Ethiopia
From WikiRun
| Ethiopia (ETH) | |
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| Olympic Group | Ethiopian Olympic Committee |
|---|---|
| Governing Body | Ethiopian Athletics Federation (EAF) |
| Olympic Medal Count | Gold: 18 Silver: 6 Bronze: 14[1] |
Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is situated in the Horn of Africa. Ethiopia is bordered by Eritrea to the north, Sudan to the west, Kenya to the south, Somalia to the east and Djibouti to the north-east.
Ethiopia has some of the best middle-distance and long-distance runners in the world. Kenya and Morocco are often its opponents in World Championships and Olympic middle and long-distance events. In the middle of this decade, two Ethiopians dominate the long-distance running scene, mainly: Haile Gebrselassie (World champion and Olympic champion) who has set over twenty new world records and currently holds the 20 km, half-marathon, 25 km, and marathon world record, and Kenenisa Bekele (World champion, World cross country champion, and Olympic champion), who holds the 5,000 m and 10,000 m world records. Ethiopia has also had various successful sweeps by taking all three medals in various world competitions, including during the Olympics. Recently, Ethiopian women runners have joined the men in dominating athletics, particularly the multi-gold medalists Meseret Defar and Tirunesh Dibaba.[2][3][4] Ethiopia has added more events to the list of its preeminence in athletics, including the steeplechase which Legese Lamiso recently took the top honors.[5]
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Notable Eithiopian runners
Ethiopian distance-runners include:
- Kenenisa Bekele, won two gold medals for the men's 10K.
- Derartu Tulu, the first woman from Africa to win an Olympic gold medal, doing so over 10,000 metres at Barcelona.
- Abebe Bikila, the first Olympic champion representing an African nation, won the Olympic marathon in 1960 and 1964, setting world records both times. He is well-known to this day for winning the 1960 marathon in Rome while running barefoot.
- Mamo Wolde, won a gold and bronze medal for the marathon.
- Miruts Yifter, the first in a line of Ethiopians known for their brilliant finishing speed, won gold at 5,000 and 10,000 metres at the 1980 Moscow Olympics.
- Addis Abebe,
- Gebregziabher Gebremariam,
- Belayneh Densamo,
- Werknesh Kidane,
- Tirunesh Dibaba,
- Meseret Defar,
- Million Wolde,
- Assefa Mezgebu
2008 Olympics
Men
| Athlete | Events | Heat | Quarterfinal | Semifinal | Final | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Result | Rank | Result | Rank | Result | Rank | Result | Rank | ||
| Kenenisa Bekele | 5,000 m | 13:40.13 | 3 Q | 12.57.82  |
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| 10,000 m | 27.01.17 |
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| Sileshi Sihine | 10,000 m | 27.02.77 |  |
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| Tsegay Kebede | Maratthon | 2.10.00 |  |
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| Deriba Merga | Marathon | 2:10:21 | 4 | ||||||
| Gashaw Asfaw | Marathon | 2:10:52 | 7 | ||||||
| Abreham Cherkos Feleke | 5,000 m | 13:47.60 | 3 Q | 13:16.46 | 5 | ||||
| Tariku Bekele | 5,000 m | 13:37.63 | 3 Q | 13:19.06 | 6 | ||||
| Haile Gebrselassie | 10,000 m | 27:06.68 | 6 | ||||||
| Mulugeta Wendimu | 1,500 m | 3:36.67 | Q | 3:40.16 | Did not advance | ||||
| Deresse Mekonnen | 1,500 m | 3:36.22 | Q | 3:37.85 | Did not advance | ||||
| Demma Daba | 1,500 m | 3:37.78 | Did not advance | ||||||
| Yacob Jarso | 3,000 Steeplechase | 8:16.88 PB | Q | 8:13.47 NR | 4 | ||||
| Nahom Mesfin | 3,000 Steeplechase | 8:23.82 | Did not advance | ||||||
| Roba Gary | 3,000 Steeplechase | 8:28.27 | Did not advance | ||||||
Women
| Athlete | Events | Heat Round 1 | Heat Round 2 | Semifinal | Final | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Result | Rank | Result | Rank | Result | Rank | Result | Rank | ||
| Tirunesh Dibaba | 5000 m | 15:09.89 | Q | 15.41.40 | |
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| 10,000 m | 29.54.66 |
