Hayle Ibrahimov ( am, ቀዳማዊ ደስታ ሃጎስ – ''Haile Desta Hagos''; born 18 January 1990) is an Ethiopian-born Azerbaijani international middle and long distance

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

athlete, mainly competing in the disciplines of 3000 metres and 5000 metres. He holds the Azerbaijani records in both these events. Ibrahimov was the winner of the 3000 m at the

European Athletics Indoor Championships The European Athletics Indoor Championships is a biennial indoor track and field competition for European athletes that is organised by the European Athletic Association. It was held for the first time in 1970, replacing the European Indoor Games ...

in 2013, having been the silver medallist two years earlier. His bronze in the 5000 m

2010 European Athletics Championships The 2010 European Athletics Championships were the 20th edition of the European Athletics Championships, organised under the supervision of the European Athletic Association. They were held at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys in Barcelona, C ...

was Azerbaijan's first medal in the history of that tournament. He represented his country at the

2012 London Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

Biography

He was born in

Mek'ele Mekelle ( ti, መቐለ, am, መቀሌ, mäqälle, mek’elē) or Mekele is a special zone and capital of the Tigray Region of Ethiopia. Mekelle was formerly the capital of Enderta awraja in Tigray. It is located around north of the Ethiopia ...

in Ethiopia's

Tigray Region The Tigray Region, officially the Tigray National Regional State, is the northernmost regional state in Ethiopia. The Tigray Region is the homeland of the Tigrayan, Irob, and Kunama people. Its capital and largest city is Mekelle. Tigray ...

. As a teenager he completed a transfer of allegiance to compete for Azerbaijan from 2009 onwards. In his first year for his new country he set Azerbaijani records in the 3000 metres (7:51.68 min) and the 5000 metres (13:53.60 min), as well as national junior records in events from 1500 m to 10,000 m. Ibrahimov secured his first national title over 5000 m and took a 5000 and 10,000 m gold medal double at the 2009 European Athletics Junior Championships. He was a nominee in the men's European Athletics Rising Star of the Year Award for his achievements in 2009. 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 ...

he ran in the heats and although he was eliminated in the 3000 m heats he managed a national indoor record of 8:05.43 minutes. On 31 July 2010, he became Azerbaijan's first ever medallist in the

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 ...

by winning bronze at

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

. He ran an Azerbaijani indoor record in the 3000 metres at the BW-Bank Meeting in February 2011, setting a time of 7:42.54 minutes. On 5 March 2011, he won silver in the 3000 metres at the European Indoor Championships, narrowly losing to

Mo Farah Sir Mohamed Muktar Jama Farah (born Hussein Abdi Kahin; 23 March 1983) is a British long-distance runner. His ten global championship gold medals (four Olympic and six World titles) make him the most successful male track distance runner ever ...

. He was the favourite entering the 5000 m at the 2011 European Athletics U23 Championships, but failed to finish the event due to an injury that ruled him out for most of the season. He ran in the heats of the event at the

2012 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 2012 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics was the 14th edition of the global-level indoor track and field competition and was held between March 9–11, 2012 at the Ataköy Athletics Arena in Istanbul, Turkey. It was the first of fou ...

, but did not progress to the final. Later that year he ran in the 5000 m at

2012 European Athletics Championships The 2012 European Athletics Championships were held in Helsinki, Finland between 27 June and 1 July 2012. This edition marks the beginning of a new two-year cycle of the European Athletics Championships which were previously held every four years. ...

(where he came sixth) and at the

, managing ninth place. At September's Palio Citta della Quercia he ran a meet record and Azerbaijani best of 13:11.34 minutes for the 5000 m. He also came eighth in the under-23 section of the

2012 European Cross Country Championships The 2012 European Cross Country Championships was the 19th edition of the cross country running competition for European athletes which was held in Szentendre, Hungary on 9 December. Andrea Lalli of Italy won the men's title to become the country ...

that year. At the start of 2013 he improved his indoor national record three times, culminating in a run of 7:39.59 minutes at the XL Galan. On 2 March 2013, he won gold in the 3000 metres at the European Indoor Championships. Another national record came at the

Doha Diamond League The Doha Diamond League is an annual one-day track and field meeting held at the Suheim bin Hamad Stadium in Doha, Qatar. It is part of the Diamond League – the top level international circuit for the sport. It is typically held in May as the ...

meeting in May, where he ran 7:34.57 minutes for the 3000 metres. In 2013 he won the gold medal at the Universiade, with a new Games record, a title he defended in 2015. He won the silver medal in the 5000 m at the 2014 European Championships. In 2016, he again represented Azerbaijan at the Olympics.

Personal bests

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ibrahimov, Hayle 1990 births Living people Azerbaijani male long-distance runners Ethiopian male long-distance runners People from Mekelle Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Azerbaijan European Athletics Championships medalists World Athletics Championships athletes for Azerbaijan European Games competitors for Azerbaijan Athletes (track and field) at the 2015 European Games Naturalized citizens of Azerbaijan Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) FISU World University Games gold medalists for Azerbaijan Sportspeople from Tigray Region Azerbaijani male cross country runners Ethiopian emigrants Ethiopian emigrants to Azerbaijan Medalists at the 2013 Summer Universiade Medalists at the 2015 Summer Universiade Azerbaijani people of Ethiopian descent