Alemayehu Shumye Tafere (1988 – 11 January 2013;

Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; am, አዲስ አበባ, , new flower ; also known as , lit. "natural spring" in Oromo), is the capital and largest city of Ethiopia. It is also served as major administrative center of the Oromia Region. In the 2007 census, t ...

, Ethiopia) was an Ethiopian

long-distance runner Long-distance running, or endurance running, is a form of continuous running over distances of at least . Physiologically, it is largely Aerobic exercise, aerobic in nature and requires endurance, stamina as well as mental strength. Within e ...

who specialised in

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...

running. Born in

Nazret Adama (Oromo language, Oromo: ' or ', Amharic: አዳማ), formerly Nazreth ( am, ናዝሬት), is a city in the central Oromia Region of Ethiopia. Located in the East Shewa Zone southeast of the capital, Addis Ababa, the city sits between t ...

, he took up running seriously in 2004 when he moved to

with the hope of emulating the success of

Haile Gebrselassie Haile Gebrselassie ( am, ኀይሌ ገብረ ሥላሴ, ''haylē gebre silassē''; born 18 April 1973) is an Ethiopian retired long-distance track, road running athlete, and businessman. He won two Olympic gold medals and four World Champions ...

. He made his marathon debut in 2008 at the Marathon del Riso in

Vercelli Vercelli (; pms, Vërsèj ), is a city and ''comune'' of 46,552 inhabitants (January 1, 2017) in the Province of Vercelli, Piedmont, northern Italy. One of the oldest urban sites in northern Italy, it was founded, according to most historians, ...

and won the race in a time of 2:14:33. He ran in two other marathons that year, winning the

Warsaw Marathon The Warsaw Marathon ( Polish: ''Maraton Warszawski'' pronunced: , also referred to as the PZU Warsaw Marathon) is an annual marathon event which takes place on the streets of Warsaw, Poland. It is the oldest annual marathon in Poland, held since 1 ...

in 2:11:50 – a course record and personal best – and then breaking the course record to win the

Beirut Marathon The Beirut Marathon, is an annual event that takes place in Beirut, Lebanon, first held in 2003. It is a founding member of Asian Premier Marathons, and was accredited as a Silver Label Road Race by the IAAF. Unifying members of all politica ...

in November. He came tenth at the Zurich Marathon in 2009 and significantly improved his personal best at the Frankfurt Marathon, running a time of 2:08:46 for fifth place as the only non-Kenyan to reach the top eight. He was among the leaders of the

Xiamen Marathon The Xiamen International Marathon () is an annual marathon race held in January in the coastal city of Xiamen in Fujian province, People's Republic of China. It is one of the prominent marathon races of the year. More than 50,000 runners took p ...

in January 2010, but fell back at the 35 km mark, eventually taking fifth place. He returned to the race the following year and took third place in 2:09:58, his second sub-2:10 clocking. In his second run of 2011 he finished in the top five of the Rotterdam Marathon, again running under two hours and ten minutes. He was one of six men to go under the previous course record at the

Ljubljana Marathon The Ljubljana Marathon ( sl, Ljubljanski maraton) is a marathon organised in Ljubljana by the City Municipality of Ljubljana (MOL). It has been taking place since 1996 and attracts several thousand people each year. History The marathon was ...

in October, but did not make the podium with his fifth-place finish. Shumye won the

Gold Coast Marathon The Gold Coast Marathon is an annual road marathon on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, first held in 1979. Marketed as "Australia's premier road race", the marathon is the only race in Australia to hold World Athletics Label status. ...

on 1 July 2012 in

Gold Coast, Queensland The Gold Coast is a coastal city in the state of Queensland, Australia, approximately south-southeast of the centre of the state capital Brisbane. With a population over 600,000, the Gold Coast is the sixth-largest city in Australia, the nati ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. He died in a car accident in

on January 11, 2013, aged 24 years.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shumye, Alemayehu 1988 births 2013 deaths Sportspeople from Oromia Region Ethiopian male long-distance runners Ethiopian male marathon runners Road incident deaths in Ethiopia 20th-century Ethiopian people 21st-century Ethiopian people