112 Quotes by Haile Gebrselassie

I have seen things few of my countrymen have. The first time I went on an aeroplane I couldn't work out how the lavatories worked up in the sky.

When we race in London a world record will be the last thing on our minds.

This hand is not very active always, because it was in this hand that I carried my books. My carrying hand was always my strongest. Now I think my other hand has developed more muscles from signing all those autographs.

This is what I wanted. They tell me that London is the best field in history. I wanted to be part of that. Because everyone will be there it will be a wonderful challenge for me. You can see the best runners, how they look, how they run. For me to beat the best is what counts.

You know, I want to help my country. Definitely I can help them, simply by winning races. Sure, they can follow my path to a good career. But for me it is not enough. I want to be more than that. In everything I want to be a role model.

At the moment I am a little bit politician, yes. I think that could be my next step. It is not because I want power, it is because of what I think I could do for the people.

I can learn a lot from Paul. I need him to get his opinions. There are other good runners ? the Olympic and world champion and the London Marathon winner ? but with Paul there, it's good for us.

I am still chasing the world record but London will certainly not be the place.

That was our plan. We didn't expect the first part of the race to be fast. Our plan was for the second part. My plan was to run under 59 minutes and that is what we did.