Alemu Bekele Gebre (born 23 March 1990) is an Ethiopian professional long-distance runner who competes internationally for

Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...

. He specialises in the 5000 metres and

10,000 metres The 10,000 metres or the 10,000-metre run is a common long-distance track running event. The event is part of the athletics programme at the Olympic Games and the World Athletics Championships, and is common at championship level events. The ra ...

. He transferred to Bahrain as a junior (under-19) athlete and won the 5000m bronze medal at the

2011 Asian Athletics Championships The 19th Asian Athletics Championships were held in Kobe, Japan between July 7–10, 2011 at the Kobe Universiade Memorial Stadium. The tournament had 507 athletes from forty Asian nations competing in the 42 track and field events over the fou ...

. He took the 3000 metres bronze at the

2012 Asian Indoor Athletics Championships The 2012 Asian Indoor Athletics Championships was the fifth edition of the international indoor athletics event between Asian nations. It took place at the Vocational and Technical College Athletics Hall in Hangzhou, China, between 18 and 19 Febr ...

before raising to the top of the region by winning the 10,000m title and 5000m silver at the

2013 Asian Athletics Championships The 2013 Asian Athletics Championships were the 20th edition of the biennial athletics competition between Asian nations. It was held at the Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex in Balewadi, Pune, India between 3–7 July. Around 522 athletes f ...

. He also races in cross country competitions: he was the 2012 Asian champion, 2013 World Military champion, and is a three-time participant of the

IAAF World Cross Country Championships World Athletics Cross Country Championships is the most important competition in international cross country running. Formerly held annually and organised by World Athletics (formerly the IAAF), it was inaugurated in 1973, when it replaced the Int ...

Career

Early life

Alemu Bekele Gebre was born and raised in Lemu, a small rural farming community near

Bekoji Bekoji ( Oromo: Boqojjii, Amharic: በቆጂ) is a town in central Ethiopia. Located in the Arsi Zone of the Oromia Region, it has a latitude and longitude of with an elevation of 2810 m. It is the administrative centre of Limuna Bilbilo woreda ...

in Ethiopia's

Arsi Zone Arsi ( om, Godina Arsii) is a zone in Oromia Region of Ethiopia, named after a clan of the Oromo, who inhabit in the area. Arsi is bordered on the south by Bale Zone, on the southwest by the West Arsi Zone, on the northwest by East Shewa Zone, ...

. He grew up in a family of nine children and spent his early years assisting his parents with their cereal crops. He moved to stay with his grandparents when he started school but he became distracted from his studies as his interest in

running Running is a method of terrestrial locomotion allowing humans and other animals to move rapidly on foot. Running is a type of gait characterized by an aerial phase in which all feet are above the ground (though there are exceptions). This is ...

grew. His father urged him to focus on his schoolwork and Alemu did so, going on to high school in Bekoji in 2005. The coach at the school, Sentayehu Eshetu, had taught world champions

Kenenisa Bekele Kenenisa Bekele ( om, Qananiisaa baqqalaa; am, ቀነኒሳ በቀለ; born 13 June 1982) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner. He was the world record holder in both the 5000-metre and 10000-metre from 2004 (5,000m) and 2005 (10,000m) unti ...

and

Tirunesh Dibaba Tirunesh Dibaba ( om, Xirunesh Dibaabaa, Amharic: ጥሩነሽ ዲባባ ቀነኒ; born 1 June 1985) is an Ethiopian athlete who competed in long-distance track events and international road races. She has won three Olympic track gold medal ...

previously and Alemu again threw himself into running practice. His father refused to support him further and forced him to leave the family home.Elshadai Negash (20 March 2009)
Focus on Athletes – Alemu Bekele
IAAF. Retrieved on 2013-07-13. Alemu lived on the streets for a period but continued to run in local races. A good performance at a youth trial race in 2007 earned him a training place with the

Ethiopian Athletics Federation Ethiopian Athletic Federation (EAF) is an IAAF recognized member officially representing Ethiopia as the national governing body for the sport of Athletics. History The history of the sport may be traced back to military and school organization ...

and the prestigious Muger Cement athletics club took him in. He earned a stipend of 200

Ethiopian Birr The birr ( am, ብር) is the unit of currency in Ethiopia. It is subdivided into 100 ''santim''. In 1931, Emperor Haile Selassie I formally requested that the international community use the name ''Ethiopia'' (as it had already been known inte ...

to continue training, but wished to compete abroad and earn more from his running. Aware of the path of previous Ethiopian athletes, he contacted the Bahrain Athletics Association and asked if he could

transfer Transfer may refer to: Arts and media * ''Transfer'' (2010 film), a German science-fiction movie directed by Damir Lukacevic and starring Zana Marjanović * ''Transfer'' (1966 film), a short film * ''Transfer'' (journal), in management studies ...

to run for the oil-rich Middle East country. The Bahraini authorities agreed and in his first competition for them, the 2009

Asian Cross Country Championships The Asian Cross Country Championships is a biennial regional cross country running competition for athletes from Asia. It is organised by the Asian Athletics Association and was first held in 1991 in Fukuoka, Japan. The competition has been held ...

he won the junior section. At the World half marathon championships in Denmark, Alemu complete the half marathon in 1:01:46.

