Belayneh Densamo (born 28 June 1965) is an Ethiopian former long-distance runner, and a long-period world record holder for the marathon discipline. He held the world record for 10 years (1988-1998).

Early life

Belayneh was born in Diramo Afarrara in Sidamo, the southernmost province, and began first competing professionally at national level.

Career

Densamo broke the world record by 22 seconds with a time of 2:06:50 at the 1988

Rotterdam Marathon The Rotterdam Marathon, currently branded NN Rotterdam Marathon, is an annual marathon that has been held in Rotterdam, Netherlands since 1981. It has been held in April every year since the third edition in 1984 and attracts many top athletes ...

, following three previous wins at major marathons 1986–1987. This record lasted the third-longest span ever recorded (and since the event was first professionally organized at the 1896 Olympics). ;Last victories Densamo won two major international marathons in 1989 and in 1990. He was not among the three Ethiopian men who entered the marathon in the 1992 Summer Olympics. He represented Ethiopia at the marathon at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

, as the world record holder in the relatively humid summer

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...

conditions and was among 13 of a field of 130 who did not finish.Belayneh Densamo
. Sports Reference. Retrieved on 2 February 2015. Densamo's world record fell to

Ronaldo da Costa Ronaldo da Costa (born June 7, 1970) is a Brazilian former long-distance runner and world-record holder for the marathon distance. He was born in Descoberto. Career Da Costa broke the ten-year-old marathon world record in 1998 in Berlin, having be ...

at the

Berlin Marathon The Berlin Marathon (german: Berlin-Marathon, ) is a marathon event held annually on the streets of Berlin, Germany on the last weekend of September. Held annually since 1974, the event includes multiple races over the marathon distance of , inc ...

in 1998. As of 2009, Belayneh lives in the area of

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston ...

and has retired from international competition.

Achievements

*All results regarding marathon, unless stated otherwise

References

External links

Runners WorldRunning World Wall of Fame
1965 births Living people Ethiopian male long-distance runners Ethiopian male marathon runners Olympic athletes of Ethiopia Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Olympics World record setters in athletics (track and field) African Games gold medalists for Ethiopia African Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Goodwill Games medalists in athletics Athletes (track and field) at the 1987 All-Africa Games Competitors at the 1986 Goodwill Games Olympic male marathon runners 20th-century Ethiopian people {{Ethiopia-athletics-bio-stub