Friendship beyond track-rivalry

BOITUMELO KHUTSAFALO
Staff Writer | Tuesday February 3, 2009 00:00

 

The duo was speaking in Nairobi, Kenya during the recent training programme for talented African athletes organised by the multinational G4S security company. Before they talked about their interesting duels on the field, a video of their 10,000m race in the 2000 Sydney Olympics was played on a big screen. Gebrselassie's narrow victory over Tergat came down to a blistering finish. The winning margin was only 0.09 seconds, closer than the winning margin in the men's 100 metres final. This is widely considered the greatest finish to any distance race in history. Both Gebrselassie and Tergat smiled at the end of the video show and agreed that it was one of the races that kept spectators on the edge of their seats. Gebrselassie revealed that he was not sure whether he had finished first until he saw his face being shown on the screen at the stadium.

Tergat had said earlier in a group interview that he was impressed by the general performances of African athletes at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. 'We had problems in the 100m and 200m but after that, African athletes started dominating,' he said. He explained that for Africa to improve, the athletes and the coaches need to be exposed to different training methods in the world.

He added that an athlete should go beyond just loving the sport. He welcomed the opportunity to support Gebrselassie and G4S in their quest to bring the best out of Africa's young athletes. 'G4S is doing a very good job and I just wish other companies can join hands and add value to sport,' he said. He stated that although he is still actively involved in sport, he wants to give youngsters a chance to take over from where he and other legendary athletes have left. He is currently doing some motivational talks and has just finished some courses.

He still receives invitations to run because people want to see him in action. 'Although they do not necessarily want me to win, they just enjoy seeing me in action,' he added.

Tergat is currently an ambassador for the United Nations' World Food Programme. He does not want to rule out the possibility of serving as an official of Athletics Kenya or the National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOCK).