‘King Haile’ to be event ambassador for 10th Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon

 The 10^th edition of the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon, to be run on January 20, 2013 will be graced by ‘King” Haile Gebrselassie. Promoters Procam International today announced Ethiopian Haile Gebrselassie, the world’s greatest long distance athlete and global sporting icon as the International Event Ambassador of USD 350,000 prize money Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon.

Haile Gebrselassie, winner of two Olympic Gold Medals (10,000m, 1996, 2000), four World Championship Gold medals (10,000m) and four World Indoor Championship Gold medals (3000m & 1500m), has 27 World records to his credit.

After bidding adieu to his career on track, Haile crowned himself the ‘King’ of the Road’ in September 2008, when, at the age of 35, he won the Berlin Marathon with a world record time of 2:03.59, breaking his own world record by 27 seconds.

Haile has won the Berlin Marathon four times consecutively and also had three straight wins at the Dubai Marathon. Further to this he was also the 2001 World Half Marathon champion.

Haile will be in Mumbai from Thursday, January 17 till event day and hopes to inspire the younger generation of Indian athletes to work hard for glory. Coming from an impoverished background, Haile today stands on the pinnacle of success, following up his exploits on the tack and road with sound business acumen.

During his visit to Mumbai Haile will meet with the sponsors and partners, the elite athletes, encourage the amateur athletes and later on spread the message worldwide about the event and the running movement in the country.

“I am looking forward to my first visit to India, especially because I will be associated with the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon. I am looking forward to inspire all the runners in the marathon. For me it is always important to inspire the younger generation to be involved with running. I hope my visit and my history in athletics can also inspire the future Indian top athletes,” said Haile in his message.

Haile Gebrselassie’s association with the event is in line with Procam International’s efforts to bring to India some the world’s most accomplished sportsmen to raise the profile of the sport of distance running. Some of the luminaries who have been event ambassadors in the past include names like Michael Johnson, Mike Powell, Linford Christie, Paul Tergat, Steve Ovett, Gail Devers, Dame Kelly Holmes, Dan O’Brien, Cathy Freeman, Kapil Dev and Vijay Amritraj to name a few.

HAILE GEBRSELASSIE – EVENT AMBASSADOR PROFILE

•  1993 World Championships in Athletics
  • 10,000 m gold medal
  • 5,000 m silver medal
• 1993 African Championships in Athletics
  • 5,000 m silver medal
  • 10,000 m bronze medal
• 1994 IAAF World Cross Country Championships – bronze medal
• 1996 Summer Olympics
  • 10,000 m gold medal
• 1997 World Championships in Athletics
  • 10,000 m gold medal
• 1997 IAAF World Indoor Championships
  • 3,000 m gold medal
• 1999 World Championships in Athletics
  • 10,000 m gold medal
• 1999 IAAF World Indoor Championships
  • 1,500 m gold medal
  • 3,000 m gold medal
• 2000 Summer Olympics
  • 10,000 m gold medal
• 2001 World Championships in Athletics
  • 10,000 m bronze medal
• 2001 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships winner
• 2003 IAAF World Indoor Championships
  • 3,000 m gold medal
• 2003 World Championships in Athletics
  • 10,000 m silver medal

Gebrselassie was also given the honor of carrying in the Olympic Flag for the Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Summer Olympics.