On paper, Jos Hermens is an agent for athletes. In reality, however, the Dutchman, who is the elite athletes’ coordinator at the Mumbai Marathon, is more like a family member to many long-distance runners -- prominent among them is the legendary Haile Gebrselassie.
Haile Gebreselassie. Pic/Getty Images.
Not many know that it was Hermens, who spotted the talent in Gebrselassie back in 1991 when the Ethiopian was just an unknown 18-year-old. Hermens, who owns an athlete-management company, was observing the Ethiopian national cross-country championships at Jan Meda when Gebrselassie, who finished fifth, caught his eye.
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Haile Gebreselassie. Pic/Getty Images.
“Haile is like my son. I met him when he was 18. He had finished fifth in the national championships. Normally, as a manager, you speak to the first three finishers and try and take them on board as they are the best. But I liked his (Gebrselassie’s) style of running and I particularly liked his personality immediately. He came up to me and, in whatever little English he could speak, said, ‘Me Europe, me Europe’.”
Jos Hermens
A few years later, Hermens signed Gebrselassie and he became like a father figure to the double Olympic gold medallist (1996 Atlanta Games and 2000 Sydney Olympics). In fact, some years ago when Gebrselassie’s brother was in a Holland hospital, it was Hermens, who took care of him.
Now as Gebrselassie begins his campaign to run for a parliamentary seat in the 2015 elections, Hermens finds it impossible to talk about his most famous ward without a hint of pride in his voice. “Now next year he will go into politics and I believe he can be the president of Ethiopia one day. It will mean a lot for Ethiopia and all of Africa. I don’t think he’s even completed primary school but he’s learnt at the university of life,” Hermens signed off.
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