Selamawit Dagnachew Teferi (born 24 March 1994) is an
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 ...
n-born
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
i Olympic runner.
She
qualified to represent
Israel at the 2020 Summer Olympics
Israel competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo with its largest contingent to date − a delegation of 90 athletes, 55 men and 35 women, who competed in 15 different sports. This was almost double the previous number of 47 athletes who repre ...
in Tokyo in the
5,000 meters
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 ...
. She has also won Israeli championships at
800 meters
The 800 metres, or meters ( US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of an outdoor (400-metre) track and has been an Olympic event since th ...
and
1,500 meters
The 1500 metres or 1,500-metre run (typically pronounced 'fifteen-hundred metres') is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics (sport), athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Champi ...
.
Early and personal life
Dagnachew was born in
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 a non-Jewish family.
She became an
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
i
citizen
Citizenship is a "relationship between an individual and a state to which the individual owes allegiance and in turn is entitled to its protection".
Each state determines the conditions under which it will recognize persons as its citizens, and ...
in April 2018, on account of her marriage to an Israeli citizen.
She is married to Ethiopian-born
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
i Olympic marathoner
Marhu 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 Israel ...
, who also competed in the 2020 Summer Olympics.
They are the first married couple to represent Israel at the Olympics.
Running career
Dagnachew won the Israeli National Championship in
800 meters
The 800 metres, or meters ( US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of an outdoor (400-metre) track and has been an Olympic event since th ...
with a time of 2:13.11 on July 5, 2017, and won the Israeli National Championship in
1,500 meters
The 1500 metres or 1,500-metre run (typically pronounced 'fifteen-hundred metres') is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics (sport), athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Champi ...
with a time of 4:14.07 on July 4, 2019.
As of November 2019, her highest world ranking in the
5,000 meters
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 ...
was 22nd (and her personal best was 15:08.39 in July 2019), her highest world ranking in women's road running was 28th (and her personal best was 50:48 in September 2019; the third-fastest time in the world for the year), and her highest world ranking in
10,000 meters
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 ...
was 57th (and her personal best was 32:16.84 in April 2019).
At the same time, Dagnachew's time in the
15 kilometers of 49:21 in February 2019 was the 12th-fastest in the world for the year. In July 2019, she won the 1,500 meters with a 4.11.37 at the
18th Meeting International de la Province de Liège.
Dagnachew
qualified to represent
Israel at the 2020 Summer Olympics
Israel competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo with its largest contingent to date − a delegation of 90 athletes, 55 men and 35 women, who competed in 15 different sports. This was almost double the previous number of 47 athletes who repre ...
in Tokyo in the
5,000 meters
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 ...
with a time of 15:08.39 in the Guldensporenmeeting in
Kortrijk, Belgium
Kortrijk ( , ; vls, Kortryk or ''Kortrik''; french: Courtrai ; la, Cortoriacum), sometimes known in English as Courtrai or Courtray ( ), is a Belgian city and municipality in the Flemish province of West Flanders.
It is the capital and larges ...
, on July 13, 2019, where she won 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 ...
.
She placed 10th in the Olympic final.
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Teferi, Selamawit
Ethiopian emigrants to Israel
Living people
Israeli female middle-distance runners
Olympic athletes for Israel
1994 births
Naturalized citizens of Israel
Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics