Arguably one of the greatest distance runners in history, Haile Gebrselassie has made a long-standing impact on the running world with two Olympic gold medals, seven world outdoor titles, and dozens of world records. Today, the 42-year-old Ethiopian announced his retirement from competitive running to the media after finishing 16th at the Great Manchester Run. The decision marks the end of an impactful, 25-year long career filled with numerous accomplishments on and off the track. 

I will retire as a competitive runner, not as a runner, I will never stop running and will continu to be a running ambassador.

— Haile Gebrselassie (@HaileGebr) May 10, 2015

Although it is impossible to chronicle such an impressive career in its entirety, we decided to highlight 10 of Gebrselassie’s greatest career moments:

 

1. In 1993 Gebrselassie became a household name at 20-years old when he captured his first World Outdoor Championship title in the 10,000m in a winning time of 27:46.02. The performance came down to a kick where the young Ethiopian out-leaned Kenya’s Moses Tanui for the win. Days later, Gebrselassie returned to finish second in the 5000m in 13:03, just one second away from gold medalist Ismael Kirui. 

 

2. Two years later, Gebrselassie captured his second of four world titles in the 10,000m with a win in 27:12.95 at the 1995 World Outdoor Championships. Prior to the performance, Gebrselassie set his first world record in the 5000m by lowering the mark to 12:56.96. In 1995, he lowered the 10,000m world record in Hengelo, Netherlands with a time of 26:43.53. 

 

3. The summer of 1995 in Zurich, Switzerland, he broke the 5000m world record with a blazing time of 12:44.39, taking 10.91 seconds off the then-world record of 12:55.30 set by Moses Kiptanui earlier that year. 

 

4. In his first Olympic performance, Gebrselassie took the 10,000m by storm with a dominating win at the 1996 Atlanta Games. The Ethiopian earned his first Olympic gold medal in a winning time of 27:07.34, narrowly beating Kenya’s Paul Tergat. 

 

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5. In 1997 and 1999, Gebrselassie went on to earn two more world championship titles in the 10,000m. The 1997 World Outdoor Championship again came down to a kick between Gebrselassie and Tergat, resulting in another exciting win for the defending Olympic champion. 1999 was a similar scene as the two distance legends again finished 1-2 at the finish line, just one second apart from each other. 

 

6. In 1998, Gebrselassie shattered both the 5000m and 10,000m world records just days apart from each other, first with a win in Hengelo, Netherlands in a time of 26:22, breaking Tergat’s then-world record by five seconds. 13 days later, he broke Daniel Komen's 5000m world record with a winning time of 12:39.36 in Helsinki. Both marks still stand as the No. 2 performances all-time at each respective distance.  

 

7. At the 2000 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece, Gebrselassie became only the third runner in history to successfully repeat as the Olympic 10,000m champion. He finished in a winning time of 27:18, again just milliseconds ahead of rival Paul Tergat. To this day, the blistering finishing kick of the two Olympic medalists is one of the most memorable Olympic finals in track and field history. 

 

8. In 2001, Gebrselassie took to the roads, first with a then-personal best and World Half Marathon win in 60:03. He completed his first marathon of his career in 2002 at the London Marathon with a third-place finish in 2:06:35. 

 

9. In 2008 at the age of 35, the Olympic champion became the first runner to dip under the 2:04 barrier with a dominating win at the Berlin Marathon in 2:03:59. Today, the mark stands as the No. 7 fastest performance all-time. 

 

10. Although many of Gebrselassie’s records have been surpassed over the years, his 20,000m and one hour marks still stand as world records. To this day, Gebrselassie’s career bests in the 1500m (3:31.76), 3000m (7:25.09), 5000m (12:39.36), 10,000m (26:22.75), half marathon (58:55) and marathon (2:03:59) all remain in the top 11 all-time in the world.