Deresse Mekonnen Tsigu (

Amharic Amharic ( or ; (Amharic: ), ', ) is an Ethiopian Semitic language, which is a subgrouping within the Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic languages. It is spoken as a first language by the Amharas, and also serves as a lingua franca for all oth ...

: ደረሠ መኮንነን; born 20 October 1987) is an Ethiopian middle distance

runner 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 ...

, who specializes 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 Athletic ...

. He is a two-time World Indoor champion and was the

silver medal A silver medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc ...

list at the 2009 World Championships. He represented Ethiopia in the event at the

2008 Beijing Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nat ...

and holds the Ethiopian record for the

mile run The mile run (1,760 yards or exactly 1,609.344 metres) is a middle-distance foot race. The history of the mile run event began in England, where it was used as a distance for gambling races. It survived track and field's switch to ...

Running career

Born in Sheno,

Oromia Region Oromia (Amharic: ) ( om, Oromiyaa) is a regional state in Ethiopia and the homeland of the Oromo people. The capital of Oromia is Addis Ababa. It is bordered by the Somali Region to the east; the Amhara Region, the Afar Region and the Benish ...

, his first major international competition was the 2007 World Championships in

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...

where he finished 11th in the heats. His first major win came at the 2008 World Indoor Championships in

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, Valencia and the Municipalities of Spain, third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is ...

at the 1500 m, where he was initially disqualified for a lane violation after winning the race. However, 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 ...

made an appeal, and the disqualification was reversed, giving Mekonnen the

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...

. He came third in the Dream Mile at the

Bislett Games The Bislett Games is an annual track and field meeting at the Bislett Stadium in Oslo, Norway. Previously one of the IAAF Golden League events, it is now part of the Diamond League. History The first international athletics meeting at Bislet ...

in June with an Ethiopian record of 3:49.72 for the distance. He gained selection for the

, but he just missed a place in the 1500 m final as he was eliminated in the semi-finals. The following year, he became the first Ethiopian to win the Dream Mile and he further improved his national mark in the process, running 3:48.95 minutes. He also improved his 1500 m best to 3:32.18 minutes at the Herculis meeting in Monaco.Mekonnen Deresse
IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-01-29. He entered 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 ...

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

and reached the 1500 m final. He won the

behind

Yusuf Saad Kamel Yusuf Saad Kamel ( ar, يوسف سعد كامل), born Gregory Konchellah (born 29 March 1983) is a male former middle-distance runner who competed in the 800 metres and 1500 metres. Born in Narok, Kenya – the son of former two-time 800 metres W ...

, becoming Ethiopia's first medallist in the event at the World Championships. He competed in both the 1500 m and 3000 m at the season-closer 2009 IAAF World Athletics Final, but failed to medal in either event. His focus of the 2010 season was to retain his world title at the

2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics was held between 12 and 14 March at the Aspire Dome in Doha, Qatar. The championships was the first of six IAAF World Athletics Series events to take place in 2010. Bidding and organisation Th ...

. In the buildup to the competition, he ran at the

Aviva Indoor Grand Prix The Birmingham Indoor Grand Prix, formerly known as Aviva Indoor Grand Prix, is an annual indoor track and field competition which is held in mid-February at the Arena Birmingham in Birmingham, England. It is one of a handful of events to hold IAA ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

and improved his 1500 m indoor best to 3:33.10 – fifth on the all-time rankings. At the World Indoor Championships Mekonnen held off a challenge from

Abdalaati Iguider Reda Abdalaati Iguider ( ar, عبد العاطي إيكدير; born 25 March 1987) is a Moroccan runner who specializes in the 1500 metres. Over 1500 metres, he is the bronze medalist from the London Olympic Games and the 2012 World Indoor Champ ...

and became the first athlete since

Hicham El Guerrouj Hicham El Guerrouj ( ar, هشام الݣروج, Hishām l-Garrūj; ber, ⵀⵉⵛⴰⵎ ⴻⵍ ⴳⴻⵔⵔⵓⵊ, Hisham El Gerruj; born 14 September 1974) is a retired Moroccan middle-distance runner. El Guerrouj is the current world record h ...

to win back-to-back 1500 m titles indoors. A stomach problem side-lined him for six months but on his return in January 2011 he broke Bernard Lagat's six-year-long win streak in the

Wanamaker Mile The Wanamaker Mile is an indoor mile run, mile race held annually at the Millrose Games in New York City. It was named in honour of department store owner Rodman Wanamaker. The event was first held in 1926 inside Madison Square Garden, which was the ...

at the

Millrose Games The Millrose Games is an annual indoor athletics meet (track and field) held each February in New York City. They started taking place at the Armory in Washington Heights in 2012, after having taken place in Madison Square Garden from 1914 to 2011 ...

.Morse, Parker (2011-01-29)
Mekonnen stops Lagat at Millrose

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 ...

. Retrieved on 2011-01-29.

Personal bests

Outdoors *

- 3:32.18 (2009) *

Mile The mile, sometimes the international mile or statute mile to distinguish it from other miles, is a British imperial unit and United States customary unit of distance; both are based on the older English unit of length equal to 5,280 English ...

- 3:48.95 (2009) - Ethiopian Record *

3000 metres 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 ...

- 7:32.93 (2009) *

5000 metres The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to or . It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics, run over laps of a stan ...

- 13:07.75 (2009) Indoors *

- 3:33.10 (2010) - #5 All-Time *

- 3:54.11 (2009)

Achievements

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mekonnen, Deresse Living people 1987 births Ethiopian male middle-distance runners Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes of Ethiopia Sportspeople from Oromia Region World Athletics Championships medalists World Athletics Indoor Championships winners 20th-century Ethiopian people 21st-century Ethiopian people