Bezunesh Bekele Sertsu (born 29 January 1983) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner who specializes in

cross-country running Cross country running is a sport in which teams and individuals run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain such as dirt or grass. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open coun ...

and marathons.

Biography

She was born in the Ethiopian capital of

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 ...

. She took a number of circuit wins on the road in her first few years of competition, having back-to-back wins at the

Montferland Run Pfixx Solar Montferland Run is an annual 15-kilometres road running competition held in 's-Heerenberg, Montferland, Netherlands. It was first organised in 1996 and typically takes place on the first Sunday in December. Unlike many elite level road ...

in 2004 and 2005, as well as a win at the

Rotterdam Half Marathon The Rotterdam Half Marathon was an annual half marathon race over 21.1 kilometres, that was staged in Rotterdam, the Netherlands on the second Sunday in September. The event was contested from 2004 to 2009. It was discontinued in 2010 due to lacking ...

. She won the

Cross Internacional de Itálica The Cross Internacional de Itálica is an annual cross country running competition that is held every January in Santiponce, near Seville, Spain. Inaugurated in 1982, the race course is set in the ruins of the ancient Roman city of Itálica. As on ...

in 2006 and finished in sixth place in the short race at the

2006 IAAF World Cross Country Championships The 2006 IAAF World Cross Country Championships took place on April 1/2, 2006. The races were held at the Umi-no-nakamichi Seaside Park in Fukuoka, Japan, Japan's National Cross Country Course which is the permanent residence of the annual Fukuo ...

later that season. The following year she took prominent circuit victories at the Zevenheuvelenloop and the

Portugal Half Marathon Luso Portugal Half Marathon or Luso Meia Maratona de Portugal is an annual half marathon contested every October in Lisbon, Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose ...

. At the

2007 IAAF World Road Running Championships The 2007 IAAF World Road Running Championships were held in Udine, Italy on 14 October 2007. Detailed reports on the event and an appraisal of the results were given both for the men's race and for the women's race. Medallists Race results ...

she finished fourth and set a new national half marathon record of 1:08:07. The record was beaten by Dire Tune, who won the 2009 Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon setting the Ethiopian half marathon record of 1:07:18. Bizunesh narrowly missed being selected for the 2008 Ethiopian Olympic team. Although Bizunesh had faster times, Dire Tune was chosen for the team instead, leading to a strained relationship between the two runners. Bezunesh was third at the Great Manchester Run in 2008, finishing behind

Jo Pavey Joanne Marie Pavey MBE (née Davis, born 20 September 1973) is a British long-distance runner and a World, European and Commonwealth medallist. She won the 10,000 m gold medal at the 2014 European Championships in Zürich, ten months a ...

and Rose Cheruiyot. She made her marathon debut with a run of 2:23:09 in the 2008

Dubai Marathon The Dubai Marathon is an annual road-based marathon hosted by Dubai, United Arab Emirates, since 1998. The marathon is categorized as a Gold Label Road Race by World Athletics. History Initial era The inaugural Dubai Marathon was held ...

, taking second place behind

Birhane Adere Berhane Adere Debala ( Ge'ez: ብርሀኔ አደሬ born 21 July 1973 in Shewa) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner who specialises in the 10,000 metres and the half marathon. She was world champion over 10,000 m in 2003 and world champio ...

and running one of fastest ever times for a débutante. She returned to the race the following year and won, beating

Atsede Habtamu Atsede Habtamu Besuye (born 26 October 1987) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner who specialises in road running and the marathon distance. She came to prominence at the IAAF World Road Running Championships in 2007 where, at the age of ninetee ...

to the finish by over a minute. At the

2009 World Championships in Athletics The 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics () were held in Berlin, Germany from 15–23 August 2009. The majority of events took place in the Olympiastadion, while the marathon and racewalking events started and finished at the Brandenburg ...

she was selected to compete in the marathon for Ethiopia and she finished in 16th place. She ran at the

London Marathon The London Marathon is an annual marathon held in London, United Kingdom, and is the 2nd largest annual road race in the UK, after the Great North Run in Newcastle. Founded by athletes Chris Brasher and John Disley in 1981, it is typically he ...

in April 2010 and was fourth in a time of 2:23:17. At a rainy

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 September that year she finished the race in 2:24:58, which was enough to take second place behind

Aberu Kebede Aberu Kebede Shewaye (born 12 September 1989) is an Ethiopian long distance runner who specializes in road running competitions. Her half marathon best of 1:07:39 is one of the fastest ever by an Ethiopian woman. She gained a bronze at the 2009 I ...

. A return to London in 2011 saw her make the best finish by an Ethiopian, coming fourth in 2:23:42 hours. At the

2011 World Championships in Athletics The 13th IAAF World Championships in Athletics () was an international athletics competition that was held in Daegu, South Korea. It started on 27 August 2011 and finished on 4 September 2011. The United States topped the medal standings in th ...

she finished fourth again, narrowly missing out on the podium. Bezunesh improved her four-year-old personal best time with a run at the 2012

. Her time of 2:20:30 hours for fourth place moved her into the top twenty fastest woman for the event and made her the third fastest Ethiopian woman. She placed fourth at the

Yangzhou Half Marathon The Yangzhou Jianzhen International Half Marathon ( Chinese: 扬州鉴真国际半程马拉松赛) is an annual road running competition over the half marathon distance which takes place in April in Yangzhou, People's Republic of China. The event ...

in April, but had better performances in the second half of the year: she won the

Great Scottish Run The Great Scottish Run is a series of mass-participation road running events, held annually in the streets of Glasgow, Scotland in October. The event began as a full marathon in 1979, but later changed to a weekend of shorter events. The weekend ...

, set a 10-mile personal best of 51:45 minutes as the runner-up at the

Dam tot Damloop Dam tot Damloop (''Dam to Dam Run'' in English) is an annual road running competition held in North Holland in the Netherlands. It is a Silver Label 10-mile race from Amsterdam to Zaandam. The event was first held as a fun run event in 1985 and ...

, and came fourth at the

Frankfurt Marathon The Frankfurt Marathon (official name as of 2016: Mainova Frankfurt Marathon, until 2015: BMW Frankfurt Marathon, until 2010: Commerzbank Frankfurt Marathon) is a marathon which has taken place every year in Frankfurt am Main since its inception i ...

. Bezunesh's husband, Tessema Abshiro, is also a marathon runner with the Ethiopian national team.

Achievements

Personal bests

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bezunesh Bekele 1983 births Living people Ethiopian female marathon runners Ethiopian female long-distance runners Athletes from Addis Ababa