Letesenbet Gidey

Letesenbet Gidey (in Amharic ለተሰንበት ግደይ፣), born 20 March 1998, is an Ethiopian long-distance runner.[1][2] She is the 2015 and 2017 U20 Cross Country World Champion, the fourth woman to win back-to-back titles.

Letesenbet Gidey

Letesenbet Gidey in 2016
Personal information
Nationality	Ethiopian
Born	(1998-03-20) 20 March 1998 Endameskel, Tigray Region, Ethiopia
Sport
Country	Ethiopia
Sport	Athletics
Event(s)	Track and road running
Medal record Woman's athletics Representing  Ethiopia World Championships 2019 Doha 10,000 m World Cross Country Championships 2015 Guiyang Junior race 2015 Guiyang Team 2017 Kampala Junior race 2017 Kampala Team 2019 Aarhus Team 2019 Aarhus Senior race

At the 2019 World Championships in Doha, Gidey won the silver medalist in the 10,000m.

Early life

Gidey won a 3000 m + 2000 m steeplechase run at the Ethiopian School Championships in 2012.[3]

Career

2014

Letesenbet Gidey ran the 5000 m at the Ethiopian Championships on 14. June. Almaz Ayana won in a time of 16:11.40 ahead of Kidsan Alema in 16:13.48 and Gidey went for third place in 16:19.30.[4][5]

2015

Letesenbet Gidey won the Jan Meda Cross Country Junior race on a 6 km course. Her winning time was 20:30, with Dagmawit Kbru 20:31 as the runner up.[6]

Gidey went to the 2015 IAAF World Cross Country Championship in Guiyang, China on 28 March. She won the U20 World title on the 6030 m course in a time of 19:48 in addition to the team title. At the age of 17, she became the youngest junior women's winner in 15 years. Fellow Ethiopians Dera Dida finished second and Etagegne Woldu third, in 19:49 and 19:53 respectively.[7]

Gidey won a 5000 m run in Bottrop on 21. June 2015 in a time of 15:39.83. The runner up was Jana Groß-Hardt in 17:06.33. Originally Gidey was disqualified because she stepped on a marking on the track. Groß-Hardt went to the top of the podium during the winner ceremony. Gidey objected to this decision reasoning that this mistepp didn't gave her an unfair advantage, as a result of that her win was reinstated.[8][9][10]

On 15. July Gidey ran the 3000 m girls at the World Athletics U18 Championships in Cali, Colombia. Shuru Bulo (Ethiopia) won in a time of 9:01.12 and Emily Chebet Kipchumba (Kenya) second place in 9:02.92. Sheila Chelangat (Kenya) went for third place with 9:04.54 and Gidey came in fourth in 9:04.64.[11]

2016

Letensenbet Gidey ran the 5000 meters in Hengelo, Netherlands on 22 May. She won in a time of 14:58.44 on a 6 km course.[12] Zeyneba Yimer finished second in 21:37 and Hawi Feyisa placed third with a time of 21:44.[13]

About a month later on 30 June she ran the 5000m at the Mitin Internacional Ciutat de Barcelona which she won in 14:45.63 defeating Genzebe Dibaba who dropped out after 3600m[14]

2017

Gidey won the women's junior run at the Ethiopian Cross Country championships on 13. February in Addis Ababa.

On 26 March 2017, Gidey ran in the U20 IAAF World Cross Country Championship's women's race. She finished first on the 6 km course in Kampala, Uganda. Hawi Feysa (Ethiopia) finished in second place with Celliphine Chespol (Kenya) ranked third.[15]

She competed in the women's 5000 metres at the 2017 World Championships in Athletics.[16] She advanced to the finals and finished 11th out of 14 starters. The final was won by Hellen Obiri (Kenya) in a time of 14:34.86, the Silver medal went to Almaz Ayana (Ethiopia) with 14:40.35 and Bronze to Sifan Hassan (Netherlands) with 14:42.74.[17]

2018

Gidey won the sixth race of the IAAF Cross Country Permit runs in San Vittore Olona, Italy. Her winning time was 18:14 on a 6 km course, Daisy Jepkemei (Kenay) finished second place in 18:18.[18]

