Samuel Tsegay Tesfamriam (born 24 October 1988) is an Eritrean long-distance runner running for the Swedish track club Hälle IF and currently going through the process of acquiring

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

citizenship, who specializes in the 5000 metres 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 ra ...

. He was born in Eritrea. As a junior, he competed in the junior races 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 ...

, finishing seventeenth in 2005, eighth in 2006 and eighth in 2007. He finished fourth in the 10,000 metres at the 2006 World Junior Championships. At the 2009 World Cross Country Championships he finished sixteenth in the senior race. The Eritrean team took bronze medals in the team competition. He finished fifth at the 2009 World Half Marathon Championships, and competed in the 5000 metres at the 2009 World Championships. A fifth place at the 2010 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships gained him a team silver medal alongside

Zersenay Tadese Zersenay Tadese (Tigrinya: ዘርእሰናይ ታደሰ; born 8 February 1982) is an Eritrean long-distance track and road running athlete. He held the men's half marathon world record from 2010 to 2018. His bronze medal in the 10,000 metres ...

. He took third at the

Cross Valle de Llodio The Cross Internacional Valle de Llodio is an annual cross country running competition that takes place in Llodio in the Basque Country, Spain, around late November. The event was first held in February 1985 and changed to an end-of-year competit ...

in November behind compatriot

Teklemariam Medhin Teklemariam Medhin Weldeslassie (born 24 June 1989) is an Eritrean long-distance runner who specializes in the 5000 metres and 10,000 metres. He represented his country at the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics. Running career Junior career Medhin ...

. He ran at the 2011 IAAF World Cross Country Championships but was ultimately disqualified as he and Ethiopia's

Abera Kuma Abera Kuma Lema (born 31 August 1990) is an Ethiopian long distance runner, who competes in track, cross country, and road running events. An African junior champion over 5000 m, he won his first senior international medal (a team bronze) at the ...

began fighting on the final stretch. Reflecting the history of antipathy between the nations, Tsegay accused the Ethiopian of deliberately elbowing him and standing on his heels from behind, thus he reacted by grabbing Abera's leg and threw a punch before dashing to the finish. The IAAF disqualified both athletes for their conduct. He ran a personal best of 2:07:28 hours at the

Amsterdam Marathon The Amsterdam Marathon (branded Tata Consultancy Services, TCS Amsterdam Marathon for sponsorship reasons) is an annual marathon (42.195 km) in Amsterdam in the Netherlands since 1975. The road running, road race has a IAAF Road Race Label Eve ...

in October that year. Although this time brought him the national record for the marathon, previously held by

Yonas Kifle Yonas Andebrhan Kifle (born 5 November 1977) is an Eritrean runner who specializes in the 10,000 metres, the marathon and cross-country running. He has represented Eritrea at the Olympics on four occasions; in 2000, 2004, 2008 and 2012. He has ...

, he only finished eighth in the high calibre race. At the 2012

Egmond Half Marathon The Egmond Half Marathon ( nl, Egmond Halve Marathon) is an annual half marathon race over 21.1 kilometres that has been staged in Egmond aan Zee, Netherlands since 1973. The competition normally takes place in early January. Sections of the road ...

he took third place. His personal best times are 13:16.59 minutes in the 5000 metres, achieved in July 2009 in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

; 28:20.96 minutes in the 10,000 metres, achieved in June 2009 in

Villeneuve-d'Ascq Villeneuve-d'Ascq (; pcd, Neuvile-Ask) is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. With more than 60,000 inhabitants and 50,000 students, it is one of the main cities of the Métropole Européenne de Lille and the largest in area (2 ...

; and 59:21 hours in the half marathon, achieved in March 2014 in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tsegay, Samuel 1988 births Living people Eritrean male long-distance runners Eritrean male marathon runners Olympic athletes of Eritrea Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Swedish Athletics Championships winners