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| Meseret Defar | 5000 m | 14:56.32 | Q | 15:44.12 | |
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| Meselech Melkamu | 5000 m | 15:11.21 | Q | 15:49.03 | 8 | ||||
| Ejegayehu Dibaba | 10,000 m | 31:22.18 | 14 | ||||||
| Mestawet Tufa | 10,000 m | did not finish | |||||||
| Zemzem Ahmed | 3,000 steeplechase | 9:25.63 | PB Q | 9:17.85 | 7 NR | ||||
| Mekdes Bekele | 3,000 steeplechase | 9:41.43 | did not advance | ||||||
| Sofia Assefa | 3,000 steeplechase | 9:47.02 | did not advance | ||||||
| Dire Tune | Women's marathon | 2:31:16 | 15 | ||||||
| Gete Wami | Women's marathon | did not finish | |||||||
| Berhane Adere | Women's marathon | did not finish | |||||||
Doping controversies
The winner of the 2007 Hawaii Marathon, Ambesse Tolossa of Ethiopia tested positive for a banned substance -- an opioid, apparently morphine. His national athletics organization followed up with a ban on the distance runner. Here is the report from Runner's web:
Ethiopian athletics has been rocked by the news today that marathon runner Ambesse Tolossa has been convicted of a doping offence and has been banned from all competitions for the coming two years. The 29-year old, who was a member of Ethiopian national teams in the last Olympics in Athens and the last two editions of the IAAF World Championships, failed an in-competition doping test for the banned substance morphine after winning the 2007 Honolulu Marathon last December. He has now been stripped off his title and will not receive the prize money winnings which were pending clearance of a drugs test. The Ethiopian Athletics Federation (EAF) has now banned the athlete for two years through Feb. 4, 2010. The runner appears surprised by the test result, which is interesting -- morphine exhibits a short half life, but must be detectable for a longer period of time in urine. In an exclusive interview with, Tolosa has denied knowingly taking any banned substance. "I have not knowingly taken any banned substance," he said. "I do not even know what morphine is before I was informed by the Ethiopian Athletics Federation that I had taken the substance." Tolosa says he is yet unsure about his next course of action: whether to accept the ban or appeal the decision with the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) or the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). "I have been told that I have no choice but to accept the ban," he said. "I still do not know how the substance got into my body and if given the opportunity, I want to prove my innocence." In Olympic sports, there is a strict liability policy, meaning that an athlete is responsible for any banned substance which enters his or her body, regardless of intent. However, penalties are usually reduced for inadvertent violations if the athlete can demonstrate such was the case. Unlike many of the world's high profile doping cases, Tolosa did not test positive for a performance-enhancing drug like EPO or steroids, but morphine, which is a strong pain reliever found in both his "A" and "B" test samples. Opiates are included in the World Anti-Doping Agency's list of prohibited substances. Tolosa claims that he had taken pain relievers two times before his test returned positive. He has presented evidence that he took medication to relieve pain caused by food poisoning, but no residues of morphine have been identified in that medicine. He has yet to present evidence that he was also injected with an analgesic during a dental operation last year. "Since this is a first offence, he will be ineligible for two years," said Ayalew Tilahun, Ethiopian team doctor. "The whole process has taken us around six months after Ambesse denied taking any banned substances. But the evidence is conclusive and overwhelming and he has now been informed of the ban." Tolosa's is the first high profile doping offence by an Ethiopian athlete after Alene Emere Reta was also sanctioned after an out-of-competition drugs test in 2003 while he was competing in Japan. He now competes in the United States.[6]