She ran the 5000 meters in Eugene, USA on 26 May. Gidey placed second in a time of 14:30.29.[12] Genzebe Dibaba (Ethiopia) won in 14:26.89 and Hellen Obiri (Kenya) placed third in 14:35.03.[19]

2019

On 10. February 2019 Gidey ran the Jan Meda Cross Country run in Addis Adaba. The women's 10 km race saw Dera Dida as the winner in 35:50 and Gidey placed second in 35:55.[20]

In the 2019 edition of the IAAF World Cross Country Championship, Gidey participated in the women's senior race. The 5000 m world champion Hellen Obiri (Kenya) won on the 10.2 km course in Aarhus, Denmark. Obiri's winning time was 36:14, with Dera Dida as the runner up and Gidey taking the Bronze medal.

Letesenbet Gidey raced the 10000 m at the Ethiopian National championships in Addis Abeba on 8. May. She won in a time of 32:10.2 and Tsehay Gemechu finished second with 32:17.2.[21][22][23]

On 19 May, Gidey ran the 10k Bengaluru. She placed second, with Agnes Tirop (Kenya) as the winner and Senbere Teferi (Ethiopia) finished third place all 3 women with the same time of 33:55.[24][25]

At the 30. June Diamond League meet in Stanford Gidey went for third place in a 3000 m race. The winner was by Sifan Hassan in 8:18.49 a European record and Konstanze Klosterhalfen of Germany as the runner up in 8:20.07 and Gidey with 8:20.27.[26][27] 7 of the top 15 runners ran a personal best.[28][29]

She won the women's 10000 m Ethiopian trials on 17 July. Her winning time on the track in Hengelo, Netherlands was 30:37.89 and World half marathon champion Netsanet Gudeta was the runner up in 30:40.85.[30]

At the 2019 Diamond League final in Brussels, Gidey finished second in the 5000 m. She crossed the finish line in 14:29.54 after the winner Sifan Hassan (Netherlands) in 14:26.26. Konstanze Klosterhalfen the German record holder placed third in 14:29.89 and the Kenyan World champion Hellen Obiri in 14:33.90.[31][32]

On 28. Sep, Gidey became the silver medalist in the 10000m at the 2019 World Championship in Doha. The run was won by Sifan Hassan (Netherlands) in a time of 30:17.33, a new Dutch national record. Gidey finished in 30:21.23, with Agnes Tirop (Kenia) coming in third placed in 30:25.50.[33]

On 17. Nov, Gidey set a new world best over 15km in 44:20 at the Zevenheuvelenloop road race in Nijmegen, improving the previous world record of Joyciline Jepkosgei by over a minute and becoming the first woman to run 15km under 45 minutes.[34][35] Tirunesh Dibaba set the 15 km world record at the Zevenheuvelenloop with 46:28 in 2009 by improving on the former world record by 27 seconds.[36] Gidey improves on Dibaba's course record by more than 2 minutes.[37] For this world best, Gidey received 50000 €,[38]During the run, she wear Nike Vaporfly running shoes.

Personal bests

Outdoor

Event[12]	Time	Venue	Date
1500 metres	4:11.11	Herouville	15 June 2017
3000 metres	8:20.27	Palo Alto	30 June 2019
5000 metres	14:23.14	Rabat	13 July 2018
10000 metres	30:21.23	Doha	28 September 2019
10 kilometres	33:55	Bangalore	19 May 2019
15 kilometres	44:20*	Nijmegen	17 November 2019

^*with pacemaker[39]

