Haile Gebrselassie
Haile Gebrselassie is a retired Ethiopian long-distance track and road running athlete. He won two Olympic gold medals over four World Championship titles in the event, he won the Berlin Marathon four times consecutively and had three straight wins at the Dubai Marathon. Further to this, he was the 2001 World Half Marathon Champion. Haile had major competition wins at distances between 1500 metres and the marathon, moving from outdoor and cross country running to road running in the latter part of his career, he broke 61 Ethiopian national records ranging from 800 metres to the marathon, set 27 world records, is regarded as the greatest distance runner in history. In September 2008, 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; the record stood for three years. Since he was over the age of 35, that mark still stands as the Masters Age group world record. Haile was born as one of ten children in Oromiya Region, Ethiopia.
As a child growing up on a farm he used to run ten kilometres to school every morning, the same back every evening. This led to a distinctive running posture, with his left arm crooked as if still holding his school books. Haile gained international recognition in Seoul, South Korea, when he won the 5000-metre and 10,000-metre races at the 1992 World Junior Championships and a silver medal in the junior race at the World Cross Country Championships; the next year, in 1993, Haile won the first of what would be four consecutive world championships titles in the men's 10,000 metres at the 1993, 1995, 1997, 1999 World Championships. His win at the 1993 was however his most infamous as he accidentally stepped on the heel of Moses Tanui's shoe at the bell, causing it to fly off his foot. After the contact, with just one shoe, an angered Tanui moved out to a 10-meter lead, only to have Haile run him down on the final straight. At the 1993 World Championships he ran in the 5,000-metre race to finish a close second behind Ismael Kirui of Kenya.
In 1994 he won a bronze medal at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships. That year he set his first world record by running a 12:56.96 in the 5,000-metres, breaking Saïd Aouita's record by two seconds. In 1995, Haile ran the 10,000-metres in 26:43.53 in Hengelo, lowering the world record by nine seconds. That same summer, in Zürich, Haile ran the 5000 metres in 12:44.39, taking 10.91 seconds off the world record 12:55.30. This world record at the Weltklasse meet in Zürich was voted "Performance of the Year" for 1995 by Track & Field News magazine. At the same Weltklasse meet in Zürich in 1996, an exhausted Haile, suffering from blisters obtained on the hard track in Atlanta, had no answer to the 58-second lap of Daniel Komen with five laps to go as Komen went on to win and just miss Haile's record, finishing in 12:45.09. In 1997, Haile turned. Coming off his third 10K world championship gold medal, Haile beat Komen in another Zürich classic on 13 August 1997, covering the final 200 metres in 26.8 seconds to break his 5000 metres world record with a time of 12:41.86.
Komen, in turn, took Haile's record only nine days when Komen ran a 12:39.74 performance in Belgium. The next year, 1998, saw Haile lowering the indoor world records for 2000 and 3000 metres, enjoying success outdoors by taking back both the 5000 and 10,000 metres world records, as well as earning a share in the Golden League jackpot for winning all of his races in the Golden League series that summer. In June 1998 in Hengelo, Haile set a 10,000 metres world record 26:22.75, breaking Paul Tergat's world record 26:27.85, running evenly paced 13:11/13:11 5K splits. Just 13 days Haile took on the 5000 metres mark of Komen in Helsinki, Finland. Croatian pacemaker Branko Zorko took the pace out hitting 1000 metres in 2:33.91 and dropping out at the mile. Million Wolde and Assefa Mezgebu led Haile through 2000 metres in 5:05.62. His pacemakers could not maintain the pace and Haile was left alone for a difficult solo effort six laps out. Hitting 3000 metres in 7:38.93 the British commentators announcing the race counted him out.
