United Kingdom's Leeds Metropolitan University has bestowed an honorary doctorate degree on World distance running legend, Ethiopian Athlete Haile Gebresselase at the closing ceremony of the 16th CAA African Athletics championships in Addis Ababa.
The World Class athlete received the degree in sport science in the presence of tens of thousands of his fans at the Addis Ababa stadium.
At an awards ceremony held at the Addis Ababa stadium in front of a packed capacity crowd of 35,000, Gebrselassie received the honorary doctorate degree from Professor Simon Lee, Vice Chancellor of the Leeds Metropolitan University.
Professor Lee, described Haile as "an ambassador of sport to Ethiopia and Africa to the world". Haile then thanked the audience for supporting him through his achievements.
Haile has broken 25 world records and won numerous Olympic and World Championship titles, and is widely considered as one of the greatest distance runners in history, and he currently holds the Marathon world record.
Leeds Metropolitan University is one of the largest universities in the England, with over 52,000 students and 3,500 staff.