|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
TCS NEW YORK CITY MARATHONOctober 29, 2015Haile GebrselassieTegla LoroupePaula RadcliffePaul TergatGeoff WightmanNew York City, New York GEOFF WIGHTMAN: Thank you very much. We had a nice induction ceremony for our four Class of 2015 Inductees. You sat a long way back. It's a bit like a school bus. It's allowed as long as you applaud them on in the order in which they were inducted. First, let's welcome in Haile Gebrselassie. Inducted second, Tegla Loroupe. Our third inductee in the Class of 2015, Paul Tergat. Our final New York Road Runners Hall of Fame Inductee, Paula Radcliffe. Have a seat. There's a microphone behind each of you. We're going to start with the video footage we showed for all four Hall of Fame Inductees just to remind you of their influence in the sport. [Video played.] GEOFF WIGHTMAN: Fantastic memories there. Let's start with Haile. You actually retired from competition officially this year. Are you missing it already, or have you got other things that have taken the place of your racing? HAILE GEBRSELASSIE: Yes, you're right. I stopped competing, not running. I still have training every morning. Missing a race is something you miss. I wish it was just to compete. But if you can't be able to be top two or three, it's better. I'm doing fine. Training there, other business, it's fine. GEOFF WIGHTMAN: If you and Paul Tergat were boxers, you'd probably hate each other. You've had incredibly close duels. You're from rival nations, and yet you've got a friendship that transcends all of that, haven't you? HAILE GEBRSELASSIE: Yeah, me and Paul. If you look at him now, he's okay now. He's better than last year, and we are now both just good‑‑ we have good relationship. Used to be a good relation, but now it's better. GEOFF WIGHTMAN: For all those world records and those world titles, you've had more than anybody else in history, would you have traded one of them to have won here in New York in the marathon? Is that a gap on your career? HAILE GEBRSELASSIE: It is. It is. 2010, when I came here just to win the race, but it didn't work. At the end of the day, don't forget, it's the New York City Marathon. This is everybody's wish. Paul Tergat, of course, he didn't win the Olympics. For him, he won the Olympics here in New York City, and I congratulate him. GEOFF WIGHTMAN: These days, you seem to own most of Addis Ababa. Most of the big buildings that have gone up are owned by you. You've got a great interest in furthering your country. Might you ever run for president in Ethiopia? Is that possible? HAILE GEBRSELASSIE: For me, everything is possible. You never know. I don't own the whole city, but I have a lot of small things, and I'm trying to improve all those. When you do a business, it's not only like athletics, myself and the coach and very few people around, my manager and so on and so on. But in business, when you're dealing with 1,000 people. To become a president, you're dealing with the media people. I don't know who's going to give me a vote. You just try to work with 1 million people. GEOFF WIGHTMAN: Looking ahead to Sunday, do you think Ethiopia have got a realistic challenge in either of the elite events, the men's and women's? HAILE GEBRSELASSIE: Very difficult to say right now because it's New York. I know many Ethiopians is going to compete, both men and women. I hope the best will win. We'll see. GEOFF WIGHTMAN: Final question from me to you. How do you attribute the longevity of your career? You first appeared on the international level way back in 1993. It was 15, 20 years of very elite performances, very few injury problems, very few off‑key seasons. How did you do that? HAILE GEBRSELASSIE: You know, athlete‑‑ when you're injured, the damage is done. What's important is just pre‑injury how to monitor your training before you have an injury. Most of my career, I did so much competition. Many competitions over many years, but what was very important to me was just the training, to listen to my body. That's why I could stay longer in athletics. That's the only thing what I've done. Thanks to God. I had a few surgeries, but that was not for a long time. I'm very happy. I have my wife with me. She's the one who does the whole thing, what I need after the race and before the race and before training as well. GEOFF WIGHTMAN: You just mentioned you're also honored with the Abebe Bikila Award today. He was long before your time, but stories of Bikila inspired you as a young athlete? HAILE GEBRSELASSIE: For me, Abebe Bikila died a year before I was born, but I grew just with his news. Still Abebe Bikila is still just big news for all of us. In Ethiopia, if you ask just a small boy or a girl, they can tell you about Abebe Bikila. He's not only a legend, for us he's just a person who brought us in this world. Abebe Bikila who brought us here to New York and everything that I achieved. I started athletics just to be like Miruts Yifter, but Abebe Bikila was still there. He's still there today. Today when I received this award, it's really wonderful. I'm so happy. GEOFF WIGHTMAN: Congratulations on both awards. HAILE GEBRSELASSIE: Thank you. GEOFF WIGHTMAN: Let's turn to Tegla now. When you won in 1994 here, you were the first African woman to win a major marathon title on the road. We regard Kenyan success in women's races so normal now, but you were the first. Was