Ethiopian former long-distance track, road running athlete, and businessman.

As a child growing up on a farm, he used to run ten kilometres to school every morning, and the same distance back every evening.

[16] In 1992, Haile gained international recognition in Seoul, South Korea, when he won the 5000-metre and 10,000-metre races at the 1992 World Junior Championships and a silver medal in the junior race at the World Cross Country Championships held in Boston, the United States.

His win in 1993 was however his most infamous as he accidentally stepped on the heel of Moses Tanui's shoe at the bell, causing it to fly off his foot.

After the contact, with just one shoe, an angered Tanui moved out to a 10-meter lead, only to have Haile run him down on the final straight.

That same summer, in Zürich, Switzerland, Haile ran the 5000 metres in 12:44.39, taking 10.91 seconds off the world record 12:55.30 (established by Kenya's Moses Kiptanui earlier in the year).

This world record at the Weltklasse meet in Zürich was voted "Performance of the Year" for 1995 by Track & Field News magazine.

At the same Weltklasse meet in Zürich in 1996, an exhausted Haile, suffering from blisters obtained on the hard track in Atlanta (where he had won the Olympic 10,000 metres gold), had no answer to the 58-second lap of Daniel Komen with five laps to go as Komen went on to win and just miss Haile's record, finishing in 12:45.09.

[18] The next year, 1998, saw Haile lowering the indoor world records for 2000 and 3000 metres, enjoying success outdoors by taking back both the 5000 and 10,000 metres world records, as well as earning a share in the Golden League jackpot for winning all of his races in the Golden League series that summer.

Also in 2003, at the World Championships in Paris, Haile was involved in one of the most remarkable 10,000 metres races of all time while gaining a silver medal behind countryman Kenenisa Bekele.

Shortly before the Athens games, Haile was unable to train for three weeks due to inflammation of his Achilles tendon.

He was unable to hold it, however, as world record holders Khalid Khannouchi and Paul Tergat both eventually passed him.

That year also marked another victory for Haile as he shattered the 25 km world road record (albeit in non-IAAF ratified fashion) by 68 seconds in a time of 1:11.37.

On 23 April 2006, he finished ninth in the London Marathon with a time of 2:09:05 (the race was won by Kenyan Felix Limo, who clocked 2:06:39).

[25] However Haile dropped out at the 18-mile (29 km) stage complaining of a stitch and inability to breathe, which turned out to be an allergic reaction to the pollen in the air.

[26] Then, on 27 June 2007, Haile launched an attack upon the world record for the one hour run, in Ostrava, Czech Republic.

However the early pace had been too fast and he was unable to continue at that speed, resulting in a time 27 seconds short of his world record.

[29] At the Hengelo FBK-Games on 24 May, Haile ran 26:51.20 for the 10,000 metres to finish a close second behind countryman Sileshi Sihine's 26:50.53.

[32] The following month, on 28 September 2008, he defended his Berlin Marathon title, averaging 2:56.5 per kilometer (4:43.7 per mile) for a time of 2:03:59, breaking his own world record by 27 seconds.

Haile won the Dubai Marathon on 16 January 2009 but fell short of breaking his own world record that he had set four months earlier on the flat course.

He attempted to break the world record he had set the previous year but, despite a quick start, warm conditions saw him finish in 2:06:08, two minutes away from his best mark.

In a post-race interview, Haile revealed that he had suffered back pain, requiring intensive pre-race physiotherapy, resulting from having slept in a bad position.

[38] On 7 November, after dropping out of the 2010 New York City Marathon with an inflamed knee, Haile announced his retirement.

[39][40][41] Days later, he posted to his Twitter account that he was reconsidering his decision and wanted to run in the 2012 London Olympics.

[44] About a month later Haile easily won the Great Manchester Run in England for the fourth time, finishing in 28:10.

[37] In 2012, Haile ran in the Tokyo Marathon and, after surging to the lead and putting a gap on the field with 6 km to go, faded and finished in 4th, in a time of 2:08:17.

[45] He attempted to earn an Olympic spot at the Fanny Blankers-Koen Games in Hengelo, the stadium in which he had broken four world records.

However, in extremely hot weather he finished seventh with a time of 27:20.39, sixth amongst Ethiopians, and did not qualify for the 2012 Summer Olympics.

[49] Haile Gebrselassie ventured into an entrepreneurship career in 1995, investing earnings from his sporting achievements that led to establishing companies.

He recently inaugurated the Grand Haile Resort in Addis Ababa[50] headquartered in Lam Beret.