Marcus Haar
 Haar at the Livingstone International Film Festival in July 2019 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Marcus William Haar | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nationality | Rhodelander | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | October 27, 1978 Broken Hill, Rhodeland | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 180 cm (5 ft 11 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 87 kg (192 lb) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Spouse(s) | Alexander Haar (m. 2012) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country |  Rhodeland | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Athletics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Event(s) | 100 meters, 4x100 m relay | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| College team | Rhodeland Leopards | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | Southern Athletics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Retired | 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Achievements and titles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal best(s) |
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Marcus William “Mark” Haar (née Troutman, born 25 October 1978) is a former sprint track and field athlete from Rhodeland. Haar is the President and CEO of Cinema Centers, his family’s company, which is the largest family-owned operator of movie theaters in Rhodeland. Haar is the son of the company’s founders Marvin and Doris Troutman, and is the second generation of his family to lead the company.
At the XXX Grand Olympic Games he became the first Rhodelander male in history to reach the 100 m sprint final in an international championship event. He finished second in the race, with 10.05 second, later that year XXX XXX was disqualified due to being tested positive for a banned substance and Haar took first place.
He is a former World Record holder in the 100 metre sprint with 9.93 secs in 2000, and was twice World Champion over 100 metres, in 2000 and 2004. He also won an Olympic gold medal in the 4 x 100 metres relay in 2004. His 100 m personal best was set in 2002 at 9.90 secs, for which he holds the Rhodelander national records at men's 100 m. Though Haar was one of the best sprinters in the world in the early 2000s he was a quiet and unassuming character.
Early life
Athletic career
Career after retiring from athletics
Personal life
In 2007, Haar denied rumors to Popular magazine that he was gay. After his Popular magazine interview he begin dating Princess XXX of XXX, a great-great granddaughter of XXX XX of XXX, which was a cover for his homosexuality. The two dated from 2007 to 2009. They became engaged on 31 December 2008. Then on 21 June 2009, it was announced that Haar had ended the engagement. He released a statement in which he stated “The problem is with me and not with XXX. With our wedding invitation sent out over the weekend it made me realize that I wasn’t ready for marriage and everything that it entailed. I wished XXX all the happiness in the world and thanked her for all of the great times that we’ve had together.” Princess XX of XXX later revealed that she no idea that Haar was gay and he had ended their relationship as he was leaving to return home to Broken Hill, and had not contacted her since their break-up.
However in 2010 he came out as gay with a letter he wrote to the media saying that he “could no longer in good conscience keep pretending that he was something he wasn’t.” Haar said it was a very tough decision to speak out about his private life and struggles, due to his status as a teen idol and sex symbol, becoming the first Olympic medalist from Rhodeland by winning the 100 metres at the XXX Summer Olympics and winning several international championships, which generated huge media attention that really focused on his looks and not on his accomplishments. The letter also said that he had attempted suicide multiple times before coming out as gay and said: "when someone asked me if that was my cry for help, I said no. You only cry for help if you believe that you can be helped.”
Haar dated businessman Nicholas Romero in late 2010, before splitting up less than a year later in 2011.
Haar met his future husband Alexander Haar, while they were competing in the 2009 Livingstone Triathlon, but the two did not begin dating until late 2011 after Haar relationship with Romero had ended. They were engaged in April 2012 and married on 1 January 2013, when same-sex marriage law reforms that passed in June 2012 came into effect. In honor of his marriage to Haar, he legally changed his last name from Troutman to Haar. Together, they have two children: a son Alexander James “AJ”, who was born to a surrogate mother on 11 October 2014 and a daughter Jennifer Rose, was born to the couple by the same surrogate mother on 1 June 2016.
They currently live in Summerdale, which is an affluent suburb of Livingstone, Rhodeland.