By Erik Kirschbaum
BERLIN, Sept 30 (Reuters) – Less than ten minutes after breaking the world marathon record on Sunday, Ethiopia’s Haile Gebrselassie was handed a cell phone — it was Paul Tergat calling from Kenya to offer his congratulations.
“I’m sorry,” Gebrselassie told his great rival and long-time friend after winning the Berlin marathon in two hours four minutes 26 seconds, shattering by 29 seconds Tergat’s record set on the same course in 2003.
Tergat, who was pipped for the gold medal in the 1996 and 2000 Olympics by Gebrselassie in two classic 10,000 metres battles, would have none of it, telling Gebrselassie he was delighted for him.
“I am sorry — this record belonged to Paul Tergat,” Gebrselassie told a news conference when asked about the phone call. “Paul is my friend.”
Gebrselassie tried to tell Tergat he thought he had better weather conditions this year compared to 2003, when it was sunnier and warmer, although there was less wind. But Tergat responded that records were meant to be broken.
“I really wanted to do this record but I was a little bit worried about it, worried about attacking my friend’s record,” said Gebrselassie, 34, who fell 61 seconds short a year ago in Berlin in his first attempt to break Tergat’s mark of 2:04.55.
“I think Paul understands that. I talked to him and said ‘Hi, Paul, I’m sorry.’ I said ‘You can come here and try to get it back again next year’.”
Gebrselassie, the best distance runner of his era, is one of only three men to win consecutive Olympic 10,000 metres titles, the second at the 2000 Sydney Games providing an indelible image when he just held off the frenzied challenge from Tergat.
Gebrselassie has now held records at distances ranging from 3,000m to the marathon. He set numerous world records and won four successive world titles over 10,000m before turning to road racing.
“Sure, there’s no question about that,” Gebrselassie said when asked if the elusive marathon world record was the most important. “It’s something special. I was dreaming of it for many years. It’s my record now. I’m so happy.”
On Sunday he confidently attacked the flat, fast course under ideal marathon weather conditions and had split times that were consistently a half minute faster than Tergat for almost the entire race.
Gebrselassie admitted he had been a bit rattled by heavy rain and strong winds in Berlin earlier in the week.
“I lost some confidence when I first arrived — you know, the weather,” he said. “Yesterday, I thought ‘what’s going on here in Berlin?’ But they kept telling me the weather forecast was ‘no rain’. How do you believe that?”
The weather forecast turned out to be accurate. The rain stopped before the race, temperatures at the start were around 13 degrees Celsius, there was only a little wind and skies remained overcast until late in the race.
Kinijit leaders in California and Texas
The Kinijit train whistled through California and Texas over the weekend creating excitement and hope among Ethiopian communities. Kinijit leaders’ core message was that their party is trying to institute genuine democracy and rule of law in Ethiopia by being an example. They repeated the message that a party that doesn’t have a democratic culture, a party that doesn’t respect its own rules and procedures cannot bring democracy and rule of law to Ethiopia. The Kinijit leaders’ message was well received in both Oakland, California, and Dallas, Texas where the people voted with their pockets, contributing close to $100,000. It was not an easy ride. Anti-Kinijit forces were out in full force working day and night to derail the two events. Pamphlets were distributed saying that the meetings have been canceled. There were phone calls and emails discouraging people not to attend the Oakland and Dallas meetings. Communists, feudalists, tribalists, dergists, opportunists, lumpens and crooks are all lined up against Kinijit. But Kinijit’s freedom train continues to gather momentum. It will either win them over or leave them behind to bite dust…
(BBC) Haile Gebrselassie broke the marathon world record in Berlin on Sunday, posting an official time of two hours, four minutes and 26 seconds.
The 34-year-old Ethiopian beat the mark of 2:04:55 set by Kenya’s Paul Tergat in Berlin in September 2003.
Gebrselassie was already 32 seconds inside Tergat’s pace at the 10km mark and went through halfway at 62.29.
“This is wonderful, really special,” said Gebrselassie, who missed the record by 61 seconds in the 2006 race.
The mild weather conditions were almost ideal, with overcast skies for most of the race.
“Today it was perfect,” he added. “It was a little bit windy, but perfect. The spectators were great and gave me great support.”
The fast, flat course wound through nine districts of the German capital with a total inclination of just 30m.
Last year, Gebrselassie had faded in the final six kilometres in the face of a stiff headwind but this year the race organisers made sure there were enough pacesetters to take him through the 30km point.
Gebrselassie won four successive world titles and over 10,000m and set numerous world records on the track before turning to road racing late in his career.
Gete Wami of Ethiopia won the women’s race in a time of 2:23.17.
Dictator Meles Zenawi, the butcher of Addis Ababa, Ogaden, Mogadishu, Anuak… is coming to Washington DC on Monday or Tuesday, according to Ethiopian Review sources.
Meles will be in Washington to meet with State Department officials.
The U.S. House of Representatives will take final action on H.R. 2003 Tuesday, Oct. 2. Meles is expected to make last minute attempt to dissuade members of Congress from voting on the bill.
This could be the last time for Meles to travel to the U.S., because if H.R. 2003 is passed by Congress, all government officials in Ethiopia who are responsible for the massacre of unarmed civilians after the May 2005 elections would be banned from entering the U.S. [read more about H.R. 2003 here].
Ethiopians in Washington DC are ready to give Meles the kind of welcome a blood thirsty dictator deserves — spoiled eggs and tomatoes are being collected.
We will post update on the dictator’s arrival as we get more information.
9:20 PM PST / 12:20 AM EST
The goal is met! Oakland raised $52,195 for Kinijit. Woyanne cadres joined by other groups did every thing they could to derail the Oakland event. The success in Oakland is just one more proof that nothing can stop Kinijit’s freedom train. What do you say Dallas? It is your turn Sunday…
8:10 PM PST / 11:10 PM EST
The Kinijit stronghold Boston, which has raised $40,000, has been beaten by Oakland. So far $42,000 have been collected at the Oakland public meeting that is underway. $8k more to reach the $50,000 goal. A lively discussion with Kinijit leaders is also going on…
Kinijit public meeting in Oakland [photo: Kinijit Oakland-San Jose]
