Following DNF In NYC Marathon, Haile Gebrselassie, History’s Greatest Distance Runner, Announces Retirement

Haile Gebrselassie tweeted Sunday morning that he was suffering from inflammation in his right knee “because of the long travel to NY city,” saying that it wasn’t a real issue, it was “just some fluids,” adding “Hopefully the knee holds!”

Unfortunately, the knee did not hold, and Gebrselassie was forced to withdraw from the 2010 New York City Marathon at Mile 16, on the Queensboro Bridge. And then, the Ethiopian shocked everyone. In his post-race press conference, Gebrselassie, considered to be the greatest distance runner ever, announced his retirement. “I don’t want to complain anymore after this ... which means it’s better to stop here.”

It was such a subtle way to end his career that began in 1993 that those in attendance were not sure what had just happened at first.

Someone said, “Are you saying that you are retiring?”

“Yes,” Geb said simply.

Many of us who have had to lose our running know the moment when it happened. And only too often it ends with a whimper, not in the acclamation of the stadium or the finish line - in Haile’s case a knee that finally became too painful to run on, on (of all places for an iconic African) the down slope of Queensboro Bridge - the one place on this course where there are no crowds.

Gebrselassie, 37, retires having won two Olympic gold medals (1996, 2000) and four World Championship titles (1993, ‘95, ‘97, ‘99) in the 10,000m. He won the Berlin Marathon four times in a row, and also had three straight wins at the Dubai Marathon.