With four laps to go, Haile needed a sub-4-minute final 1,600 metres for the record. With one lap to go and in great pain, Haile took off, recording a final lap of 56.77 seconds and a final 1,600 metres of 3:59.36 to race to a 12:39.36 world record. In 1999, Haile starred as himself in the movie Endurance; the film chronicled his quest to win Olympic gold in the 10,000 metres in Atlanta. On the track, he won a 1500/3000 metres double at the World Indoor Track Championships, defended his Outdoor World Track Championships 10,000 metres title, remained undefeated in all his races. In 2000, Haile again won all of his races, ranking first in the world yet again in both the 5000 and 10,000 metres. At the 2000 Sydney Olympics, he became the third man in history to defend an Olympic 10,000 metres title; the narrow Olympic victory over Kenya's Paul Tergat came down to a blistering final kick, with Tergat's 26.3 second final 200 metres being topped by Haile's faster 25.4. The winning margin of victory was only 0.09 seconds, closer than the winning margin in the men's 100 metre dash final.
In 2001, Haile won the IAAF World half marathon and the bronze medal in the 10,000 metres at the 2001 World Championships in Athletics. In the same year, he conceptualized the G
Wilson Kipketer
Wilson Kosgei Kipketer is a Kenyan-born Danish former middle distance runner. He is the second fastest of all time over 800 meters, setting the world record and breaking his own record two more times all in 1997, he dominated the 800 m distance for a decade, remaining undefeated for a three-year period and running 8 of the 17 all-time fastest times. He won gold medals in three successive editions of the IAAF World Championships in Athletics. Though unable to compete in the 1996 Olympics near the peak of his career, he earned silver in 2000 and bronze in 2004. Kipketer's 800 meters world record stood for 13 years, it was surpassed on 22 August 2010, when David Rudisha beat it by 0.02 seconds, running 1:41.09. Rudisha would go on to further lower the 800m world record to the first and only sub one minute 41 second run. Kipketer still holds the indoor world record for the 800 metres. Kipketer represented both KIF during his running career. Kipketer was born in Kapchemoiywo, into the Kalenjin tribe.
As a teenager, he was first noticed by 1968 and 1972 Olympic champion Kip Keino. Keino suggested Kipketer attend the Catholic St. Patrick's High School in Iten, famous for bringing up young runners. David Rudisha, who surpassed Kipketer's 800m world record in 2010, was like Kipketer coached by longtime St. Patrick's coach and former Headmaster Brother Colm O'Connell. Unlike Kipketer, Rudisha did not attend St. Patrick's, rather he went to a neighboring St. Francis, Kimuron Secondary School in Iten, Keiyo District. In 1990, Kipketer travelled to Denmark as a foreign exchange student, studying electronic engineering, he liked Denmark so much. Kipketer came to international attention in 1994 when he won 16 of 18 800 meter races, ran the second fastest 800 meters of the year and was ranked number one in the world by Track and Field News magazine; the next year, he won 10 of 12 races, ran under 1:43 twice with his 1:42.87 being the world leader, he competed for Denmark in the 1995 World Championships.
It was there that he claimed his first World Championship title in the 800 metres, pulling away from his competitors in dominating fashion down the homestretch. However, Kipketer was not a full Danish citizen, in 1996 the International Olympic Committee disallowed him from competing for Denmark in the Olympic Games in Atlanta, USA. Despite his absence from the Olympics, there was no doubt that Kipketer was the strongest 800 m runner in the world that year, he remained undefeated throughout 1996, including wins over all three 800 meter medalists at the 1996 Olympic Games, set a new personal best of 1:41.83 in Rieti at the end of the season, the fastest 800 meter time in the world in 12 years and only 0.1 short of the World Record. Despite not participating in the Olympics, Track & Field News magazine ranked him number one in the world in the 800 meters for 1996. Kipketer has, never equalled or bettered Vebjørn Rodal’s winning time from the 1996 Olympics in any world championship or Olympic games, where pacemakers are not allowed.
