Werknesh Kidane (; born November 21, 1981), is an Ethiopian

long distance runner Long may refer to: Measurement * Long, characteristic of something of great duration * Long, characteristic of something of great length * Longitude (abbreviation: long.), a geographic coordinate * Longa (music), note value in early music mensur ...

from Tigray who competes in both 5000 and

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 ...

. She has won numerous medals 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 represented Ethiopia at the

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...

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 ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

and

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

. She was the silver medallist at 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 ...

and a gold medallist at the 2003 IAAF World Cross Country Championships.

Biography

She was born in the historic town of

Maychew Maychew, also Maichew ( ti, ማይጨው, "salt water"), is a town and woreda in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia. It is located at 665 km north of Addis Ababa along Ethiopian Highway 2. According to Ethiopia’s agro-ecological setting, Maychew ...

, Tigray, and her first international title came at the 1999 IAAF World Cross Country Championships where she topped the podium in the junior race. She made her Olympic debut as a teenager and came seventh in the 5000 m final at the

2000 Sydney 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 ...

. She won the 2002

Great Ethiopian Run The Great Ethiopian Run ( am, ታላቁ ሩጫ በኢትዮጵያ) is an annual 10-kilometre road running event which takes place in late November in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Overview The competition was first envisioned by neighbors Ethiopian runn ...

and came second in the short race at the 2002 IAAF World Cross Country Championships. Werknesh began her 2003 season with a win at the

Antrim International Cross Country The Antrim International Cross Country, formerly the Belfast International Cross Country, is an annual cross country running meeting which takes place every January in Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is one of the IAAF's cross country permit meet ...

and then went on to take the women's long race title at the 2003 IAAF World Cross Country Championships. She won the

silver medal A silver medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc ...

in the 10,000 m at 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 ...

, finishing behind fellow Ethiopian Ejegayehu Dibaba. Her season peaked at the

2003 World Championships in Athletics The 9th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held from 23 August to 31 August 2003 in the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis, France. Men's results ...

where she set a 10,000 m personal best of 30:07.15 minutes to secure the runner-up position behind Ethiopian veteran

Berhane Adere Berhane Adere Debala ( Ge'ez: ብርሀኔ አደሬ born 21 July 1973 in Shewa) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner who specialises in the 10,000 metres and the half marathon. She was world champion over 10,000 m in 2003 and world champio ...

who broke the African record for the event. The following year she came fourth in the event at the 2004 Athens Olympics. She also won the long race bronze medal at the

2004 IAAF World Cross Country Championships The 2004 IAAF World Cross Country Championships took place on March 20/21, 2004. The races were held at the Ossegem Park in Brussels, the capital of Belgium. Reports of the event were given in ''The New York Times'', and for the IAAF. ...

, as well as taking fourth in the short race. She had a success campaign on the 2004/05 cross country circuit in Spain, winning in

Soria Soria () is a municipality and a Spanish city, located on the Douro river in the east of the autonomous community of Castile and León and capital of the province of Soria. Its population is 38,881 (INE, 2017), 43.7% of the provincial population. ...

, Valle de Llodio and

Seville Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...

. At the 2005 IAAF World Cross Country Championships she took second place in the short race and third in the long race, taking the team titles with

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 medals, ...

in both races. She took part in the

but could not repeat her podium feat of two years earlier, finishing in sixth in the 10,000 m. Werknesh returned to international competition after a long break at the 2010 IAAF World Cross Country Championships and came in ninth place in the senior race. She made her first top-level road race attempt at the 2010 Great Manchester Run and won with a personal best time of 32:31 minutes. She ran at the NYRR New York Mini 10K in June 2010, and finished in third place behind Kenyans Linet Masai and

Emily Chebet Emily Chebet Muge (born 18 February 1986) is a Kenyan professional long-distance runner who specialises in the 10,000 metres and cross country running. She is a two-time winner of the IAAF World Cross Country Championships, being the gold medal ...

. She continued on the US road circuit with a performance at the

Philadelphia Half Marathon The Philadelphia Distanced Run is an annual half marathon road running event which takes place in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the United States on the third Sunday of September. The competition was established in 1978 as the Philadelphia Distan ...

, where she was third in a time of 1:08:30. She made her marathon debut in the

2011 Boston Marathon The 2011 Boston Marathon took place on Monday, April 18, 2011. Geoffrey Mutai of Kenya won the men's race in a time of 2:03:02. In recognizing Mutai's mark as the "fastest Marathon ever run", the International Association of Athletics Federations ...

, where she placed seventh with a time of 2:26:15. The following year she ran at the Carlsbad 5000 and was runner-up behind

. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, she finished fourth in the 10,000m again. She was a late entry at the Carlsbad 5000 in 2015 (wearing the name "Werky" on her bib), representing Adidas, and placed 11th with a time of 16:00 flat. She lives in USA since becoming a US resident. Her parents live in Axum, Tigray. She stands 1.58 m / 5'2" tall and is coached by Kassu Alemayehu and Dr

Woldemeskel Kostre Dr. Woldemeskel Kostre ( Amharic: ዶ/ር ወ/መስቀል ኮስትሬ, January 29, 1947 – May 16, 2016) was an Ethiopian long distance running coach. He was known for coaching such Olympic champions as Haile Gebreselassie, Kenenisa Bekele, ...

when she is running for the Ethiopian National Team. Her manager is

Mark Wetmore Mark Wetmore (born June 29, 1953) is an American cross country and track coach who specializes in middle-distance and long-distance running. He began his collegiate coaching career when he was accepted as a volunteer assistant coach at the Univer ...

of Global Athletics & Marketing. Werknesh is married to

Gebregziabher Gebremariam Gebregziabher Gebremariam (born September 10, 1984 in Tigray) is a retired Ethiopian long-distance runner. He established himself at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships, winning the junior title in 2002 and two silver medals in the senio ...

References

External links

*
Profile at Athens 2004 games

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kidane, Werknesh 1981 births Living people Sportspeople from Tigray Region Ethiopian female long-distance runners Ethiopian female marathon runners Olympic athletes for Ethiopia Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics World Athletics Championships athletes for Ethiopia World Athletics Championships medalists World Athletics Cross Country Championships winners African Games silver medalists for Ethiopia African Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 2003 All-Africa Games 20th-century Ethiopian women 21st-century Ethiopian women