there any pressure or unusual expectation? TEGLA LOROUPE: Well, by that time, I did not have any pressure because I wanted to run New York Marathon, and therefore it happened that I won. Of course, you know when you come for the second time, you have pressure on your shoulders because it was am I going to defend my title? GEOFF WIGHTMAN: And what about the social pressure on you as a female runner in Kenya? You're one of 20 children because your father had multiple wives. He didn't want you to go into running, and you did with success. How difficult was that? TEGLA LOROUPE: I didn't feel any pressure because I'm just a social person. So all the pressure, I just ignored the pressure, and I think this is another event. This is my family. So I was able to help out the women and therefore to make sure that our community realized that a woman can do something more than what men can do. Therefore, that's why I did not have any pressure. GEOFF WIGHTMAN: And when you raced a half marathon and some of the world's biggest marathons, you ran without fear. You would open up huge leads in very fast intermediate times. Were you ever afraid of the distance in the marathon? Were you ever concerned about going off too quick? TEGLA LOROUPE: You have to understand running a half marathon and marathon is another thing. A half marathon is just like‑‑ it's like an event where you feel more happy, but marathon is a long distance, where even the last 1 kilometer you can have a problem. Therefore, I was more worried running marathons than running half marathons. I had the capacity to run the middle distance. GEOFF WIGHTMAN: It's hard to imagine it was 21 years ago that you won here. We remember you running the first Virgin sponsored London Marathon with Sir Richard Branson, and you looked like you were a pretty serious runner there. How has your running been the last five or ten years? TEGLA LOROUPE: I was dying because, when we finished the half marathon, I did two hours, and now to think another half marathon with these old legs, what am I going to do? And I say Richard was really clever because he asked me, I need a coach. We used to email one another and give a training program. Then later he told me, you know what, I'm not going to run without my coach. You'd better train for this marathon. It was difficult for me because I was running‑‑ I carried the event from Germany to Rome. That was 2,000 kilometers. And I just finished the 2,000 kilometers four days before going to London. So when I went to run with Richard Branson, I was tired after finishing 2,000 kilometers. But it was fun to realize you can train someone like Richard and run with him. GEOFF WIGHTMAN: Where does running fit in your life now? You're very busy with your work with the Peace Foundation. Do you still run? TEGLA LOROUPE: Yes, I still run a little bit. I am a role model for 300 kids, and therefore I have to be there for those who are looking for Tegla. GEOFF WIGHTMAN: Let's do our own virtual race. If you had to lineup and had to race, what time would you predict for yourself? Start with Haile. What would you run on Sunday if you had to run fast? HAILE GEBRSELASSIE: 2:02. GEOFF WIGHTMAN: Tegla? TEGLA LOROUPE: Maybe three hours. GEOFF WIGHTMAN: Paul? PAUL TERGAT: Probably five hours. GEOFF WIGHTMAN: Five hours. Paula ran 2:36 in London. PAUL TERGAT: I'm realistic. PAULA RADCLIFFE: It's not that long for London, but I didn't do much training the last six weeks for that one. I don't know. Somewhere between 2:45 and 3:00 maybe. GEOFF WIGHTMAN: So the winner would be Haile, okay. TEGLA LOROUPE: In his mind. HAILE GEBRSELASSIE: I said 2:02 not my foot, by car. GEOFF WIGHTMAN: Let's turn to Paul Tergat. Really you should hate this guy for what he did to you in two Olympic games, but as I said to Haile, the pair of you have a little more class than that, don't you? PAUL TERGAT: Yeah, one thing that's very important, I want to say for the years that I've been in the sport and competed with Haile, I knew that I was competing with the very best that the world has ever produced, and this is what God meant for us always at any meeting where we are meeting, we want to give always the best ability that we have. GEOFF WIGHTMAN: When you look back at your career with five cross country titles, half marathon titles, Olympic medals on the track, world records in the marathon‑‑ which one means most to you when you look back? PAUL TERGAT: I would say it's interesting because what I initially never knew that I would be able to translate to marathon. I thought maybe concentrate on track and cross country, but my coach who believed in me so much would say that, hey, I think it's high time that you can move on and maybe try the marathon because I was very good in the cross, I was very good in the half marathon, 10K on the road, track too because I broke the world record in 10,000. I had good times from 3K in the track, cross country five times in a row, half marathon I had the world record. So I needed something that would be able to inspire me, to challenge me more, and that was why when I moved to marathon, I knew, wow, this was the father of all running. GEOFF WIGHTMAN: When we look back at Magic Monday in the Sydney Olympics and the 10,000 meter between you two that was closer than the 100 men's meter final. It makes the hairs on the back of our neck stand up. What do you feel? PAUL TERGAT: Sydney was‑‑ honestly, there's one thing that I always believe. You cannot be able to win everything, but, again, it was one of my last 10,000 races to run, and I wanted to give the very best, to give all that I would have left before I moved to the marathon because I knew after that I was going to the marathon. GEOFF WIGHTMAN: Your teammate and fellow Kenyan marathon runner Wesley Korir has gone into politics. I asked you this before, and you regarded Kenyan politics as a bit murky. Do you think you'll ever get involved in Kenyan politics? Do you think the pair of you could be east African presidents? PAUL TERGAT: I would say let me do what I'm doing now. I don't want to comment about politics for now. GEOFF WIGHTMAN: And what you're doing now includes creating the first Kenyan Sports Personality of the Year awards in January. Tell us a little bit about that. PAUL TERGAT: Yeah, this is a night of champions. This is where we are able to celebrate the very best that the country has ever had. So we are celebrating, and together coming from boxing, football, rugby, name it, all sports, Olympics, name it. We are sharing a meeting in one room, and this is what has inspired me to start that. GEOFF WIGHTMAN: Congratulations on your award. Turning to Paula, we didn't give you an opportunity earlier to pay tribute to Grete Waitz, the first inductee in the New York Hall of Fame and a big inspiration for you. PAULA RADCLIFFE: Absolutely. Grete was for so many of us marathon runners, particularly female marathon runners. Grete, along with Joanie and Ingrid, were the three pioneers and the trail blazers. I think Grete, for the person she was, the dignity with which she always conducted herself but the way she fought the cancer right to the end as well is such an inspiration to me personally and to have had the honor to meet her. So to be included in that same list as her is a huge honor to me. GEOFF WIGHTMAN: You bade farewell to competition in the London Marathon, dramatic race, dramatic scenes, injured in the build up to it. This has been your lucky city from the 10K to the marathon, you got redemption here. Very special place for you? PAULA RADCLIFFE: Very, very special place. As I spoke about downstairs, even after the first time that I came to New York City for the Fifth Avenue Mile, that was coming off the back of just missing on a medal at the World Championships in the track, and that went on for the next two years, but I came here and was able to win on the roads and to experience the magic of racing on the roads in New York City and just imagine it in New York City. I remember my first training run in Central Park, and we'd arrived late on a Saturday evening, went out for a run, and we thought we'd run into the middle of a race, and it was actually just a regular Sunday morning in Central Park. It's a city that gets running, and it's a city that really gets behind it, and you can feel the magic take over around any of the big events, but especially around the marathon. GEOFF WIGHTMAN: And your show reel said defining what's possible for moms, and some of your best runs have been off the back of your children here in New York. That's been a pretty good phase of your career, post‑childbirth? PAULA RADCLIFFE: Yeah, and a great phase of my life in general. I think I wouldn't have got to where I achieved in running without the support of Gary, my husband, and my coaches in the beginning, and then Gary took over. And my parents as well. My grandma was a big inspiration. I think one of the things that was a goal of mine before I thought about any goals in running was to become a mother, and nothing can ever top that. So they are then the two most special people in my life, and to be able to share that magic of New York with them now, to be able to bring them here because they're on school holidays, and Raphael has never been to New York. So he's getting to experience that. And they'll get to experience a little bit of how special it is on Sunday to be here in New York City for the marathon. GEOFF WIGHTMAN: He was doing well on his coloring book in the hospitality room earlier, wasn't he? What does the future hold for you? You're a BBC pundit now, looking to get involved in the co‑regime at the IAAF. What do the years hold for you post‑racing? PAULA RADCLIFFE: First, hopefully, to include running in my life a lot. To be able to take part in events and experience the other side of it, just kind of the magic of running in the mass races and just seeing people take part in races, build towards races, and achieve their goals in those. That's really special. And I think the commentating side of it, I really enjoy. If you can't be out there in the arena taking part, then the next best thing is to be watching other people and to be able to try and commentate on that. So that's really good fun. And, yes, I've always said that in my heart I really feel like I want to give a lot back to a sport that's given a huge amount to me. I've always had a passionate fight against doping. So I think that is an area that I really want to be involved in. We'll see how the IAAF moves forward now under the leadership, and I think it's going in a positive direction, and it's one I'd like to help on. GEOFF WIGHTMAN: Congratulations on your induction. I know you don't do applause, but let's hear it for a very special class of 2015. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|