In 1997 Kipketer was at the peak of his career. In March he won the 800 m gold at the Indoor World Championships in France. In fact, he broke the indoor world record time in the heats by nearly a second, beating Paul Ereng's WR 1:44.84 with his 1:43.96. In the final he took yet another second off the world record with a scintillating 1:42.67. On 7 July he tied Sebastian Coe's world record for the 800 metres at a meeting in Sweden. Coe's record had stood for sixteen years, he went on to break the record twice that year, the first time being in Zurich, Switzerland at the Weltklasse Zürich GP on 13 August when he ran 1:41.24. Eleven days on 24 August, he improved the world record to 1:41.11 at the Grand Prix meet in Cologne, Germany. On 8 August, in the 1997 World Championships in Athletics at the Olympic Stadium, Greece, he led the race from start to finish, blazing the first 200 meters in 23.47 seconds, defended the World Championship title he had won in 1995. He was voted Field Athlete of the Year by Track and Field News Magazine.
The following season, Kipketer at first intended not to race at all. He participated in three meets, winning in Monaco and running a swift 1:43.18 in Zurich. At the European Championships in Budapest but made physical contact with the eventual winner Nils Schumann on the final straight and did not win a medal, he came back in 1999 by finishing second at the Indoor World Championships and bettering that with a gold medal at the 1999 World Championship in Seville, Spain. As in 1997, Kipketer was undefeated in 1999, winning all 10 outdoor races and finishing the year ranked number one in the world in the 800m by Track & Field News magazine. In 2000, he broke the world indoor record in the 1000 metres by running a 2:14.96. However, he raced sparingly outdoors and didn't show the same form he had in previous years, losing three out of the four races he contested. At the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Kipketer took silver, finishing 0.06 behind Nils Schumann in a tactical contested 800 metres race.
In 2002, Kipketer won the gold medal at the European Championships in Munich, defeating the reigning world champion, André Bucher and 2000 Olympic champion, Nils Schumann. He won 8 of the 9 races he contested, had
Claudinei da Silva
Claudinei Quirino da Silva is a retired Brazilian sprinter who competed in 200 metres. He has been successful on regional and world level, won a 2000 Olympic silver medal with the Brazilian 4 x 100 metres relay team. In 1999 he ran the 200m dash in the current South American record. 2003 South American Championships - silver medal 2000 Olympic Games - silver medal 2000 Olympic Games - sixth place 1999 Pan American Games - gold medal 1999 Pan American Games - bronze medal 1999 Pan American Games - gold medal 1999 World Championships - silver medal 1999 South American Championships - gold medal 1997 South American Championships - gold medal 1997 South American Championships - gold medal 1997 World Championships - bronze medal 1995 World Championships - fifth place 1995 South American Championships - silver medal Claudinei da Silva at IAAF
Athens
Athens is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, with its recorded history spanning over 3,400 years and its earliest human presence starting somewhere between the 11th and 7th millennium BC. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state that emerged in conjunction with the seagoing development of the port of Piraeus, a distinct city prior to its 5th century BC incorporation with Athens. A center for the arts and philosophy, home of Plato's Academy and Aristotle's Lyceum, it is referred to as the cradle of Western civilization and the birthplace of democracy because of its cultural and political impact on the European continent, in particular the Romans. In modern times, Athens is a large cosmopolitan metropolis and central to economic, industrial, maritime and cultural life in Greece. In 2012, Athens was ranked the world's 39th richest city by purchasing power and the 67th most expensive in a UBS study. Athens is a global one of the biggest economic centres in southeastern Europe.
It has a large financial sector, its port Piraeus is both the largest passenger port in Europe, the second largest in the world. While at the same time being the sixth busiest passenger port in Europe; the Municipality of Athens had a population of 664,046 within its administrative limits, a land area of 38.96 km2. The urban area of Athens extends beyond its administrative municipal city limits, with a population of 3,090,508 over an area of 412 km2. According to Eurostat in 2011, the functional urban area of Athens was the 9th most populous FUA in the European Union, with a population of 3.8 million people. Athens is the southernmost capital on the European mainland; the heritage of the classical era is still evident in the city, represented by ancient monuments and works of art, the most famous of all being the Parthenon, considered a key landmark of early Western civilization. The city retains Roman and Byzantine monuments, as well as a smaller number of Ottoman monuments. Athens is home to two UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the Acropolis of Athens and the medieval Daphni Monastery.
