Sentayehu Ejigu Tamerat (born 21 June 1985 in

Debre Markos Debre Markos ( am, ደብረ ማርቆስ, Däbrä Marḳos lit: ''Mount of St. Mark'') is a city, separate woreda, and administrative seat of the East Gojjam Zone in Amhara Region, Ethiopia. Etymology Originally named Manqwarar (lit: Cold Plac ...

Amhara Region The Amhara Region ( am, አማራ ክልል, Åmara Kilil), officially the Amhara National Regional State (), is a regional state in northern Ethiopia and the homeland of the Amhara people. Its capital is Bahir Dar which is the seat of the Re ...

)Sentayehu Ejigu
Sports Reference. Retrieved 20 February 2011. is an Ethiopian

long-distance Long distance or Long-distance may refer to: *Long-distance calling * Long-distance operator * Long-distance relationship * Long-distance train *Long-distance anchor pylon, see dead-end tower Footpaths * Long-distance trail *European long-d ...

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 3000 and 5000 metres. She represented Ethiopia at the 2004 Summer Olympics. After narrowly missing out on medals at the

2006 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 11th IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) was held in Moscow from March 10 to March 12, 2006 in the Olimpiyski Sport arena. The announcement by the I ...

and 2009 World Championships, she made her breakthrough in 2010, winning bronze medals at the

African Championships in Athletics The African Championships in Athletics is a continental athletics event organized by the Confederation of African Athletics (CAA), the continental association for the sport in Africa. Since its inaugural edition in 1979 it was at first organise ...

and World Indoors. She was the silver medallist at the

2010 IAAF Continental Cup The 1st IAAF Continental Cup was an international track and field sporting event held under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations. Originally scheduled as the 11th IAAF World Cup in Athletics, it was renamed in 200 ...

. She is the third fastest of all-time over 3000 m indoors with her best of 8:25.27 minutes. She also ranks among the top eight fastest women ever over 5000 m both outdoors and indoors.

Career

As a child, her quick feet made her the natural messenger-girl for the family errands and she soon took up

running 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 ...

at school. She began entering competitions and her immediate success led to a move to

Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; am, አዲስ አበባ, , new flower ; also known as , lit. "natural spring" in Oromo), is the capital and largest city of Ethiopia. It is also served as major administrative center of the Oromia Region. In the 2007 census, t ...

to train with the Banks Running Club. Despite her talent, she often was runner-up to her club mate

Meseret Defar Meseret Defar Tola (Amharic: መሠረት ደፋር; born 19 November 1983) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner who competes chiefly in the 3000 metres and 5000 metres events. She has won medals at top-tier international competitions including O ...

– who went on to win Olympic gold in the 5000 metres. Sentayehu made her international championship debut at the 2001 World Youth Championships in Athletics and took the bronze medal in 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 Athle ...

. She soon changed her focus to longer distances and competed on the

2002 IAAF Golden League The 2002 IAAF Golden League was the fifth edition of the annual international track and field meeting series, held from 28 June to 6 September. It was contested at seven European meetings: the Bislett Games, Meeting Gaz de France, Golden Gala, Herc ...

circuit, recording a 3000 metres best of 8:48.30 minutes at the Weltklasse Zurich at the age of seventeen. She gained a place at the 2002 IAAF Grand Prix Final and came seventh in the event. A sixth-place finish in the junior race at the 2003 IAAF World Cross Country Championships helped the Ethiopian women to the team title, while fellow Ethiopian

Tirunesh Dibaba Tirunesh Dibaba ( om, Xirunesh Dibaabaa, Amharic: ጥሩነሽ ዲባባ ቀነኒ; born 1 June 1985) is an Ethiopian athlete who competed in long-distance track events and international road races. She has won three Olympic track gold medal ...

won the race. She improved her 3000 m track best to 8:46.51 that year but an appearance at the 2003 IAAF World Athletics Final resulted in another seventh-place finish. Her 2004 season was pivotal for her career: she reduced her 5000 m best significantly to 14:35.18 minutes and gained a spot on the Ethiopian Olympic team. At the

2004 Athens Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

the nineteen-year-old came tenth in the women's 5000 m final. Despite her athletic breakthrough, that year also took its toll on her body as she acquired a long-term problem in her heel and calf which affected her running. She ran an indoor 3000 m personal best of 8:46.67 minutes at the 2005 Boston Indoor Games, but her outdoor season fizzled out as she did not qualify for the

2005 World Championships in Athletics The 10th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), were held in the Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland (6 August 2005 – 14 August 2005), the site of the first IAAF ...

. She again proved herself indoors the following year and came fourth at the

, improving further to 8:43.38 minutes. Injuries continued to impair her consistency and the sudden death of her sister in October 2007 saw her put her career on hold. She married

Berhanu Alemu Berhanu Alemu Feysa (; born 16 July 1982) is an Ethiopian former middle-distance runner specializing in the 800 metres. He competed at the 2000 and 2004 Summer Olympics failing to advance to the final. His 800 metres personal best of 1:45.28 fr ...

