You need three things to win: discipline, hard work and, before everything maybe, commitment. No one will make it without those three. Sport teaches you that.
Once you have commitment, you need the discipline and hard work to get you there.
When you run the marathon, you run against the distance, not against the other runners and not against the time.
This hand is not very active always, because it was in this hand that I carried my books. My carrying hand was always my strongest. Now I think my other hand has developed more muscles from signing all those autographs.
Always, if you win mentally, you can win physically as well.
I used to run to school, 10k every day. And this at altitude, perfect preparation, really.
If I don't train enough, of course I'm nervous.
Many people know that Ethiopia is poor. When I break a world record, maybe people get to know something else about Ethiopia, something good. We can't make planes or cars, we don't have the materials. We do what we can.
That is not enough. Sport has been great for me, a great learning place that if you want to achieve you can, even if you are from the poorest part of Africa.
I love running and I will always run.
At the moment I am a little bit politician, yes. I think that could be my next step. It is not because I want power, it is because of what I think I could do for the people.
First, do enough training. Then believe in yourself and say: I can do it. Tomorrow is my day. And then say: the person in front of me, he is just a human being as well; he has two legs, I have two legs, that is all. That is mentally how you prepare.
When I wake up at 5 in the morning is it just to jog? Definitely not, I give it all of my efforts.
Some people start a sport just to reduce weight, or some say, 'My doctor ordered me to run and do exercise', and for others, they run for completely different benefits. But it is not like that with sport. We need to eat, we need to rest, but also we need to run.
This is what I wanted. They tell me that London is the best field in history. I wanted to be part of that. Because everyone will be there it will be a wonderful challenge for me. You can see the best runners, how they look, how they run. For me to beat the best is what counts.
In the rainy season, sometimes to get to the first lesson we had to run really quick, because we had to cross the river to school and we'd have to go up and down the bank to find a place to cross because there is no bridge.
When you promise something, you must fulfill it.
If you're planning only to make money and nothing else, you'll be broke.
You know for me when I promise something I want to deliver. If you don't, you have to disappear.
When I run in Ethiopia, I look out and see eucalyptus trees and rivers.
