Friday, July 12, 2013

Running a different kind of race

HAILE GEBRESELASSIE, Ethiopia’s legendary athlete, has confirmed that he is embarking on what could be one of the tougher races of his career. The 40-year-old runner, who has broken 27 world records during an extraordinary career on the track, road and cross country, will stand for parliament at elections expected in 2015. Years of speculation over the future career prospects of one of the country's most popular sportsmen were put to bed on July 10th when he tweeted: “A lot of messages in the news about me going into politics. Yes, I want to be in the parliament in 2015 to help my country to move forward.”

His story is typical of the host of outstanding runners to come out of the Great Rift Valley in Ethiopia and Kenya. As a boy, he ran a daily 12-mile roundtrip to school on the slopes of Mount Chilalo. But his trademark toothy grin, and extraordinary ability to change pace, made him one of only a handful of east African track stars to earn worldwide recognition. That is also due to his unusual longevity: he won his first world title in 1993, for the 10,000m in Stuttgart. He went on to break world records for everything from the 2,000m to the marathon, for which he retains the second-fastest time ever recorded.
Politics in the champion's homeland are a very different kind of competition. The parliament is dominated by the ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), which holds all but one of the 547 seats. Yet Mr Gebreselassie seems undeterred: “I am thinking I can do this in a good way like what I've done in athletics,” he told CCTV, a Chinese broadcaster. He says he will not ally himself with any political party, and aims eventually to run for president. That may signal a preference for a ceremonial role and an intention to avoid a fight with the political establishment. Executive power is wielded largely by the prime minister, a position held by Hailemariam Desalegn, since the death of Meles Zenawi last year; the post of president eschews party affiliation.
Whether or not this marks the end of Mr Gebreselassie’s athletic career is unclear. He retired briefly once before, in 2010, after withdrawing from the New York marathon because of a knee injury. During that period too, the runner flirted with politics, hinting at presidential ambitions. On that occasion the ruling party made no comment, despite his publicly offering one of his winning T-shirts to the prime minister. Mr Meles was credited with delivering strong economic growth and easing Ethiopia's chronic poverty, but he was widely criticised for his authoritarian style and human rights abuses. Mr Gebreselassie may be hoping this time that the passing of the man who ruled Ethiopia for more than two decades has left the country's politicians hungry for a new talisman.
http://www.economist.com

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