He has set 17 world records over four different distances, but even Haile Gebreselassie (32) couldn't outrun Dublin's traffic snarl. The Ethiopian athletics legend was over an hour late yesterday for what was possibly the shortest run in his career, a 200m trot through St Stephen's Green on behalf of Trócaire.
Gebreselassie, a diminutive figure who has captured two Olympic titles and eight world championship golds, was in Dublin for the first time to help wind up the aid agency's Lenten campaign. Followed by hundreds of the school students who helped raise millions in this year's campaign, he jogged handily from the park entrance to the bandstand.
He said he was delighted to be in Ireland: "I am a witness to the work Trócaire have done in my home country for many years, and so I am very pleased to be associated with their efforts to improve conditions there."
The athlete also met Minister of State for Overseas Aid Conor Lenihan at the Department of Foreign Affairs to highlight the need for continued support in the east African state before he closed the 2005 Trócaire appeal.
