that Hailu dude (or Biniam? Biniyam? Ghirmay? Girmaye? Grmaye? - I'll just stick with Hailu, I guess) seems to be even stronger than expected... definitely not your typical kind of "sprinter", by the look of it.
Eritrean & Ethiopian names don't work like we're used to:
His own given name is Biniyam
[1]. That is followed by his father's name, Ghirmay
[2], and further by his father's father's name, Hailu
[3]. In theory, the list could go on.
On 6 February 2000, Ghirmay, son of Hailu, had a son, and he named that son Biniyam. Said Biniyam is now a rather successful cyclist - but, like people from e.g. Iceland, he doesn't have a family name as such.
The captain of Iceland's football national team is known to every Icelander as "Aron". "Gunnarsson" is only ever used if necessary to distinguish from other Arons. I imagine that it's similar in Eritrea/Ethiopia; this rider would call himself Biniyam first and foremost.
If we have to adhere to the European custom of family names, Ghirmay is a far better 'substitute' than Hailu. But I imagine that whoever fills out forms for UCI licences in the Eritrean cycling federation doesn't care about all of that and simply takes the names as they are, putting "Biniyam Ghirmay" in the first field (because that's the 'important' part, right?), and "Hailu" in the second field ... not realising that it's the second field that is for the 'surname'.
The same way that other
riders are called Daniel Teklehaimanot or Natnael Berhane and not Daniel Girmazion or Natnael Teweldemedhin, this one should be called Biniyam Ghirmay and not Biniyam Hailu.
