Hailu Mekonnen (born April 4, 1980 in Arsi) is an Ethiopian

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

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 ...

and

cross-country running Cross country running is a sport in which teams and individuals run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain such as dirt or grass. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open coun ...

. His first medals came in 1998, when he took

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...

and team

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

at the junior race at the

IAAF World Cross Country Championships World Athletics Cross Country Championships is the most important competition in international cross country running. Formerly held annually and organised by World Athletics (formerly the IAAF), it was inaugurated in 1973, when it replaced the Int ...

and won a

silver Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...

in the 5000 m at the 1998 African Championships in Athletics. With

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 Champions ...

as his training partner, he continued to improve, winning the junior race and taking bronze in the senior short course for a medalling double at the 1999 World Cross Country Championships. He also won 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 ...

gold medal at the

All-Africa Games The African Games, formally known as the All-Africa Games or the Pan African Games, are a continental multi-sport event held every four years, organized by the African Union (AU) with the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (AN ...

that year. Mekkonen attended the 1999 and 2001

World Championships in Athletics The World Athletics Championships (until 2019 known as the World Championships in Athletics) are a biennial athletics competition organized by World Athletics (formerly IAAF, International Association of Athletics Federations). Alongside the Ol ...

and represented Ethiopia at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

, but he failed to make the podium at any of the events. His form improved in 2002 and he won the short race bronze and team silver at the World Cross Country Championships. He focused on the track in 5000 m the next year and won the

2003 All-Africa Games The 8th All Africa Games were 5–17 October 2003 in Abuja, Nigeria. 53 countries participated in 23 sports. The main venue was the newly constructed Abuja Stadium. The organizing committee was headed by Nigerian Amos Adamu. Venues * Moshood ...

silver and the

2003 Afro-Asian Games The 2003 Afro-Asian Games, officially known as the First Afro-Asian Games or I Afro-Asian Games and unofficially known as the Inaugural Afro-Asian Games, was a major international multi-sport sporting event, event held in Hyderabad, India, from ...

gold medal. After a long time out of the spotlight of international competition he re-emerged in 2009 after switching to the

half marathon A half marathon is a road running event of —half the distance of a marathon. It is common for a half marathon event to be held concurrently with a marathon or a 5K race, using almost the same course with a late start, an early finish or shortcu ...

and

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 ...

Career

Mekonnen came to prominence at the age of eighteen with a silver medal performance in the 5000 m at the 1998 African Championships in Athletics, finishing behind reigning world champion

Daniel Komen Daniel Kipngetich Komen (born 17 May 1976) Komen is rumoured to be three years older than officially recognised. is a Kenyan middle- and long-distance runner. Remembered for his rivalry with Haile Gebrselassie, Komen's most notable achievement ...

. He followed this up with a gold and team silver in the junior race and an individual and team bronze medal in the short race at the 1999 IAAF World Cross Country Championships. He put much of his success down to the help he had received from

, who was his training partner and mentor. He ran a world junior record in the 3000 m in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

, Germany, but this was never ratified as he did not undergo the doping controls necessary for record purposes. He finished seventh in the 5000 m at the

1999 World Championships in Athletics The 7th World Championships in Athletics, a World Athletic Championships event held under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held at the Estadio Olímpico, Seville, Spain, between the August 20 and Augu ...

and closed the year with a

gold medal at the

1999 All-Africa Games The 7th All-Africa Games were held from September 10, 1999, to September 19, 1999, in Greater Johannesburg, South Africa. 53 countries participated in eighteen sports. Netball was included as a demonstration sport. The South Africans hosted abou ...

and a win at the

Cross Internacional de Venta de Baños The Cross Internacional de Venta de Baños is a cross country running competition that takes place in Venta de Baños, Castile and León, Spain. The competition was first held in 1980 and since then it has been held every year in mid-December. Amo ...

. He set an indoor world record of 8:09.66 in the

two miles The 2 mile (10,560 feet or 3,218.688 metres) is a historic running distance. Like the mile run, it is still contested at some invitational meets due its historical chronology in the United States and United Kingdom. It has been larg ...

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 ...

in February. However, Mekonnen only managed sixth place in the short race at the

2000 IAAF World Cross Country Championships The 2000 IAAF World Cross Country Championships took place on March 18/19, 2000. The races were held at the Sporting Complex in Vilamoura, Portugal. Reports of the event were given in ''The New York Times'', in the Herald, and for the IAAF ...

, but again he won the team bronze with Ethiopia. He represented his country at the

, finishing seventh in the semi-finals of the

. Competing at his first

IAAF World Indoor Championships The World Athletics Indoor Championships are a biennial indoor track and field competition served as the global championship for that version of the sport. Organised by the World Athletics, the competition was inaugurated as the ''World Indoor G ...

, he finished seventh in the final of the 1500 m. After this he decided that he would not succeed over distance and permanently switched to the 5000 m, saying: "That’s enough for the 1500. It was tried, it didn’t work." Returning to the cross country championships, he improved to win the team silver at the 2001 edition, although he finished tenth overall. He finished eighth in the 5000 m at the

2001 World Championships in Athletics The 8th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada between 3 August and 12 August and was the first time the event ...

