Atsede Bayisa Tesema, also known as Atsede ''Bayisa'' (born 16 April 1987), is an Ethiopian long-distance runner who specialises in

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 ...

events. She has won the

Chicago Marathon The Chicago Marathon is a marathon (long-distance foot race) held every October in Chicago, Illinois. It is one of the six World Marathon Majors. Thus, it is also a World Athletics Label Road Race. The Chicago Marathon is the fourth-largest r ...

, Boston Marathon and Paris Marathon twice. She has also won at the Xiamen International Marathon and the

Istanbul Marathon The Istanbul Marathon ( tr, İstanbul Maratonu, also known as N Kolay Istanbul Marathon for sponsorship reasons) is an international athletics event hosted in Istanbul, Turkey, in November, first held in 1979. It is the only marathon in the w ...

. She represented Ethiopia at the 2007 IAAF World Road Running Championships (taking the team silver) and at the

2009 World Championships in Athletics The 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics () were held in Berlin, Germany from 15–23 August 2009. The majority of events took place in the Olympiastadion, while the marathon and racewalking events started and finished at the Brandenburg ...

in the marathon race. She was the half marathon silver medallist at the

2007 All-Africa Games The 9th All-Africa Games took place between 11 and 23 July 2007 in Algiers, the capital city of Algeria. Algiers is the first city to hold All-Africa Games for a second time. The 1978 All-Africa Games were held there. Besides Algeria, only Nig ...

Career

She started her international career with performances at the

Tokyo Women's Marathon The Tokyo International Women's Marathon was a marathon for female elite runners held in Tokyo from 1979 until 2008 in November. It was first held in November 1979, and this race was the first women's marathon officially sanctioned by the Inter ...

and Nagano Marathon in 2006. She ran in the 2007

Rotterdam Marathon The Rotterdam Marathon, currently branded NN Rotterdam Marathon, is an annual marathon that has been held in Rotterdam, Netherlands since 1981. It has been held in April every year since the third edition in 1984 and attracts many top athletes ...

and clocked a time of 2:33:54 for fourth place. Her first major event was

, where she took the half marathon silver medal behind

Souad Aït Salem Souad Aït Salem, also known as Souad Aït Mahour-Bacha (born 6 January 1979 in Mécheria, Algeria) is an Algerian long-distance runner who specializes mainly in the half marathon and marathon. She won gold in the 10,000 metres at the 2000 Africa ...

. A few months later she attended the 2007 IAAF World Road Running Championships and finished in eleventh, helping the Ethiopian women to the team silver medal. Following this, she went on to win at the

, recording a new personal best of 2:29:05. She did not make significant progression in 2008, with fifth-place finishes at both the Rome City Marathon and Toronto Marathon being the highlights of her year. In 2009, she started with a ninth-place finish at the

Dubai Marathon The Dubai Marathon is an annual road-based marathon hosted by Dubai, United Arab Emirates, since 1998. The marathon is categorized as a Gold Label Road Race by World Athletics. History Initial era The inaugural Dubai Marathon was held ...

with a time of 2:29:13. Victory in a personal best time of 2:24:42 at the Paris Marathon marked a new high for Baysa, having won her first IAAF Gold Label Road Race. Baysa was selected for the women's marathon at the

, but she did not match her previous form and finished in 27th place. She went on to take seventh-place finish in 2:32:05 at the

Frankfurt Marathon The Frankfurt Marathon (official name as of 2016: Mainova Frankfurt Marathon, until 2015: BMW Frankfurt Marathon, until 2010: Commerzbank Frankfurt Marathon) is a marathon which has taken place every year in Frankfurt am Main since its inception i ...

in October. Baysa made a strong start to 2010 by becoming the first foreign athlete to win the women's race at the Xiamen International Marathon. She led the race uncontested and finished in 2:28:53. Despite cold conditions, she also won the

Paris Half Marathon Paris Half Marathon (''French: Semi-marathon de Paris''), known as the Harmonie Mutuelle Semi de Paris for sponsorship reasons, is an annual half marathon held every March in Paris, France since 1993. Kenya's Stanley Biwott is the men's course ...

in March, recording a time of 1:11:05. She set her eyes on defending her Paris Marathon title in April and her front running tactics succeeded in record time: finishing in first place in 2:22:04, she beat

Marleen Renders Marleen Renders (born 24 December 1968, in Diest) is a retired female long-distance runner from Belgium, who represented her native country thrice at the Summer Olympics: in 1988, 1996 and 2000. In 1995 she won the Antwerp Marathon, in 1998 t ...

' course record which had stood since 2002 and knocked over two minutes off her previous best. She ran at the 2010 Chicago Marathon in October and started well by setting a fast pace from the beginning, establishing a significant lead by the halfway point, and though it cost her at the end, she won with a time of 2:23:40, beating her closest challenger, Desiree Davila, by two minutes, forty seconds. She entered 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 November but managed only fifth place over the half distance. She opened her 2011 at the

, but finished in fifth place some three minutes behind the winner

Aselefech Mergia Aselefech Mergia Medessa ( Oromo: ''Asallafach Margaa Mardaasaa''; Amharic: አሰለፈች መርጊያ; born 23 January 1985) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner who competes in the marathon. She was a bronze medallist in the event at the 2009 ...

. Another fifth came at the 2011 London Marathon, where she was one place behind her compatriot Bezunesh Bekele. She ran in two French races in October: she was the winner of the half marathon race at the

Reims à Toutes Jambes Reims à Toutes Jambes (''English: Reims at Full Speed'') is an annual road running event held in Reims, France in the month of October. First held in 1984, the competition comprises three main parts: a 42.195 km marathon, a 21.0975 km h ...

and came second to Lydia Cheromei at the Marseille-Cassis Internationale. She ran a time of 2:23:13 hours at the 2012

, which was only worth eighth place in a fast women's race. She won the Tarsus Half Marathon in a course record of 69:39 minutes in March before going on to place ninth at the 2012 London Marathon. While running at the 2012 Chicago Marathon, she drew on her experience of 2010 and did not falter in the second half of the race, racing away in the final section to beat Rita Jeptoo for what at the time was her first Chicago women's title (the 2010 title was awarded on 6 August 2015, following an IAAF review). She ended the year with a dominant performance at the Montferland Run, winning unchallenged after breaking away from the pack in the first 5 km of the race. She won the 2016 Boston Marathon, but gave

Bobbi Gibb Roberta Louise Gibb (born November 2, 1942) is an American former runner who was the first woman to have run the entire Boston Marathon (1966). She is recognized by the Boston Athletic Association as the pre-sanctioned era women's winner in 1966 ...

her trophy; Gibb said in 2017 she would go to Baysa’s native Ethiopia and return it to her.

Personal bests

*All information taken from IAAF profile.

International competitions

Road race wins

: 2007 * Paris Marathon: 2009, 2010 * Xiamen International Marathon: 2010 *

: 2010 *

: 2010,

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 gat ...

* Montferland Run: 2012 * Boston Marathon:

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Baysa, Atsede 1987 births Living people Ethiopian female long-distance runners Ethiopian female marathon runners Paris Marathon female winners Chicago Marathon female winners Boston Marathon female winners African Games silver medalists for Ethiopia African Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 2007 All-Africa Games Sportspeople from Dire Dawa 20th-century Ethiopian women 21st-century Ethiopian women