Ghirmay Ghebreslassie ( Ge'ez: ግርማይ ገብረስላሰ, born 14 November 1995) is an

Eritrea Eritrea ( ; ti, ኤርትራ, Ertra, ; ar, إرتريا, ʾIritriyā), officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of Eastern Africa, with its capital and largest city at Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia ...

long distance runner Long may refer to: Measurement * Long, characteristic of something of great duration * Long, characteristic of something of great length * Longitude (abbreviation: long.), a geographic coordinate * Longa (music), note value in early music mensur ...

. He won the 2015 World Championships in Athletics marathon in Beijing, China, becoming the youngest winner of the race at age 19 and became the first Eritrean to win a gold medal at the World Championships. On 6 November 2016, Ghirmay was the top men's finisher at the

New York City Marathon The New York City Marathon (currently branded TCS New York City Marathon after its headline sponsor) is an annual marathon () that courses through the five boroughs of New York City. It is the largest marathon in the world, with 53,627 finishe ...

, becoming the youngest male to ever win the race.

Early life

Ghirmay was born on 14 November 1995 in Kisadeka, a village from the Eritrean capital

Asmara Asmara ( ), or Asmera, is the capital and most populous city of Eritrea, in the country's Central Region. It sits at an elevation of , making it the sixth highest capital in the world by altitude and the second highest capital in Africa. The ...

. His talent was spotted by a physical education teacher who saw him running with his friends and encouraged him to take up running. Ghirmay was initially concerned this would affect his academics but was convinced he could follow in the footsteps of

Zersenay Tadese Zersenay Tadese (Tigrinya: ዘርእሰናይ ታደሰ; born 8 February 1982) is an Eritrean long-distance track and road running athlete. He held the men's half marathon world record from 2010 to 2018. His bronze medal in the 10,000 metres ...

and manage both. His father was opposed to his running but success on the track fixed this concern.

Running career

Ghirmay placed 7th at the 2013 IAAF World Cross Country Championships Junior men's race in

Bydgoszcz Bydgoszcz ( , , ; german: Bromberg) is a city in northern Poland, straddling the meeting of the River Vistula with its left-bank tributary, the Brda. With a city population of 339,053 as of December 2021 and an urban agglomeration with more ...

, Poland. He also placed 7th at the

2014 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships The 2014 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships took place on March 29, 2014. The races were held in Copenhagen, Denmark. The essentially flat one-loop course was beginning and ending in the city centre by Christiansborg Castle. Detailed repo ...

senior men's race in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

, Denmark. On 22 August 2015, Ghirmay unexpectedly won the marathon race at the

2015 World Championships in Athletics The 2015 IAAF World Championships ( zh, 第十五届世界田径锦标赛), the fifteenth edition of the IAAF World Championships, were held from 22 to 30 August at the National Stadium in Beijing, China. Forty-three nations won medals, 144 of ...

, becoming the youngest ever world marathon winner, at the age of 19. He took the lead at the 36 km mark. As he entered

Beijing National Stadium The National Stadium (), also known as the Bird's Nest (), is an 80,000-capacity stadium in Beijing. The stadium was jointly designed by architects Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron from Basel-based architecture team Herzog & de Meuron, p ...

for the final lap, he was in a close race with Ethiopian

Yemane Tsegay Yemane Adhane Tsegay (born 8 April 1985) is an Ethiopian long distance runner who specialises in the marathon. He won the 2012 Rotterdam Marathon with a personal best time of 2:04:48 hours. He has also won marathons in Eindhoven, Gyeongju, ...

. Ghirmay was able to produce one final sprint in the last 100 m to outlast his competitor. He was running in only his fourth marathon. Ghirmay finished in fourth place at the

2016 London Marathon The 2016 London Marathon was the 36th running of the annual marathon race in London, England, which took place on Sunday, 24 April. The men's elite race was won by Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge and the women's race was won by Kenyan Jemima Sumgong. Th ...

, achieving a personal best time of 2:07:46. Going into the

2016 Olympics ) , nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams) , athletes = 11,238 , events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines) , opening = 5 August 2016 , closing = 21 August 2016 , opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer , cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro ...

, Ghirmay, by virtue of his world championship, was considered a medal contender in the Marathon event. He placed fourth. On 6 November 2016, Ghirmay was the top men's finisher at the

, becoming the youngest male to ever win the race.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ghebreslassie, Ghirmay 1995 births Living people Eritrean male long-distance runners Eritrean male marathon runners World Athletics Championships athletes for Eritrea World Athletics Championships medalists Olympic athletes of Eritrea Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics New York City Marathon male winners People from Central Region (Eritrea) World Athletics Championships winners