References

1. "Letesenbet Gidey – from reluctant runner to global champion| News | iaaf.org". www.iaaf.org.
2. "Letesenbet Gidey". IAAF. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
3. "Letesenbet Gidey – from reluctant runner to global champion| News". www.worldathletics.org. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
4. "Letesenbet GIDEY | Profile". worldathletics.org. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
5. "Shocks, comebacks and close finishes highlight Ethiopian Championships| News". www.worldathletics.org. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
6. "Yalew and Tola triumph at the Jan Meda International Cross Country| News". www.worldathletics.org. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
7. "Letesenbet Gidey junior women Guiyang | iaaf.org". www.iaaf.org. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
8. Goldmann, Björn (21 June 2015). "Die zweite Auflage der Bottroper NRW-Gala ist ein Erfolg". www.waz.de (in German). Retrieved 29 March 2020.
9. "Offene NRW Meisterschaften Bottrop 21. Juni 2015".
10. "Offene NRW-Meisterschaften der Frauen und Männer 2015 in Bottrop am 21. Juni und NRW-Hammerwurf-Cup am 19. Juni in Olfen". LAZ Rhede (in German). 22 June 2015. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
11. "3000 Metres Result | 9th IAAF World Youth Championships 2015". www.worldathletics.org. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
12. "Letesenbet GIDEY | Profile | iaaf.org". www.iaaf.org.
13. "Gidey, Molla and Dida among the winners at Ethiopian Cross Country Championships | News". www.worldathletics.org. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
14. "Genzebe Dibaba fails to finsh 5k race in Barcelona | Watch Athletics". www.watchathletics.com. Retrieved 1 August 2020.
15. "Gidey cruises to second straight U20 women's title – IAAF World Cross Country Championships Kampala 2017| News | iaaf.org". www.iaaf.org. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
16. "5000 Metres Women". IAAF. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
17. "IAAF 2015 WC 5000 m womens final" (PDF).
18. "Teenage talents Kiplimo and Gidey triumph at Cinque Mulini | News". www.worldathletics.org. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
19. "5000 Metres Result | Prefontaine Classic". www.worldathletics.org. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
20. "Tuemay and Dida take Jan Meda Cross Country victories in Addis| News". www.worldathletics.org. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
21. "Letesenbet GIDEY | Profile". worldathletics.org. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
22. admin. "Ethiopian championships, Addis-Ababa 7-12/05/2019 | Africathle". Retrieved 29 March 2020.
23. "48ኛዉ የኢትዮጵያ አትሌቲክስ ሻምፒዮና 1ኛ ቀን ውሎ |" (in Amharic). 8 May 2019. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
24. "Tata Consultancy Services World 10K Bengaluru". www.worldathletics.org. Retrieved 28 March 2020.
25. "World 10k Bengaluru 2019 results" (PDF).
26. "Results: Prefontaine Classic (Stanford Diamond League) 2019 | Watch Athletics". www.watchathletics.com. Retrieved 28 March 2020.
27. "Konstanze Klosterhalfen und der Lauf in die absolute Weltspitze". www.leichtathletik.de | Das Leichtathletik-Portal. Retrieved 28 March 2020.
28. Dalek, Brian (30 June 2019). "Highlights From Prefontaine Classic: Caster Semenya Triumphs in Return to 800 Meters". Runner's World. Retrieved 28 March 2020.
29. "3000 Metres Result | Prefontaine Classic". www.worldathletics.org. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
30. "Gebrhiwet and Gidey take 10,000m titles at Ethiopian trials in Hengelo| News". www.worldathletics.org. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
31. "Hassan completes Diamond distance double in Brussels – IAAF Diamond League| News". www.worldathletics.org. Retrieved 28 March 2020.
32. "Diamond League 2019 Brussels 5000 m women" (PDF).
33. "Report: women's 10,000m - IAAF World Athletics Championships Doha 2019| News | iaaf.org". www.iaaf.org. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
34. race-news -service.com (18 November 2019). "Äthiopierin Gidey rennt 15-km-Weltbestzeit". runnersworld.de (in German). Retrieved 28 March 2020.
35. "Weergaloos Wereldrecord Voor Letesenbet Gidey Bij Nn Zevenheuvelenloop" (in Dutch). Retrieved 18 November 2019.
36. IAAF.org. "iaaf.org - Dibaba shatters 15Km World record in Nijmegen". web.archive.org. Retrieved 28 March 2020.
37. race-news -service.com (18 November 2019). "Äthiopierin Gidey rennt 15-km-Weltbestzeit". runnersworld.de (in German). Retrieved 29 March 2020.
38. "Letesenbet Gidey breaks 15K world record". Canadian Running Magazine. 17 November 2019. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
39. http://run.hwinter.de/?p=18724

External links

• Letesenbet Gidey at World Athletics

Runners Profile at ARRS *