Haile Gebrselassie is a man known for his competitive ethos and his never-say-die attitude not only to his sport but to life. Not surprisingly, it caught many by surprise when he announced two weeks ago that he was pulling the plug on a decorated career, following 22 years in international distance running.
"I never thought about retiring," Haile said at a brief news conference after the race in New York. "Yet, for the first time, this is the day. Let me stop and do other works after this. I don’t want to complain anymore after this, which means it is better to stop here."
With the athletics world still in shock after his retirement and plaudits ringing from all corners of the globe, Haile then made another surprising announcement on Sunday, November 14, 2010, when he declared in front of thousands in Nekemte, Oromia Regional State, that he would return to competition.
"I have come to realise how much people respect me and how much my running means to the people of Ethiopia," he said on Friday, November 19, at a prerace press conference to mark the 10th anniversary of the Great Ethiopian Run. "The way I stopped was wrong. I believe that. The way I said I would stop running was emotional."
Haile has also rather vehemently denied the validity of a story published in The New York Times quoting his agent as saying that "his emotional decision to retire might have stemmed in part from political pressure he was feeling in Ethiopia. His phone has been tapped by government officials and he has faced some sort of blackmail attempt."
"I do not know why they wrote that, but it is not true," he told the state television station. "The only pressure I know of was from the public; the comments that the way I stopped is wrong."
However, The New York Times stands firm on the validity of the story.
"Jeré [Longman, the reporter] got it right," said Tom Connelly, assistant to The New York Times sport editor. "He spoke with Haile’s agent and that is what he was told. We have no reason to present this in any other way."
With the saga of the last two weeks drawn to a close, Haile can now look back on a lucrative 2010 season and kick-start his hunt for more honours with the Tokyo Marathon in February 2011. He started this year [2010] in Trier, Germany, when winning an eight-kilometre New Year’s race, an event which he used as a preparation for the Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon, in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
He won his third consecutive title in Dubai, clocking 2:06.09, and earned 250,000 dollars in prize money and a reported 300,000 dollars in appearance fees from organisers. His form wobbled a bit during the year when finishing second to Sammy Kitwara from Kenya in the Den Haag Half Marathon to before bouncing back in September to win the Great North Run Half Marathon in his fastest time in the event in three years, and earned a winner’s cheque of 50,000 dollars.
It took a momentous effort from organisers to convince Haile to drop his fast time chasing marathon career for the more competitive New York City Marathon this month.
The effort came in the form of Mary Wittenberg, New York Road Runners President, attending the inauguration of his new hotel resort, "Haile Resort" in Hawassa (Awassa) in May 2010. In addition, he was offered a reported appearance fee of 400,000 dollars on top of a winner’s prize of 180,000 dollars as well as time bonuses which would have brought his gross earnings from racing for the year to more than one million dollars (16.6 million Br).
Haile was not victorious in New York, dropping out after 25.7km and thus losing a lucrative winner’s prize and time bonus which instead went to his compatriot, Gebregziabher Gebremariam.
However, his management’s shrewd move of concluding negotiations with organisers of the Tokyo Marathon and announcing his involvement days before New York, means the dropout will have no repercussions on Haile’s earning potential in 2011.
Haile’s increased earning potential on the road circuit this year has been coupled with endorsements as well.
Last year, he continued his long-term commercial relationships with kit manufacturer, Adidas. He also took up a role as a paid ambassador for security company G4S, in its campaign, "G4S 4teen," an innovative sports programme to support a group of aspiring young athletes from around the world.
"Haile remains a G4S sporting ambassador and mentor to the G4S 4teen athletes," said Ben Faher, an account director with Fast Track, the agency in charge of managing the G4S 4teen account for G4S. "There are no changes to G4S’s relationship with Haile."
Now that he has returned to competition, Haile is also expected to increase his endorsement earnings in the lead up to the London 2012 Summer Olympic Games, an event during which many expect him to bow out from competition.
Haile’s command of English, his convivial personality, and his familiarity with United Kingdom (UK) spectators makes him a must pick for endorsement opportunities.
Growing Domestic Empire and Influence
However, thinking Haile is only an athlete who trains for and wins races is parochial and grossly underestimates his growing influence in business and in Ethiopian society. A more complete picture can be found in looking at the superstar as a one-man social and economic machine where athletics acts as the glue which binds together a fantastically maintained public image of a businessman, celebrity spokesperson, national elder, and community organiser.
As part of his company, HaileAlem International, he owns three commercial buildings in Addis Abeba (Alem I and II and Eden), one in Bahir Dar, and another in Assela; two schools in Assela and Bahir Dar; a cinema, and a fitness centre. He also owns Marathon Motor Engineering, the official importer and distributor of Hyundai, with visions of setting up an assembly plant for Hyundai vehicles in Ethiopia.
He also added "Haile Resort" in Hawassa, a low-rise resort style hotel in Southern Ethiopia, to his portfolio this year and is set to expand his real estate business to include the construction of medium cost housing.
At 37, Haile is not getting any younger and is increasingly prone to injuries as evidenced by his dropping out of the New York Marathon. Conversely, a young group of marathon runners in Ethiopia, including Tsegaye Kebede, Feyisa Lelisa, Bezu Worku, and Getu Feleke are improving their times. All four have run faster than him in 2010.
His age is not the only factor counting against him.
By reversing his decision to retire, Haile has put himself in a risky position where he could end up not even qualifying for the London Olympics. Yet, many of his fans and athletes consider him winning a medal there, the perfect send-off.
However, is Haile even guaranteed a place on the national team for the quadrennial games?
Traditional procedures for selecting the Ethiopian marathon team for major championships rely on a combination of fast times and a track record of competing against other top class marathon runners. On the second count, Haile’s track record reads: seven marathon victories, six paced, one victory in 2008 in Fukuoka, Japan against Morocco’s Jaouad Gharib, the 2003 and 2005 world champion, and two drop-outs in his only two competitive marathons in London (2007) and New York (2010).
With nearly 20 months before selectors finalise their decision for the London Games, Haile will need to pull together all his experience from more than 20 years of distance running to convince selectors of his worth. He needs a sub 2:05 to guarantee himself a place in the preliminary selection and also compete in and win a competitive marathon to prove that he can handle the tactical nature of major championship races. He needs to do all this while maintaining a clean bill of health, running a major business empire, and, most importantly, managing the huge expectations after his return.
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