, a fellow runner, and began to come back to full-time professional competition in 2009. Ejigu, Dibaba Birmingham meeting 2010

She raised herself among the fastest ever over 5000 m indoors with a run at the 2009 Boston Indoor Games, just nipping ahead of

Shalane Flanagan Shalane Grace Flanagan (born July 8, 1981) is an American long-distance runner, Olympic medalist and New York City Marathon champion. She was the first American woman to win the New York City Marathon since 1977. She holds the NACAC area reco ...

at the line to win in 14:47.62 minutes. She qualified for a full complement of competitions that season: she finished fourteenth in the women's race at the

2009 IAAF World Cross Country Championships 9 (nine) is the natural number following and preceding . Evolution of the Arabic digit In the beginning, various Indians wrote a digit 9 similar in shape to the modern closing question mark without the bottom dot. The Kshatrapa, Andhra and ...

, just missed a medal with a fourth place over 5000 m at the

2009 World Championships in Athletics The 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics () were held in Berlin, Germany from 15–23 August 2009. The majority of events took place in the Olympiastadion, while the marathon and racewalking events started and finished at the Brandenburg ...

, and closed her track season with an appearance at the 2009 IAAF World Athletics Final, coming sixth over 5000 m. Sentayehu dramatically improved in 2010, putting her history of injury behind her. She improved her 5000 m indoor best to 14:46.80 minutes and set a mark of 9:12.68 for 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 lar ...

. 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 ...

she devised a plan with Meseret Defar to thwart the Kenyans in the 3000 m and the Ethiopians succeeded, with Meseret winning the title and Sentayehu taking the bronze – her first international senior medal. Outdoors, she won her first meeting of the 2010 IAAF Diamond League at the

Shanghai Golden Grand Prix The Diamond League Shanghai is an annual athletics event at the Shanghai Stadium in Shanghai, China as part of the Diamond League. The meeting was founded as the Shanghai Golden Grand Prix in 2005. The meet assumed its current name in 2010. From ...

. She improved her 5000 m time to 14:28.39 minutes at the

Meeting Areva Meeting de Paris (formerly known as the Meeting Areva and Meeting Gaz de France) is an annual track and field meeting at the Stade Sébastien Charléty in Paris, France. Previously one of the IAAF Golden League events, it is now part of the Diamon ...

, recording the second fastest time of the year behind the winner

Vivian Cheruiyot Vivian Jepkemoi Cheruiyot (born 11 September 1983) is a Kenyan long-distance runner who specialises in track and cross country running. She represented Kenya at the Summer Olympics in 2000, 2008, 2012, and 2016, winning a silver medal at the 5 ...

. She won the 3000 m at the Herculis meeting in Monaco with a time of 8:28.41 – the fastest by any athlete outdoors that season. She claimed her second major medal of the year at the

2010 African Championships in Athletics The 2010 African Championships in Athletics was held in Nairobi, Kenya from 28 July to 1 August 2010. Background The African Championships in Athletics were held in Kenya for the first time. Previously two major athletics events have been held i ...

, bringing home the 5000 m bronze behind Cheruiyot and Meseret, and went on to close the year with a silver medal for Africa at the

. She opened her 2011 indoor season at the

Aviva Indoor Grand Prix The Birmingham Indoor Grand Prix, formerly known as Aviva Indoor Grand Prix, is an annual indoor track and field competition which is held in mid-February at the Arena Birmingham in Birmingham, England. It is one of a handful of events to hold IAA ...

and improved her 3000 m best to 8:30.26 minutes, raising herself up to fourth on the all-time indoor lists. A road debut over 10 km followed later that month and she pipped Dire Tune at the line to take the World's Best 10K in

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...

. She performed well on the 2013 IAAF Diamond League that year, finishing second at the Shanghai Diamond League,

FBK Games The FBK Games is an annual track and field event at the Fanny Blankers-Koen Stadion in Hengelo, Netherlands as part of the IAAF World Challenge Meetings. It was first organized in 1981. Its name honours Fanny Blankers-Koen, who won four gold med ...

Bislett Games The Bislett Games is an annual track and field meeting at the Bislett Stadium in Oslo, Norway. Previously one of the IAAF Golden League events, it is now part of the Diamond League. History The first international athletics meeting at Bisl ...

and

. In the 5000 m final at the

2011 World Championships in Athletics The 13th IAAF World Championships in Athletics () was an international athletics competition that was held in Daegu, South Korea. It started on 27 August 2011 and finished on 4 September 2011. The United States topped the medal standings in th ...

she finished just outside the medals with a fourth-place finish.Sentayehu Ejigu
Tilastopaja. Retrieved 22 February 2014. A leg injury ruled her out of 2012 and also much of 2013. A win at the Tufts Health Plan 10K for Women in a personal best 31:33 minutes in October 2013 seemed to indicate a return to form. She made her

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 shortcut ...

debut in

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders ...

that December, but her time of 1:12:02 hours left her out of the top ten in the high calibre race.

Competition record

Personal bests

Outdoor *

– 4:15.89 min (2001) * 3000 metres – 8:28.41 min (2010) * 5000 metres – 14:28.39 min (2010) *

10K run 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. ...

– 31:33 min (2013) *

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 shortcut ...

– 1:12:02 hrs (2013) Indoor * 3000 metres – 8:25.27 min (2010) *

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 lar ...

– 9:12.68 min (2010) * 5000 metres – 14:46.80 min (2010)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ejigu, Sentayehu 1985 births Living people Ethiopian female long-distance runners Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes of Ethiopia Sportspeople from Amhara Region 20th-century Ethiopian women 21st-century Ethiopian women People from Debre Markos