Birhan Dagne (born 8 April 1978) is an

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

n-born

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

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 ...

. Dagne was born, and grew up, in

. She was a promising international athlete and in 1994 represented her country of birth; at the

IAAF World Road Relay Championships The IAAF World Road Relay Championships was a biennial international athletics competition in long-distance relay running. First organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) in 1992, the championship ran for four edit ...

, in both

3000m The 3000 metres or 3000-metre run is a track running event, also commonly known as the "3K" or "3K run", where 7.5 laps are run around an outdoor 400 m track, or 15 laps around a 200 m indoor track. It is debated whether the 3000m shoul ...

and 10000m at the

World Junior Championships in Athletics The World Athletics U20 Championships is a biennial world championships for the sport of athletics organised by the World Athletics, contested by athletes in the under-20 athletics age category (19 years old or younger on 31 December in the ye ...

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 ...

and

African Junior Athletics Championships The African Junior Athletics Championships is a biennial continental athletics event for junior athletes from African nations. Organized by the Confederation of African Athletics and first held in 1994, only athletes aged 19 or under are allowed t ...

. At the age of 17 she was assaulted by a soldier because she was one of the minority Amhara ethnic group, while the ruling party in Ethiopia was

Tigrayan Tigrayans ( ti, ተጋሩ) are a Semitic-speaking ethnic group indigenous to the Tigray Region of northern Ethiopia. They speak the Tigrinya language, an Afroasiatic language belonging to the Ethiopian Semitic branch. The daily life of Tigray ...

. Later that year she flew to the UK as part of the Ethiopian junior cross country team for the 1995 IAAF World Cross Country Championships. Birhan finished fifth in the race and along with Alemitu Bekele(7th),

Yemenashu Taye Yimenashu Taye (born 1979) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner. In 1998 she won the junior race at the World Cross Country Championships and won silver medals in the 1500 metres and 3000 metres at the World Junior Championships. At the African ...

(8th) and

Ayelech Worku Ayelech Worku (born June 12, 1979) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner, most known for winning two World Championships bronze medals on the 5000 metres. She was born in the Arsi Zone of the Oromia province, the same region as double Olympic cham ...

(11th) took the silver medal in the team event. Early the following morning Dagne took a train to London, with fellow athletes Askale Bireda and Getenesh Tamirat, to seek political asylum. The UK Government refused asylum to the athletes, but Dagne and Bireda successfully appealed against this decision. During this time the asylum seeking Ethiopian athletes trained at the

Woodford Green with Essex Ladies Woodford Green with Essex Ladies is one of the leading United Kingdom, British athletics clubs. They are based at Ashton Athletic Centre, Woodford, London, Woodford, London. The club topped Division 1 of the British Athletics League for the first t ...

athletic club. The

IAAF World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body for ...

approved her changes of allegiance on 1 December 1998 and soon after represented

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

at the 1999 IAAF World Cross Country Championships. Dagne became a member of the London-based

Belgrave Harriers Belgrave Harriers, founded in October 1887, is an athletics club in Britain, with headquarters located in Wimbledon, close to Wimbledon Common. As of February 2013, they had the most successful record in the history of the British Athletics Leag ...

athletics club and ran in many domestic Half-Marathon and Marathon races. In 2004 Dagne finished less than a minute behind the first Briton, a relatively unknown,

Tracey Morris Tracey Morris (born 9 September 1967) is a British long-distance runner. Early career Morris grew up in Anglesey, Wales and ran as a Welsh schoolgirl, but stopped running soon after. She moved to Leeds and in 1998, aged 30, she resumed runnin ...

in 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 held ...

. This performance meant she just missed out on a trip to the

2004 Olympic Games The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

International Competition

Other Races

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dagne, Birhan 1978 births Living people Ethiopian female long-distance runners British female long-distance runners Ethiopian female marathon runners British female marathon runners Ethiopian emigrants to the United Kingdom