Sileshi Sihine

Sileshi Sihine (Amharic: ስለሺ ስህኔ; born January 29, 1983 in Sheno) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner.

This article is about a person whose name includes a patronymic. The article properly refers to the person by their given name, Sileshi, and not as Sihine.

Sileshi Sihine

Sileshi Sihine at a press conference at the 2007 World Championships in Athletics
Medal record
Men's athletics
Representing  Ethiopia
Olympic Games
	2004 Athens	10,000 metres
	2008 Beijing	10,000 metres
World Championships
	2005 Helsinki	5000 metres
	2005 Helsinki	10,000 meters
	2007 Osaka	10,000 metres
	2003 Paris	10,000 metres
All-Africa Games
	2003 Abuja	10000 m

Sihine won silver medals in the 10,000 metres at both the 2004 Athens Olympics and the 2008 Beijing Olympics as well as at the 2005 World Championships and 2007 World Championships as well as a bronze medal in 2003. He also picked up a silver medal in the 5000 m at the 2005 World Championships.

Career

Junior career

Sihine began running at school, inspired by the achievements of compatriot Haile Gebrselassie.

After success at the junior level, he emerged as a leading senior athlete.

2002-2003

In cross country, he won the Cross Internacional de Venta de Baños in 2002 and 2003.[1]

Sihine was one of the three Ethiopians, along with Kenenisa Bekele and Gebrselassie, who swept the gold, silver, and bronze medals in the 10,000 metres at the 2003 World Championships in Paris. Sihine then won the 10,000 metres at the 2003 Afro-Asian Games.

2004

Sihine won a bronze medal at the World Cross Country Championships. He also won a silver medal in the 10,000 metres at the Summer Olympic Gamess in Athens, behind Bekele.[2][3][4]

2005

Sihine won a silver medal in the 10,000 metres, behind Bekele, and the silver medal in the 5000 metres at the World Championships in Helsinki, Finland.

2006

At the World Cross Country Championships, Sihine finished second behind Bekele.[5]

2007

At the World Championships in Osaka, Sihine took the silver medal in the 10,000 metres, again finishing behind Bekele.

2008

He yet again took a silver medal in the 10,000 metres behind Bekele at the Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, China.

2011

In May, Sihine finished fifth in the 5000 metres at the Samsung DL Golden Gala in Rome, Italy.[6]

Nine days later at the Prefontaine Classic 10,000 metres in Eugene, Oregon, he finished in sixth place, 6.27 seconds behind winner Mohamed Farah.[7]

Sihine attempted his first marathon race at the Amsterdam Marathon, but dropped out after 36 kilometres.[8]

2012

On 7 June, Sihine finished seventh in the 5000 metres at the ExxonMobil Bislett Games in Oslo, Norway.[9] Two weeks later at a 10 kilometre road race in Birmingham, U.K., Sihine finished fourth, just 1.06 seconds behind Bekele, the winner.[10]

2015

In February, he was elected president of the newly formed Ethiopian Athletes’ Association.[11]

Personal life

Sileshi Sihine is married to three-time Olympic champion athlete Tirunesh Dibaba. Their wedding was broadcast live on national television.

Achievements

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Event	Notes
Representing  Ethiopia
2002	World Junior Championships	Kingston, Jamaica	2nd	10,000 metres	29:03.74
2003	World Championships	Paris, France	3rd	10,000 metres	27:01.44
	All-Africa Games	Abuja, Nigeria	1st	10,000 metres	27:42.13
	Afro-Asian Games	Hyderabad, India	1st	10,000 metres	27:48.40
2004	Olympic Games	Athens, Greece	2nd	10,000 metres	27:09.39
	IAAF World Athletics Final	Monte Carlo, Monaco	1st	5,000 metres	13:06.95
2005	World Championships	Helsinki, Finland	2nd	5,000 metres	13:32.81
			2nd	10,000 metres	27:08.87
	World Half Marathon Championships	Edmonton, Canada	4th	Half marathon	1:01:14
2007	World Championships	Osaka, Japan	2nd	10,000 metres	27:09.03
2008	Olympic Games	Beijing, China	2nd	10,000 metres	27:02.77

Personal bests

The following are his personal bests:[12]

Surface	Event	Time (m:s)	Venue	Date
Outdoor track	3000 metres	7:29.92	Rieti, Italy	28 August 2005
	5000 metres	12:47.04	Rome, Italy	2 July 2004
	10,000 metres	26:39.69	Hengelo, Netherlands	31 May 2004
Road	10 kilometres	27:56	Nijmegen, Netherlands	21 November 2004
	15 kilometres	41:38	Nijmegen, Netherlands	21 November 2004
	20 kilometres	58:09	Edmonton, Canada	1 October 2005
	Half marathon	1:01:14	Edmonton, Canada	1 October 2005
Indoor	3000 metres	7;41.18	Stuttgart, Germany	31 January 2004
	Two miles	8:27.03	Boston, U.S.	28 January 2006
	5000 metres	13:06.72	Stockholm, Sweden	2 February 2006

References

1. Valiente, Emeterio (22 December 2003). "Sihine in a class of his own in Venta de Baños". International Association of Athletics Federations. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
2. "Brilliant Bekele takes gold". BBC Sport. 20 August 2004.
3. "Haile farewell". International Association of Athletics Federations.
4. 2004 Athens Olympics YouTube video: Men's 10000m
5. World Cross Country Championships Archived 2007-09-29 at the Wayback Machine - sports123.com
6. "5000 METRES MEN - SAMSUNG DL GOLDEN GALA". International Association of Athletics Federations. 7 June 2012. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
7. "10,000 METRES MEN - PREFONTAINE CLASSIC". International Association of Athletics Federations. 4 June 2011. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
8. van Hemert, Wim (16 October 2011). "Chebet sizzles sub-2:06, course record for Gelana in Amsterdam". International Association of Athletics Federations. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
9. "5000 METRES MEN - EXXONMOBIL BISLETT GAMES". International Association of Athletics Federations. 7 June 2012. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
10. "2012 Aviva UK Olympic Trials & National Championships". FloTrack. 22 June 2012. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
11. Berhanu, Markos (4 February 2015). "Sileshi Sihine elected president of newly formed Ethiopian Athletes' Association". Retrieved 2 April 2015.
12. "Sileshi Sihine - Athlete Profile". International Association of Athletics Federations. Retrieved 21 July 2017.

External links

• Sileshi Sihine at World Athletics
• IAAF Focus on Athletes article

Sporting positions
Preceded by Richard Yatich	Men's Zevenheuvelenloop Winner (15 km) 2004	Succeeded by Haile Gebrselassie