My father thought sport was something fun - he didn't know it was a way to make money. Then I won a Mercedes at the world championships and I gave it to him. From the moment it arrived my father said: 'Good, you can support not just yourself but me too'.

I have to change a lot of things before I become a good marathon runner.

What is important is to win.

I feel a social responsibility. We need to open people's eyes. There is a lack of education in Ethiopia.

If I don't train enough, of course I'm nervous.

If you are a really good marathoner, you have to run New York.

My school was six miles away from where I lived on the farm. I had to walk and run, there and back every day, through gorges and over rivers. If I was late, there was a very big stick waiting for me.