Mare Dibaba Hurrsa (born 20 October 1989) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner. She won the

2015 World Championships in Athletics The 2015 IAAF World Championships ( zh, 第十五届世界田径锦标赛), the fifteenth edition of the IAAF World Championships, were held from 22 to 30 August at the National Stadium in Beijing, China. Forty-three nations won medals, 144 of ...

in Beijing. Dibaba is not related to track Olympic champion and world record holder

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 ...

Biography

Her first high-profile outing came at the Ethiopian 20 km championships in 2007 and she took sixth place, running for

Oromia Oromia (Amharic: ) ( om, Oromiyaa) is a regional state in Ethiopia and the homeland of the Oromo people. The capital of Oromia is Addis Ababa. It is bordered by the Somali Region to the east; the Amhara Region, the Afar Region and the Be ...

Police. She made her international debut at the 2008

Udine Half Marathon The Udine Half Marathon ( it, Maratonina Udine) is an annual road running event over the half marathon distance (21.1 km/13.1 mi) which takes place in late September in Udine, Italy. The competition is organised by the Associazione Marat ...

and the eighteen-year-old ran a personal best of 1:10:32 hours for second place behind Anikó Kálovics. Her next run came in November at the

New 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 ...

, where she finished in eighth place but slightly improved her time to 1:10:28. Mare briefly transferred to compete for

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of t ...

in 2009, running under the name ''Mare Ibrahimova'', but after she was revealed to be overage for the

European Athletics Junior Championships The European Athletics U20 Championships (formerly named the European Athletics Junior Championships up to 2015) are the European championships for athletes who are under-20 athletes, which is the age range recognised by World Athletics as jun ...

she returned to compete for her country of birth. Among her competitions representing Azerbaijan was a sixth-place finish at the 2009 Delhi Half Marathon, at which she much improved her time for the distance by crossing the line in 1:08:45 (an Azerbaijani record). Having reverted to her Ethiopian citizenship, she further established herself at the

Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon is an annual half marathon held in Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates. History The first event, in 2007, saw Samuel Wanjiru breaking the world record, but Wanjiru himself set a new world record only a month later in ...

, coming in second place behind

Elvan Abeylegesse Elvan Abeylegesse, (also formerly: Hewan Abeye (አልቫን አበይለገሠ, Amharic) and Elvan Can ( Turkish); born September 11, 1982) is an Ethiopian-born naturalized Turkish middle and long-distance running athlete who competes over d ...

. She had led the race at the 20 km mark and her time of 1:03:47 for that point was the fastest recorded by any woman in 2010, while her half marathon time of 1:07:13 was the second fastest of the year. She made her marathon debut in March with a quick 2:25:38 time for third at the

Rome Marathon The Rome Marathon is an annual marathon competition hosted by the city of Rome, Italy. History The competition has also doubled as the Italian Marathon championships on two occasions; in 1983 and 1986. The race date was shifted from the ...

. She won the

Rabat Half Marathon 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 ...

in April and made her first appearances in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

in August, winning the Crim 10-Miler and News and Sentinel Half Marathon. She was one of the leading names 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 ...

but, in spite of a personal best of 2:25:27, she managed only fifth place in the quick-paced race. Mare managed third place at the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon in February 2011. Although she was the pre-race favourite at the

Los Angeles Marathon The Los Angeles Marathon (formerly known as the City of Los Angeles Marathon) is an annual running event typically held each spring in Los Angeles, California, since 1986. The marathon was inspired by the success of the 1984 Summer Olympic Ga ...

in March, she was defeated by both

Bezunesh Deba Bizunesh Deba (born 8 September 1987), also known as ''Buzunesh Deba'', is a The Bronx, New York, Bronx-based Ethiopian long-distance runner. Her personal best for the marathon is 2:19:59, set during the Boston Marathon in 2014. A prolific runni ...

and

Amy Hastings Amy Cragg (née Hastings; born January 21, 1984) is an American track and field athlete, specializing in long distance running events. She is the 2015 American champion in the Marathon, the 2012 American champion in the 10,000 meters, and a qual ...

and came third with a comparatively slow time of 2:30:25 hours. A month later she won the

Yangzhou Jianzhen International Half Marathon The Yangzhou Jianzhen International Half Marathon (Chinese language, Chinese: 扬州鉴真国际半程马拉松赛) is an annual road running competition over the half marathon distance which takes place in April in Yangzhou, People's Republic of ...

by a margin of one minute. She was the runner-up at the Bogota Half Marathon in August. Although she was not selected for the world championships team that year, she was chosen to represent her country at the 2011 All-Africa Games, where she won the half marathon gold medal in a Games record time of 1:10:47 hours. She improved her marathon best to 2:23:25 hours at the

Toronto Waterfront Marathon The Toronto Waterfront Marathon is an annual marathon held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in October. The race day also includes a half marathon and 5 km race. The race has quickly become an elite level marathon and is one of just five World ...

in October, finishing as runner-up behind Koren Yal. A sixth-place finish followed at the Delhi Half Marathon. At the 2012

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 ...

she ran a personal best time of 2:19:52 hours for third place, making her the second fastest Ethiopian woman after 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 ...

. As a result, she was selected for the marathon team at the

2012 London Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, but she was somewhat slower in the Olympic marathon, running a time of 2:28:48 hours and finishing 23rd. Her last performance of the year was a runner-up finish 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 ...

. In 2014, she won the

Bank of America The Bank of America Corporation (often abbreviated BofA or BoA) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. The bank ...

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 ...

with a time of 2:25:37 hours. The win was announced 30 January 2015, as Rita Jeptoo was suspended retroactively for an EPO positive drug test to 25 September 2014, which would have made her ineligible for the Chicago Marathon that she finished first. In 2015, she won the marathon 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 Beijing. She was the heavy favourite for the Olympic marathon title but ended up winning bronze behind Jemima Sumgong and

Eunice Kirwa Eunice Jepkirui Kirwa (born 20 May 1984) is a Kenyan-born Bahraini long-distance runner who specialises in marathon running. Having switched countries in 2013, she is the Bahraini record holder with 2:21:17 hours for the distance, set in 2017 ...

, both Kenyan-born athletes.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dibaba, Mare Living people 1989 births Ethiopian female long-distance runners Ethiopian female marathon runners Sportspeople from Oromia Region Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes of Ethiopia Chicago Marathon female winners World Athletics Championships athletes for Ethiopia World Athletics Championships medalists Olympic bronze medalists for Ethiopia Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze 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 2011 All-Africa Games Recipients of the Association of International Marathons and Distance Races Best Marathon Runner Award World Athletics Championships winners 21st-century Ethiopian women