Landmarks of the modern era, dating back to the establishment of Athens as the capital of the independent Greek state in 1834, include the Hellenic Parliament and the so-called "architectural trilogy of Athens", consisting of the National Library of Greece, the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and the Academy of Athens. Athens is home to several museums and cultural institutions, such as the National Archeological Museum, featuring the world's largest collection of ancient Greek antiquities, the Acropolis Museum, the Museum of Cycladic Art, the Benaki Museum and the Byzantine and Christian Museum. Athens was the host city of the first modern-day Olympic Games in 1896, 108 years it welcomed home the 2004 Summer Olympics, making it one of only a handful of cities to have hosted the Olympics more than once. In Ancient Greek, the name of the city was Ἀθῆναι a plural. In earlier Greek, such as Homeric Greek, the name had been current in the singular form though, as Ἀθήνη, it was rendered in the plural on, like those of Θῆβαι and Μυκῆναι.
The root of the word is not of Greek or Indo-European origin, is a remnant of the Pre-Greek substrate of Attica. In antiquity, it was debated whether Athens took its name from its patron goddess Athena or Athena took her name from the city. Modern scholars now agree that the goddess takes her name from the city, because the ending -ene is common in names of locations, but rare for personal names. During the medieval period, the name of the city was rendered once again in the singular as Ἀθήνα. However, after the establishment of the modern Greek state, due to the conservatism of the written language, Ἀθῆναι became again the official name of the city and remained so until the abandonment of Katharevousa in the 1970s, when Ἀθήνα, Athína, became the official name. According to the ancient Athenian founding myth, the goddess of wisdom, competed against Poseidon, the god of the seas, for patronage of the yet-unnamed city. According to the account given by Pseudo-Apollodorus, Poseidon struck the ground with his trident and a salt water spring welled up.
In an alternative version of the myth from Vergil's Georgics, Poseidon instead gave the Athenians the first horse. In both versions, Athena offered the Athenians the first domesticated olive tree. Cecrops declared Athena the patron goddess of Athens. Different etymologies, now rejected, were proposed during the 19th century. Christian Lobeck proposed as the root of the name the word ἄθος or ἄνθος meaning "flower", to denote Athens as the "flowering city". Ludwig von Döderlein proposed the stem of the verb θάω, stem θη- to denote Athens as having fertile soil. In classical literature, the city was sometimes referred to as the City of the Violet Crown, first documented in Pindar's ἰοστέφανοι Ἀθᾶναι, or as τὸ κλεινὸν ἄστυ. In medieval texts, variant names include Setines and Astines, all derivations involving false splitting of p
Martín Fiz
Martín Fiz Martín is a long-distance runner from Spain, who won the marathon at the 1994 European Championships in Athletics in Helsinki and repeated his success at the 1995 World Championships in Athletics in Gothenburg. The same year he captured the title in the Rotterdam Marathon. At the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta Fiz came fourth in the marathon. A year he won a silver medal at the 1997 World Championships in Athletics in Athens, finishing behind his countryman Abel Anton, he competed in three consecutive Summer Olympics for his native country, starting in 1992. Fiz has continued running into masters age divisions, setting the world M55 record in the road 10K at 31:36 on January 13, 2019 in Valencia. Spanish Olympic Committee Martín Fiz at IAAF
Allen Johnson
Allen Kenneth Johnson is a retired American hurdling athlete who won the gold medal in the 110 metre hurdles at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. He is a four-time world champion. Born in Washington, D. C. an all-round athlete, Johnson attended University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and excelled at high jump, long jump and decathlon as well as hurdles. Johnson was troubled by injury in 2000 but still made the final at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia just missing out on adding to his medal collection by finishing fourth. 2003 in the Stade de France, saw Johnson win his fourth IAAF World Championships in Athletics 110 m hurdles title when he beat Terrence Trammell into second to overtake the three world championship gold medals that Greg Foster had won at the event. At the 2004 Summer Olympics he tripped over a hurdle in the 2nd preliminary round and was unable to finish the race and reach the final, he was however ranked world's number 1 throughout 2004's season.
