Sileshi Sihine ( Amharic: ስለሺ ስህኔ; born January 29, 1983 in Sheno) is a retired

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 long-distance runner. Sileshi won silver medals 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 ra ...

at both 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), ...

and the 2008 Beijing Olympics as well as at the 2005 World Championships and 2007 World Championships as well as a bronze medal in 2003. He also picked up a silver medal in the 5000 m at the 2005 World Championships.

Career

Junior career

Sileshi began running at school, inspired by the achievements of compatriot

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 Champion ...

. After success at the junior level, he emerged as a leading senior athlete.

2002-2003

In cross country, he won 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 ...

in 2002 and 2003. Sileshi was one of the three Ethiopians, along with

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 ...

and Gebrselassie, who swept the

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 me ...

, silver, and bronze medals in the

at the 2003 World Championships in Paris. Sihine then won the 10,000 metres at 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 event held in Hyderabad, India, from 24 October (exc ...

2004

Sileshi won a bronze medal at the World Cross Country Championships. He also won a silver medal in the

at the Summer Olympic Gamess in Athens, behind Bekele.

2005

Sileshi won a silver medal in the

, behind Bekele, and the silver medal in the 5000 metres at the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

in Helsinki, Finland.

2006

At the World Cross Country Championships, Sileshi finished second behind Bekele.

2007

At the

in Osaka, Sileshi took the silver medal in the

, again finishing behind Bekele.

2008

He yet again took a silver medal in the

behind Bekele at the Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, China.

2011

In May, Sileshi finished fifth in the 5000 metres at the Samsung DL Golden Gala in Rome, Italy. Nine days later at the

Prefontaine Classic The Prefontaine Classic, an Oregon Track Club event, is one of the premier track and field meets in the United States, held in Eugene, Oregon. Every year it draws a world caliber field to compete at Hayward Field on the campus of the University ...

10,000 metres in Eugene, Oregon, he finished in sixth place, 6.27 seconds behind winner Mohamed Farah. Sileshi attempted his first marathon race at the

Amsterdam Marathon The Amsterdam Marathon (branded Tata Consultancy Services, TCS Amsterdam Marathon for sponsorship reasons) is an annual marathon (42.195 km) in Amsterdam in the Netherlands since 1975. The road running, road race has a IAAF Road Race Label Eve ...

, but dropped out after 36 kilometres.

2012

On 7 June, Sileshi finished seventh in the 5000 metres at the ExxonMobil Bislett Games in Oslo, Norway. Two weeks later at a 10 kilometre road race in Birmingham, U.K., Sihine finished fourth, just 1.06 seconds behind Bekele, the winner.

2015

In February, he was elected president of the newly formed Ethiopian Athletes’ Association.

Personal life

Sileshi Sihine is married to three-time Olympic champion athlete

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 ...

. Their wedding was broadcast live on national television.

Achievements

Personal bests

The following are his personal bests:

References

External links

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IAAF Focus on Athletes
article {{DEFAULTSORT:Sileshi Sihine 1983 births Living people Sportspeople from Oromia Region Ethiopian male long-distance runners Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes of Ethiopia Olympic silver medalists for Ethiopia World Athletics Championships medalists Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field) African Games gold medalists for Ethiopia African Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 2003 All-Africa Games 21st-century Ethiopian people