. He was selected for the 2001 IAAF Grand Prix Final, but he only managed eighth place in the 3000 m final. He also took part in the 5000 m at the

2001 Goodwill Games The 2001 Goodwill Games was the fifth and final edition of the international multi-sport event. The competition was held in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia from 29 August to 9 September 2001. A total around 1300 athletes took part in 14 sportin ...

, just missing out on the medals in fourth. He began taking part in road races and won the

Memorial Peppe Greco The Memorial Peppe Greco is an annual men's 10 kilometres road race which takes place in Scicli, Italy. Also known as the Scicli 10km, the race was created in 1990 by Giovanni Voi. The course consists of ten one-kilometre laps on the streets of th ...

10 km. He had his best ever cross country result at the 2002 edition in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

, winning a bronze medal for himself and helping Ethiopia to the team silver in the short race. He ran in the QSI 10 km and was second behind Haile Gebrselassie who set a world best for the distance. At the

, he decided not to defend his 1500 m title and instead opted for the 5000 m and he won the silver medal, just beaten by

Kenenisa Bekele Kenenisa Bekele ( om, Qananiisaa baqqalaa; am, ቀነኒሳ በቀለ; born 13 June 1982) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner. He was the world record holder in both the 5000-metre and 10000-metre from 2004 (5,000m) and 2005 (10,000m) unti ...

. He travelled to

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...

in India to compete at the

, where he won the gold in the 5000 m. He took part in the 2003

International Chiba Ekiden The Ekiden#Other_Major_Ekiden_Events_in_Japan, International Chiba Ekiden was an annual team road running competition held in Chiba, Chiba, Chiba, Japan in late November. The marathon relay race (athletics), relay race, or ekiden as it is known in ...

and was the fastest runner in the second stage and helped Ethiopia to victory in the fastest ever Ekiden race. He won the

Montferland Run Pfixx Solar Montferland Run is an annual 15-kilometres road running competition held in 's-Heerenberg, Montferland, Netherlands. It was first organised in 1996 and typically takes place on the first Sunday in December. Unlike many elite level road ...

15 km in 2005. From 2008 onwards, he began to focus more on

road running Road running is the sport of running on a measured course over an established road. This differs from track and field on a regular track and cross country running over natural terrain. These events are usually classified as long-distance ac ...

competitions. After a long absence from major international competition, he signed up for the

2009 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships The 2009 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships was held in Birmingham, United Kingdom on 11 October 2009. It was the final event of the International Association of Athletics Federations' 2009 World Athletics Series. Organisation The city of B ...

. However, he failed to finish the race. He finished second at the

Great Scottish Run The Great Scottish Run is a series of mass-participation road running events, held annually in the streets of Glasgow, Scotland in October. The event began as a full marathon in 1979, but later changed to a weekend of shorter events. The weekend ...

behind Jason Mbote in late 2009. The following year, he took eighth place at the 2010

Paris Marathon The Paris Marathon (french: Marathon de Paris) is an annual marathon hosted by the city of Paris, France. It is the marathon with the second-most finishers in the world, behind the New York City Marathon. The marathon begins along the Champs ...

and even though he fell over midway through the race, he recovered to set a personal best of 2:09:01. Further improvement came at the

Amsterdam Marathon The Amsterdam Marathon (branded TCS Amsterdam Marathon for sponsorship reasons) is an annual marathon (42.195 km) in Amsterdam in the Netherlands since 1975. The road race has a Platinum Label from World Athletics. During the event, there a ...

where, despite finishing in fifth, he ran almost a minute and a half faster than his previous best by completing the race in 2:07:37. He cut another two seconds off his best with his winning time at the 2011

Tokyo Marathon The is an annual marathon sporting event in Tokyo, the capital of Japan. It is a World Athletics Platinum Label marathon and one of the six World Marathon Majors. The latest edition of the race took place on . It is sponsored by Tokyo Metro. H ...

in February. He was runner-up at the Montferland Run that year, being beaten to the title by

Philip Langat Philip Kiprono Langat (born 1990) is a Kenyan long-distance runner who specialises in road running events. He won the 2011 Montferland Run. He has a half marathon best of 1:01:05 and a 10K best of 27:28 minutes. After competing on the Kenyan junio ...

. He returned to defend his title at the 2012 Tokyo Marathon, but could manage only eighth place on that occasion.Nakamura, Ken (2012-02-26)
Kipyego wins Tokyo Marathon, Gebrselassie fades to a disappointing fourth

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 2012-02-27. on September 22, 2012 he won the heng shui marathon in 2:08.05

Personal bests

*1500 metres - 3:33.14 (2000) *One mile - 3:53.40 (2000) *3000 metres - 7:30.53 (2001) *5000 metres - 12:58.57 (2001) *10,000 metres - 28:01.10 (2002) *Half marathon - 1:01:29 (2009) *Marathon - 2:07:35 (2011)

Achievements

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mekonnen, Hailu 1980 births Living people Ethiopian male middle-distance runners Ethiopian male long-distance runners Ethiopian male marathon runners Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes of Ethiopia Tokyo Marathon male winners African Games gold medalists for Ethiopia African Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 1999 All-Africa Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2003 All-Africa Games Competitors at the 2001 Goodwill Games 20th-century Ethiopian people 21st-century Ethiopian people