Yalemzerf Yehualaw Densa (born 3 August 1999)
is an Ethiopian
long-distance runner
Long-distance running, or endurance running, is a form of continuous running over distances of at least . Physiologically, it is largely Aerobic exercise, aerobic in nature and requires endurance, stamina as well as mental strength.
Within e ...
. She won the
2022 London Marathon
The 2022 London Marathon was the 42nd running of the annual London Marathon on 2 October 2022. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic the race was postponed from April until October to maximise the chances of a mass participation event. The elite men's a ...
. Yehualaw is the current
world record
A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organization ...
holder in the
10 kilometres
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 (measurement), unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment ...
road race, sits second on the
world all-time list at 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 ...
and tenth on the respective
world all-time list for 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 ...
.
Yehualaw recorded the fastest ever women's marathon debut at the time at the 2022
Hamburg Marathon
The Hamburg Marathon (german: Hamburg-Marathon) is an annual marathon race over the classic distance of held in Hamburg, Germany. In 2009, 13,938 participants were counted. The marathon is categorized as a Gold Label Road Race by World Athlet ...
.
Early life and background
Yalemzerf Yehualaw was born the eldest of six siblings in
Finote Selam in the
West Gojjam area of the
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 Reg ...
. Her name means in Amharic 'edge of the world'.
She was winning
track races at school from the age of 12 and later also youth track titles in her highly-competitive region. With wins on the track,
road
A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation.
There are many types of ...
and
cross country, she was invited to join the Ethiopian Youth Sport Academy in
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 ...
where she currently lives, and then, after four years in 2017, to join the
NN Running Team
NN Running Team is a professional running team based in the Netherlands. It was founded in 2017 by Jos Hermens, the director of Global Sports Communication. The team's title sponsor is the Dutch insurance company NN Group. The running team include ...
coached by
Tessema Abshero
Tessema Abshero (; born 9 December 1986) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner.
He finished tenth in the 5000 metres at the 2002 African Championships. At the 2003 World Cross Country Championships he finished twelfth in the short race, while ...
.
Career
2019–2021
A 19-year-old Yehualaw made her international debut in April 2019 at the
Rabat
Rabat (, also , ; ar, الرِّبَاط, er-Ribât; ber, ⵕⵕⴱⴰⵟ, ṛṛbaṭ) is the capital city of Morocco and the country's seventh largest city with an urban population of approximately 580,000 (2014) and a metropolitan populati ...
Half Marathon in Morocco, where she took victory. The same year, she
represented Ethiopia at the
African Games
The African Games, formally known as the All-Africa Games or the Pan African Games, are a continental multi-sport event held every four years, organized by the African Union (AU) with the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (AN ...
held also in Rabat and won the
women's half marathon event, breaking Games record in a time of 1:10:26. She also won the
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 ...
, a
10 kilometres road race in Addis Ababa, setting a new course record of 31:55.
She earned the bronze medal in the women's half marathon at the postponed
2020 World Half Marathon Championships held in
Gdynia
Gdynia ( ; ; german: Gdingen (currently), (1939–1945); csb, Gdiniô, , , ) is a city in northern Poland and a seaport on the Baltic Sea coast. With a population of 243,918, it is the List of cities in Poland, 12th-largest city in Poland and ...
, Poland, just three seconds behind gold medallist
Peres Jepchirchir
Peres Jepchirchir (born 27 September 1993) is a Kenyan professional long-distance runner who competes mainly in road running competitions. She won the gold medal in the women's marathon at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Jepchirchir was the champion ...
. A month later in November, Yehualaw competed at the
Delhi Half Marathon
Airtel Delhi Half Marathon (ADHM) is an annual half marathon foot-race held in New Delhi, India. Established in 2005, it is both an elite runner and mass participation event. It is an AIMS-certified course and is listed as a Gold Label Road Rac ...
in India where she faced a world-class field. In most impressive performance of her career up to that point, she won the race in a time of 1:04:46, the second-fastest women's time ever recorded for the distance, beating world record-holder
Ababel Yeshaneh
Ababel Yeshaneh Birhane (born 22 July 1991) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner who competes in track, road and cross country events. She represented her country in the 10,000 metres at the 2013 World Championships in Athletics, coming ninth, ...
and 2019 World marathon champion
Ruth Chepng'etich
Ruth Chepng'etich, often spelt Ruth Chepngetich, (born 8 August 1994) is a Kenyan road racing athlete, who competes in the marathon and other long distance events. She was the 2019 Marathon World champion in hot and humid conditions. Chepng'et ...
.