Running for Bahrain

At the

2009 IAAF World Cross Country Championships 9 (nine) is the natural number following and preceding . Evolution of the Arabic digit In the beginning, various Indians wrote a digit 9 similar in shape to the modern closing question mark without the bottom dot. The Kshatrapa, Andhra and ...

he placed 26th in the junior race. Later that year he went on to place third in the 5000 metres at the

Arab Athletics Championships The Arab Athletics Championships is an event organized by the Arab Athletic Association. It traditionally occurred every two years. It was not held in 1985 due to the schedule clash with the Pan Arab Games. However, due to the erratic scheduling ...

, sixth at the

2009 Asian Athletics Championships The 18th Asian Athletics Championships were held in Guangzhou, China in 2009. Results Men's results Track Field Women's results Track Field Medal table Participating nations * (12) * (1) * (1) * (77) * (22) * (16) * ...

, and won silver medals in the

1500 metres The 1500 metres or 1,500-metre run (typically pronounced 'fifteen-hundred metres') is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athle ...

and 5000m at the

Asian Indoor Games The Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games (abbreviated as AIMAG) is a pancontinental multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from all over Asia. It is organised by the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) and consists of Indoor and martial ...

. In his first senior year he was much improved. After 31st place at the

2010 IAAF World Cross Country Championships The 2010 IAAF World Cross Country Championships were held at Myślęcinek Park in Bydgoszcz, Poland on 28 March 2010. It was the first time in over twenty years that Poland hosted the annual championships, having previously held them in Warsaw in ...

he ran personal bests of 7:54.47 minutes for the 3000 metres and 13:38.10 minutes for the 5000m. The 2011 season was mixed: he managed only 68th at the World Cross Country Championships and was seventh in the 1500m at the Military World Games, but he won the bronze medal at the

before setting a 1500m best of 3:40.83 minutes for sixth at the

Pan Arab Games The Arab Games ( ar, الألعاب العربية), also called the Pan Arab Games, are a regional multi-sport event held between nations from the Arab world. They are organized by the Union of Arab National Olympic Committees. The first Gam ...

.Alemu Bekele
Tilastopaja. Retrieved on 13 July 2013. Alemu broke new ground in 2012. He started with a 3000m best of 7:48.04 minutes for a bronze medal at the

. He failed to make it out of the heats of the event at the

2012 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 2012 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics was the 14th edition of the global-level indoor track and field competition and was held between March 9–11, 2012 at the Ataköy Athletics Arena in Istanbul, Turkey. It was the first of fou ...

but won the men's title at the Asian Cross Country Championships a few weeks later. In May he set two new bests: 69:31 minutes for the

half marathon A half marathon is a road running event of —half the distance of a marathon. It is common for a half marathon event to be held concurrently with a marathon or a 5K race, using almost the same course with a late start, an early finish or shortcut ...

and 27:56.20 minutes for the

at the

FBK Games The FBK Games is an annual track and field event at the Fanny Blankers-Koen Stadion in Hengelo, Netherlands as part of the IAAF World Challenge Meetings. It was first organized in 1981. Its name honours Fanny Blankers-Koen, who won four gold med ...

. He ended the track season with a personal best of 13:21.54 minutes for the 5000m. He began 2013 with a win at the

World Military Cross Country Championships The World Military Cross Country Championships is an international biennial cross country running competition organised by the International Military Sports Council (CISM). The competition is typically held in late February or early March. First hel ...

, but failed to finish at the

2013 IAAF World Cross Country Championships The 2013 IAAF World Cross Country Championships took place on March 24, 2013. The races were held at the Myślęcinek Park in Bydgoszcz, Poland. Kenya topped the medal standings in the competition with 5 gold, and Ethiopia had the most overall ...

Asian title

He won the 10,000 m title at the 2013 Arab Championships and repeated that finish at the

, where he was also the 5000m runner-up behind fellow Bahraini-Ethiopian transferee

Dejenee Regassa Dejenee Regassa Mootumaa (born 18 April 1989) is formerly an Ethiopian-born long-distance runner who competed internationally for Bahrain. For a time, he was the reigning Asian champion in the 5000 metres. In his first major appearance outside o ...

.Chinese sprinters take away 100m titles at Asian Championships
IAAF (4 July 2013). Retrieved on 2013-07-07.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bekele, Alemu Living people 1990 births Sportspeople from Oromia Region Bahraini male long-distance runners Ethiopian male long-distance runners Bahraini male marathon runners Ethiopian male marathon runners Olympic male marathon runners Olympic athletes for Bahrain Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics Asian Games silver medalists for Bahrain Asian Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 2014 Asian Games Medalists at the 2014 Asian Games World Athletics Championships athletes for Bahrain Asian Athletics Championships winners Asian Cross Country Championships winners Ethiopian emigrants to Bahrain

Career

Early life

Running for Bahrain

Asian title

See also

References