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 ...
in
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
The 2003 IAAF World Cross Country Championships took place on March 29/30, 2003. The races were held at the L'Institut Équestre National in Avenches near Lausanne, Switzerland. Reports of the event were given in ''The New York Times'',
in t ...
.
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
The 1999 IAAF World Cross Country Championships took place on 27 and 28 March 1999. The races were held at the Barnett Demesne/ Queen's University Playing Fields in Belfast, United Kingdom. Reports of the event were given in ''The New York Tim ...
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
The 2002 IAAF World Cross Country Championships took place on March 23/24, 2002. The races were held at the Leopardstown Racecourse, Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, near Dublin, Ireland. Reports of the event were given in ''The New York Times'',
...
.
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 meeti ...
and then went on to take the women's long race title at the
2003 IAAF World Cross Country Championships
The 2003 IAAF World Cross Country Championships took place on March 29/30, 2003. The races were held at the L'Institut Équestre National in Avenches near Lausanne, Switzerland. Reports of the event were given in ''The New York Times'',
in t ...
. 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
Ejegayehu Dibaba Keneni ( om, Ijigaayoo Dibaabaa; Amharic: እጅጋዬሁ ዲባባ); born 21 March 1982, in Bekoji) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner. She won the silver medal in the 10,000 metres at the 2004 Athens Olympics. Ejegayehu ear ...
. 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
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), ...
. 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
The 2005 IAAF World Cross Country Championships took place on March 19/20, 2005. The races were held at the Hippodrome Joseph Desjoyaux in Saint-Galmier near Saint-Étienne, France. Reports of the event were given in ''The New York Times'',
in ...
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 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 ...
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
The 2010 IAAF World Cross Country Championships were held at Myślęcinek Park in Bydgoszcz, Poland on 28 March 2010. It was the first time in over twenty years that Poland hosted the annual championships, having previously held them in Warsaw i ...
and came in ninth place in the senior race. She made her first top-level road race attempt at the 2010 Great Manchester Run
The Great Manchester Run (styled as the ''Simplyhealth Great Manchester Run'' for sponsorship purposes from 2017) is an annual run through Greater Manchester (namely Manchester, Trafford and Salford). It has consisted of a 10k run since it was es ...
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
Linet Chepkwemoi Masai (born 5 December 1989) is a Kenyan professional long-distance runner who competes in track and cross country running events. She won her first world title in the 10,000 metres at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics. ...
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
The Carlsbad 5000 is an annual five kilometer (3.1 mile) road running event that takes place each spring in the city of Carlsbad, California along the north coast of San Diego County.
Organization
The event is organized by Groundwork Endurance, a ...
and was runner-up behind 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, ...
. 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
Axum, or Aksum (pronounced: ), is a town in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia with a population of 66,900 residents (as of 2015).
It is the site of the historic capital of the Aksumite Empire, a naval and trading power that ruled the whole region ...
, 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 senior ...
.
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