As the year ends, let's take a look at the senior World Indoor and Outdoor records broken in 2007.

Extrack from the IAAF 2007 Yearbook

Haile Gebrselassie, Ethiopia
27 June 2007, Ostrava, Czech Republic - 20,000 metres: 56:25.98; One hour: 21,285 metres
30 September 2007, Berlin, Germany - Marathon: 2:04:26


When he finally decided to turn his full attention to the marathon in 2002, Haile Gebrselassie knew that the classic 42.197 kilometre distance would pose significant challenges that even he, with his wealth of racing experience, could not predict.

He experienced and confronted head-on many of those in each of his six marathon excursions prior to this year’s real-,Berlin Marathon, and while he quickly established himself as one of the fastest marathoners in history, he continued to come up a little short in his highly publicized World record attempts.

During a largely solo run at the 2006 Berlin race, the legendary Ethiopian challenged Paul Tergat’s 2:04:55 World record for just over 35 kilometres. But with the winds battering and temperatures rising over the final stretch, he was reminded again how truly challenging Tergat’s performance is to surpass.

But that changed during his second attempt through the streets of the German capital in September. Blessed by near ideal conditions, the two-time Olympic champion finally conquered one of his two primary marathon goals with his 2:04:26 performance, shattering the mark set in 2003 by his Kenyan rival and friend.