Gashau Ayale ( he, גשאו איילה; born 22 August 1996) is an Ethiopian-born Israeli

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 ...

. In May 2022, Ayale set an Israeli record in the

10,000 metres The 10,000 metres or the 10,000-metre run is a common long-distance track running event. The event is part of the athletics programme at the Olympic Games and the World Athletics Championships, and is common at championship level events. The race ...

, running 27:49.88. He won the bronze medal in the

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...

at the European Athletics Championships, and a gold medal in the 2022 team

European Marathon Cup The European Marathon Cup is a quadrennial team marathon competition between European countries. Initially a stand-alone championship race inaugurated in 1981 European Marathon Cup, 1981, the race has been held in conjunction with the European Athl ...

. In February 2024, he won a bronze medal at the

Seville Marathon The Zurich Seville Marathon is a marathon held annually in the streets of Seville since 1985. It is organized by the department of sports of the town hall and sponsored by both public and private organizations. It was used as a host of the 1999 Wor ...

with a time of 2:04:53, setting a new Israeli record. He will represent Israel at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris in the

on August 10, 2024.

Early life

Ayale was born in the village of

Gojam Gojjam ( ''gōjjām'', originally ጐዛም ''gʷazzam'', later ጐዣም ''gʷažžām'', ጎዣም ''gōžžām'') is a historical province in northwestern Ethiopia, with its capital city at Debre Marqos. Gojjam's earliest western boundary ex ...

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 ...

to Tabak (his father) and Tesfia (his mother), and is Jewish. At two years of age he and his family moved to

Gondar, Ethiopia Gondar, also spelled Gonder (Amharic: ጎንደር, ''Gonder'' or ''Gondär''; formerly , ''Gʷandar'' or ''Gʷender''), is a city and woreda in Ethiopia. Located in the North Gondar Zone of the Amhara Region, Gondar is north of Lake Tana on th ...

. Ayale immigrated to Israel in 2010, at 13 years of age, with his parents and five brothers. They initially lived in a reception center in

Safed Safed (known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as Tzfat; Sephardi Hebrew, Sephardic Hebrew & Modern Hebrew: צְפַת ''Tsfat'', Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation, Ashkenazi Hebrew: ''Tzfas'', Biblical Hebrew: ''Ṣǝp̄aṯ''; ar, صفد, ''Ṣafad''), i ...

, Israel, and then later the family moved to

Jaffa Jaffa, in Hebrew Yafo ( he, יָפוֹ, ) and in Arabic Yafa ( ar, يَافَا) and also called Japho or Joppa, the southern and oldest part of Tel Aviv-Yafo, is an ancient port city in Israel. Jaffa is known for its association with the b ...

, Israel. His father works as a cook, and his mother works as a cleaning lady. He only began running at 18 years of age, as before that he was interested in soccer. He trains with Maccabi Tel Aviv.

Running career

2017–19

On July 13, 2017, at the

2017 Maccabiah Games The 2017 Maccabiah Games ( he, משחקי המכביה 2017), also referred to as the 20th Maccabiah Games ( he, המכביה ה-20), were the 20th edition of the Maccabiah Games. They took place from 4 to 17 July 2017, in Israel. The Maccabiah ...

in Jerusalem, Israel, in the 5,000 metre race Ayale ran it in 14:46.25, winning a

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 ...

. On November 17, 2018, in the Hasharon

10 km 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

, he ran a 29:23, winning a

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receive ...

. On January 4, 2019, Ayale won the

Tiberias Tiberias ( ; he, טְבֶרְיָה, ; ar, طبريا, Ṭabariyyā) is an Israeli city on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee. A major Jewish center during Late Antiquity, it has been considered since the 16th century one of Judaism's Fo ...

10 km in 29:37. On July 6, 2019, at the

2019 European 10,000m Cup The 2019 European 10,000m Cup took place on 6 July 2019. The races took place on Parliament Hill Athletics Track in London, Great Britain. The event was held together with the annual Night of the 10,000m PB's meeting for the second successive year ...

in London he ran a 28:50.47, winning a bronze medal. On July 24, 2019, at the Israeli Championships in Tel Aviv, Israel, in the 1,500 metre race Ayale ran a 3:48.81, winning a silver medal. On July 25, 2019, at the Israeli Championships in the 5,000 metre race Ayale ran a 14:09.82, winning a bronze medal.