Johnson was trained by Curtis Frye, at the University of South Carolina where he served as a volunteer assistant coach. The sprint and hurdles coach at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, CO, Johnson is now the Assistant Head Coach at the North Carolina State University under Rollie Geiger, his personal best is 12.92 seconds, only 0.01 seconds short of the then-world record held by Colin Jackson. Johnson has finished 11 races in less than 13 seconds, more than anyone else so far, his 12.96 set. Johnson retired in July 2010, at the age of 39. Daughter, Tristine Johnson, competes as a 2014 senior at his alma mater University of North Carolina. 1994 1994 IAAF World Cup - London, England Silver 1995 1995 World Championships in Athletics - Gothenburg, Sweden Gold 1995 IAAF World Indoor Championships - Barcelona, Spain 60 Meter Hurdles, Gold 1996 1996 Summer Olympics - Atlanta, Georgia Gold, Olympic record 1997 1997 World Championships in Athletics - Athens, Greece Gold 1998 1998 Goodwill Games - Uniondale, New York Silver 2000 2000 Summer Olympics - Sydney, Australia 2001 2001 World Championships in Athletics - Edmonton, Canada Gold Goodwill Games - Brisbane, Australia Gold 2002 2002 IAAF World Cup - Madrid, Spain Silver 2003 2003 World Championships in Athletics - Paris, France Gold 2003 IAAF World Indoor Championships - Birmingham, England 60 Meter Hurdles, Gold 2004 2004 IAAF World Indoor Championships - Budapest, Hungary 60 Meter Hurdles, Gold 2005 World Championships in Athletics - Helsinki, Finland Bronze 2006 IAAF World Cup - Athens, Greece 110 Meter Hurdles, Gold Works by Allen Johnson at Project Gutenberg Works by or about Allen Johnson at Internet Archive Biography at USA Track & Field Allen Johnson's U.
S. Olympic Team bio Allen Johnson at IAAF Curtain draws on career of 7-time World champion Johnson, article from IAAF Allen Johnson at the International Olympic Committee Allen Johnson at Olympics at Sports-Reference.com
Stéphane Diagana
Stéphane Diagana is a retired, French track and field sprinter and hurdler. His specialities were the 4 x 400 metres relay. Diagna won the 400 metres hurdles gold medal at the 1997 World Championships in Athens and the 4 x 400 metres relay gold medal at the 2003 World Championships in Paris. In 2002 he won the 400 metres hurdles gold medal at the European Championships in Munich. Diagana set a new, European 400 metres hurdles outdoor record of 47.37 sec. in Lausanne, Switzerland on 5 July 1995. As of 1 September 2014, this European record still stands. In his only Olympic appearance, Diagana finished in fourth position in the final of the 400 metres hurdles of the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona. In that Olympics, his 4 x 400 metres relay team was eliminated in the heats. Diagana retired from competition in 2004 and became a television commentator and advisor to the Fédération française d'athlétisme. On 7 April 2008, Diagana was an Olympic torch runner for the 2008 Olympics. While he was running with the torch in Paris, Paris city councillor Sylvain Garel tried to snatch it from his hands.
On 21 January 2011, Diagana was injured in road accident while he was cycling along a road of the Col de Vence in the department of Alpes-Maritimes in southeast France. He was airlifted by helicopter to a hospital in Nice, he suffered head injuries and although in a serious condition, he did not lose consciousness. He is married to Odile Lesage. Stéphane Diagana at IAAF Stéphane Diagana at Olympics at Sports-Reference.com
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