Ethiopian Athletic Federation (EAF) is an IAAF recognized member officially representing

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 ...

as the national governing body for the sport of

Athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competi ...

History

The history of the sport may be traced back to military and school organizations in 1897. The organization was formed on 4 June 1961. The ability of East African athletes was announced to the world in the

1960 Olympics The 1960 Olympics may refer to: *The 1960 Winter Olympics, which were held in Squaw Valley, United States *The 1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics ( it, Giochi Olimpici estivi del 1960), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olymp ...

as barefooted

Abebe Bikila ''Shambel'' Abebe Bikila ( am, ሻምበል አበበ ቢቂላ; August 7, 1932 – October 25, 1973) was an Ethiopian marathon runner who was a back-to-back Olympic marathon champion. He is the first Ethiopian Olympic gold medalist, winnin ...

took the gold medal in the Marathon. Bikila repeated in 1964 and the floodgates were opened. Ethiopia has captured 45 Olympic medals, all of them in

long distance running Long-distance running, or endurance running, is a form of continuous running over distances of at least . Physiologically, it is largely aerobic in nature and requires stamina as well as mental strength. Within endurance running comes two d ...

through 2012, despite participating in three Olympic boycotts. The organization is also responsible for selecting representatives to other world championship events. In November 2016, former Olympic gold medalist and Ethiopian long distance running great

Haile Gebrselassie Haile Gebrselassie ( am, ኀይሌ ገብረ ሥላሴ, ''haylē gebre silassē''; born 18 April 1973) is an Ethiopian retired long-distance track, road running athlete, and businessman. He won two Olympic gold medals and four World Champion ...

was elected president of the Ethiopian Athletics Federation. On 14 November 2018, Double Olympic champion,

Derartu Tulu Derartu Tulu NL COL ( om, Daraartuu Tulluu, Amharic: ደራርቱ ቱሉ; born 21 March 1972) is an Ethiopian former long-distance runner, who competed in track, cross country running, and road running up to the marathon distance. She won 10,0 ...

has succeeded Haile Gebrselassie as president of EAF.

Kit suppliers

Ethiopia's kits are currently supplied by Adidas.

References

External links

* National members of the Confederation of African Athletics Athletics in Ethiopia

National governing bodies for athletics Sports organizations established in 1961 {{Ethiopia-sport-stub