2020–22

On September 18, 2020, Ayale won the Tel Aviv 15km in a time of 44:36. On February 25, 2022, in the Tel Aviv Half Marathon, Ayale ran a 1:03:25 and won a silver medal. On April 26, 2022, at the Israeli 10,000m Championships in Tel Aviv he ran a 28:03.20, winning a silver medal. In May 2022, in the European Cup in London, Ayale set a national record in the

, running 27:49.88 to become the first Israeli to break 28 minutes in the event. On August 15, 2022, Ayale won the bronze medal in the

at the European Athletics Championships held in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

, Germany, with a time of 2:10:29, directly behind fellow Israeli

Maru Teferi Marhu Teferi (or Teferi Marhu, he, מארו טפרי; born August 17, 1992) is an Ethiopian-born Israeli marathon and half marathon runner, silver medallist in marathon at the 2022 European Athletics Championships in Munich. He represented Israe ...

. He was also a member of the gold medal team for Israel winning the

at the same competition. He said, referring to the

Munich massacre The Munich massacre was a terrorist attack carried out during the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany, by eight members of the Palestinian people, Palestinian militant organization Black September Organization, Black September, who i ...

, "Fifty years after what happened here, winning a medal and waving the Israeli flag is just so sweet." On December 10, 2022, in the Tiberias Half Marathon, Ayale ran a 1:02:38 and won a silver medal.

2023–present

On June 10, 2023, Ayale won the Israeli League Cup 5,000 metre race in 13:47.78. On February 18, 2024, Ayale won a bronze medal at the

, in Sevilla, Spain, with a time of 2:04:53, setting a new Israeli record as he broke his own national record by 40 seconds. It was his first international marathon, and the second marathon in his life. It was the 84th-fastest marathon of all time. Ayale will represent Israel at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris in the

on August 10, 2024. He said: "It is a great honor for me to represent Israel, especially in this painful time for the people of Israel. I look forward to wearing the uniform of the Israeli national team and running through the streets of Paris with the

Israeli flag The flag of Israel ( he, דגל ישראל '; ar, علم إسرائيل ') was adopted on 28 October 1948, five months after the establishment of the Israel, State of Israel. It depicts a blue hexagram on a white background, between two horizo ...

on my chest. I promise to do my very best to represent our country with honor.""New Israeli marathon record set in Spain; Israeli runner Gashau Ayale has become the first Israeli to finish a marathon below 2:05:00, securing himself a place on the Israeli Olympic team in the process."
''Israel National News'', February 18, 2024.

Personal life

Ayale has a younger brother, Yehuda Darba Ayala, who holds Israel's national U23 5,000 metres record.

Personal bests

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 ...

– 8:05.64 (

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...

2020) *

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 ...

– 13:47.78 (

2023) *

– 27:49.88 (

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

2022) ;Road *

10 kilometres 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit (measurement), unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment ...

– 29:23 (

Hod HaSharon Hod HaSharon ( he, הוֹד הַשָּׁרוֹן, lit. "Splendor of the Sharon, Israel, Sharon plain") is a city in the Central District (Israel), Central District of Israel. The city is located approximately east of the Mediterranean coastline, s ...

2018) * Half marathon – 1:02:38 (

2022) *

Marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...

– 2:04:53 (

Seville Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...

2024)

References

External links

* * *
Olympic Committee of Israel page (''in Hebrew'')
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ayale, Gashau 1996 births Living people Citizens of Israel through Law of Return Competitors at the 2017 Maccabiah Games Ethiopian emigrants to Israel Ethiopian Jews European Athletics Championships medalists Israeli Jews Israeli male long-distance runners Israeli male marathon runners Israeli male middle-distance runners Israeli people of Ethiopian-Jewish descent Maccabiah Games medalists in athletics Maccabiah Games silver medalists for Israel People from Gondar People from Jaffa People from Safed Sportspeople of Ethiopian descent Sportspeople from Amhara Region Sportspeople from Northern District (Israel) Sportspeople from Tel Aviv