Haile Gebrselassie named international event ambassador of Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon

Two-time Olympic gold medallist Haile Gebrselassie was on Thursday named the international event ambassador of the Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon scheduled to be held on October 16.

The Ethiopian, one of the greatest distance runners in history, won the 10,000m gold in successive Olympics (1996 and 2000) and eight World Championships Indoor and Outdoor track titles from the 1,500m to the 10,000m in a storied career.

He also won the World Half Marathon Championships in 2001 and nine major marathons, including the Berlin Marathon four times in succession.

In 2008, he won the Berlin Marathon in a then world record time of 2:03.59 at age 35.

“Running and the community are the two things that are most important to me, and an event like the Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon brings them together in a unique way,” Gebrselassie said in a media release.

“The enthusiasm of the host city inspires something special in everyone involved in making this beautiful event possible. I’m going to be cheering all the runners as we celebrate the different hues of Delhi. See you at the start line!” he added.

Gebrselassie’s incredible career achievements include an astonishing 27 world records across distances, making him arguably the greatest distance runner of all time.

The world’s prestigious Delhi Half Marathon is a World Athletics Elite Label Road Race.

Uganda’s Half Marathon World Record holder Jacob Kiplimo will headline a top-class field.

The Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon 2022 will have both physical and virtual races. The physical race categories are the half marathon, Open 10K, Great Delhi Run (5 km), Senior Citizens’ Run (3 km), and the Champions with Disability Run (3 km).