Haile Gebrselassie will keep on running
Haile Gebrselassie today confirmed he has reversed his decision to quit athletics.
The veteran Ethiopian tearfully announced his intention to retire after pulling out of the ING New York Marathon with 10 miles remaining due to a knee injury earlier this month.
The double Olympic gold-medallist, regarded by many as the greatest long-distance runner of all time, hinted via his Twitter account last week he may have been too hasty and needed time to consider his future.
And he confirmed via the same social networking site today that he was going to carry on.
He wrote on Twitter: "First I want to thank you for all your support and great responses. After a few days in the countryside I could take some decisions.
"Running is in my blood and I decided to continue competing. My announcement in New York was my first reaction after a disappointing race.
"When my knee is better again I will start focusing on my next race. Thank you again for all your support."
Gebrselassie's coach Woldemeskel Kostre believes the 37-year-old can compete for another eight years at the top level.
He told L'Equipe: "As long as he has the desire and the willingness he can keep running until he's 45.
"People here have been urging him to continue running."
Gebrselassie battled an impoverished upbringing to grab the attention of the world when won the 10,000 metres at the World Championships in Stuttgart at the age of 20.
Three more victories at the same event, and Olympic gold in Sydney and Atlanta, would cement his claim as one of the leading athletes in the world.
After 2004, Gebrselassie chose to move away from the track to win the Dubai Marathon four times, once in Amsterdam and four times in Berlin, where he broke the world record in 2007 and 2008.
Gebrselassie, who has won more than 130 major races in his career, has developed a successful business career away from running in his homeland.
He owns his own running club, has established a school in Addis Ababa and employs more than 1,000 people in his home city, where he is known as "The Emperor".
