Ayele Seteng (born 11 April 1955) is an Ethiopian-born Israeli long-distance runner who specializes in the

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 ...

Personal life

He was born and raised 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 ...

, and is of

Beta Israel The Beta Israel ( he, בֵּיתֶא יִשְׂרָאֵל, ''Bēteʾ Yīsrāʾēl''; gez, ቤተ እስራኤል, , modern ''Bēte 'Isrā'ēl'', EAE: "Betä Ǝsraʾel", "House of Israel" or "Community of Israel"), also known as Ethiopian Jews ...

heritage. In 1991 he emigrated to

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 ...

. He is also known as Haile Satayin, a variant of "Ayele Seteng". The different existing versions of his name are due to

transliteration Transliteration is a type of conversion of a text from one writing system, script to another that involves swapping Letter (alphabet), letters (thus ''wikt:trans-#Prefix, trans-'' + ''wikt:littera#Latin, liter-'') in predictable ways, such as ...

. He stands tall and weighs about .

Career

Ayele Seteng won national Israeli titles before competing internationally. He achieved his personal best times on the track during the mid-1990s: 14:00.49 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 ...

, achieved in 1996; and 29:04.08 in the

10,000 metres 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 ...

, achieved in 1995. He later converted fully to

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 ...

, and to some extent

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 ...

. He competed at the World Cross Country Championships in

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

and

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

without any success. One of his first marathons took place at the 2002 European Championships, where he finished 32nd. In 2004 he finished 12th at the 2004 World Half Marathon Championships and 20th at the

2004 Olympic Games 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), ...

. In 2005 he finished 26th at the 2005 World Half Marathon Championships, and 21st at the 2005 World Championships. He finished 18th at the 2006 European Championships, 19th at the 2007 World Championships and 69th at the

2008 Olympic Games The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

. At 49 years and 141 days, competing on behalf of

Israel at the 2004 Summer Olympics Israel competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, from 13 to 29 August 2004. It was the nation's thirteenth appearance at the Summer Olympics. The Olympic Committee of Israel sent 36 athletes to the Games, 20 men and 16 women, to c ...

, he was the oldest track and field athlete competing at the 2004 Olympics. At 53 years and 136 days, competing on behalf of

Israel at the 2008 Summer Olympics Israel competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. This was Israel's fourteenth participation in the Summer Olympics. Israel sent 43 athletes to compete in Beijing, the largest Israeli delegation in Olympic history, with the previous ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, China, he was the oldest athlete competing at the 2008 Olympics. He is reported to have once said "My age is old, but my heart is young." His personal best times on the road are 1:03:43 in 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 ...

, achieved in March 1997 in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...

; and 2:14:21 in the marathon, achieved in October 2003 in the

Venice Marathon The Venice Marathon ( it, Maratona di Venezia) (stylized as Venicemarathon) is a marathon road race that has been held each year in Venice since 1986, usually in October. The course starts in Stra and passes through Mestre, , and Ponte della ...

. Both these results are

Israeli records Israeli may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the State of Israel * Israelis, citizens or permanent residents of the State of Israel * Modern Hebrew, a language * ''Israeli'' (newspaper), published from 2006 to 2008 * Guni Israeli (b ...

. "Running Movie" (Original title in Hebrew: Seret Ratz), a documentary directed by Omer Peled and produced by

Gidi Avivi Gidi Avivi (born 1961) is an Israeli film producer, the founder of Vice Versa Films. Education and early career Avivi holds a Master's degree in Cinema Studies from New York University and a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Film and Television fr ...

in 2011, follows Ayele Seteng, the oldest marathon runner to compete in the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

in Beijing, and reveals his efforts to participate in the

2012 Summer 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 ...

in London.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Seteng, Ayele 1955 births Living people Ethiopian Jews Ethiopian emigrants to Israel Citizens of Israel through Law of Return Israeli male long-distance runners Israeli male marathon runners Olympic athletes of Israel Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Israeli people of Ethiopian-Jewish descent Sportspeople of Ethiopian descent Jewish male athletes (track and field) Israeli Jews World Athletics Championships athletes for Israel

Personal life

Career

See also

References

External links