In August 2021, Yehualaw competed in the
Antrim Coast Half Marathon in Northern Ireland setting a new world record time of 63m 44s, the first women's mark under 64 minutes not ratified because the course was 54 metres short. She ran legal 63m 51s in October at the
Valencia Half Marathon
The Valencia Half Marathon ( es, Medio Maratón de Valencia) is an annual half marathon road running event held in Valencia, Spain, since 1988. It is categorized as a Gold Label Road Race by World Athletics. The race is organised by the Valenc ...
thus securing second mark on the world all-time list behind team-mate
Letesenbet Gidey
Letesenbet Gidey (Tigrinya: ለተሰንበት ግደይ, born 20 March 1998) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner who holds three world records plus one world best. A 10,000 metres 2020 Tokyo Olympic bronze medallist, at the World Athletics C ...
, who set a world record in this race.
2022: World 10 km record and London Marathon win
In January, after having to withdraw from the Valencia 10 km two weeks earlier, Yehualaw bettered her own course record at the Great Ethiopian Run with a time of 31:17, the fastest 10 km ever recorded at altitude.
On 27 February, she ran again 10 kilometres and set a new world record in the women's event in
Castellón, Spain, slicing 24 seconds off the yet-unratified mark held by Bahrain's
Kalkidan Gezahegne since 2021, with a clocking of 29 minutes 14 seconds. At the time Kenya's
Joyciline Jepkosgei
Joyciline Jepkosgei (born 8 December 1993) is a Kenyan female long-distance runner who competes over distances from 10,000 metres to the marathon. She is the former half marathon world record holder in contests with mixed-gender fields with h ...
held the ratified record of 29:43, set in 2017. Only two women ever had run faster over the distance on the track. She covered the first 5 km in 14:28 – just nine seconds slower than the world record for this distance.
In April, in her anticipated first marathon, Yehualaw achieved the fastest ever women's marathon debut of 2:17:23 at the
Hamburg Marathon
The Hamburg Marathon (german: Hamburg-Marathon) is an annual marathon race over the classic distance of held in Hamburg, Germany. In 2009, 13,938 participants were counted. The marathon is categorized as a Gold Label Road Race by World Athlet ...
, breaking the Ethiopian record, German all-comers' record, and putting her sixth on the world all-time list. She won by almost nine minutes (around three kilometres) in windy conditions.
The 23-year-old successfully defended her Antrim Coast Half Marathon title in August, setting the UK all-comers' record with her joint fifth-fastest ever time of 64m 22s.
On 2 October, Yehualaw took her first victory at a
World Marathon Major
The World Marathon Majors (WMM) (known for sponsorship reasons as the Abbott World Marathon Majors) is a championship-style competition for marathon runners that started in 2006. A points-based competition founded on six major marathon races recog ...
at the
2022 London Marathon
The 2022 London Marathon was the 42nd running of the annual London Marathon on 2 October 2022. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic the race was postponed from April until October to maximise the chances of a mass participation event. The elite men's a ...
, becoming the youngest ever female winner of the London event. She clocked 2:17:26, only three seconds outside her personal best, after she fell over with about 10km to go. She then soon broke clear of Joyciline Jepkosgei in second, with 24th mile in a quick 4:43 according to initial reports the fastest split in women's marathon history. Her finishing time was the third-fastest women's mark in the London event history, behind only the world records set by
Paula Radcliffe
Paula Jane Radcliffe MBE (born 17 December 1973) is a former British long-distance runner. She is a three-time winner of the London Marathon (2002, 2003, 2005), three-time New York Marathon champion (2004, 2007, 2008), and 2002 Chicago Maratho ...
(2:15:25) and
Mary Keitany
Mary Jepkosgei Keitany (born 18 January 1982) is a Kenyan former professional long distance runner. She is the world record holder in a women-only marathon, having won the 2017 London Marathon in a time of 2:17:01. As of November 2022, she plac ...
(2:17:01, women-only).
2023–present
Chasing her own world 10 km record in windy conditions at the 10K Valencia Ibercaja in January, she missed it by 5 seconds to set a course record of 29:19, the second-fastest all-time performance in the event.
Personal bests
Achievements
Notes
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yehualaw, Yalemzerf
1999 births
Living people
Ethiopian female long-distance runners
Ethiopian female marathon runners
African Games gold medalists for Ethiopia
African Games medalists in athletics (track and field)
Athletes (track and field) at the 2019 African Games
African Games gold medalists in athletics (track and field)
Sportspeople from Amhara Region
21st-century Ethiopian women
London Marathon female winners
People from Finote Selam