Haile Gebrselassie Quotes


You must do as your people do. If my people are poor, I must be poor. People ask me, 'Why don't you find a personal coach or a private car?' I can't. Then I won't be part of my people.


Citations

Denison, Jim. The Greatest: The Haile Gebrselassie Story. Breakaway Books, 2004.

Related Quotes

What makes this quotation so noteworthy is that it not only demonstrates good leadership in a poor country, but it is one of the very few examples of poor countries where the leaders have given up their own creature comforts, conveniences, perks and status symbols.


Haile Gebrselassie
Haile Gebrselassie
  • Born: April 18, 1973
  • Nationality: Ethiopian
  • Profession: Activist

Haile Gebrselassie is a retired Ethiopian long-distance track and road running athlete. He won two Olympic gold medals over 10,000 metres and four World Championship titles in the event. He won the Berlin Marathon four times consecutively and also had three straight wins at the Dubai Marathon. Further to this, he won four world titles indoors and was the 2001 World Half Marathon Champion.