Yonas Andebrhan Kifle (born 5 November 1977) is an Eritrean runner who specializes in the

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 ...

, the marathon and

cross-country running Cross country running is a sport in which teams and individuals run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain such as dirt or grass. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open coun ...

. He has represented

Eritrea at the Olympics Eritrea made its debut at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney where it sent three athletes to compete in track and field events. At the 2004 Games in Athens, Zersenay Tadese won Eritrea's first ever medal when he finished third in the men's 10000 ...

on four occasions; in 2000, 2004, 2008 and 2012. He has also competed at World Championship-level in cross country,

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 ...

, and on the track indoors and outdoors. He was the bronze medallist in 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 shortcut ...

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 ...

and the

2005 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships The 14th IAAF World Half Marathon Championships were held in Edmonton, Canada on 1 October 2005. The competition was replaced by the World Road Running Championships in 2006 and 2007, but revived as IAAF World Half Marathon Championships in 2008. ...

. His personal bests include 59:30 minutes for the half marathon and 2:07:34 hours for the marathon (an Eritrean record).

Career

Kifle was born in Adi Billai in Eritrea's

Debub Region Debub Region, also known as the South Region (Tigrinya: ዞባ ደቡብ, it, Regione del Sud), is an administrative region of Eritrea. The region was formed on 15 April 1996, from the historical provinces of Serae and Akele Guzai. It lies alo ...

. He made his first international appearance for Eritrea at the age of 21, running in the 3000 metres at the 1999 IAAF World Indoor Championships. He finished in last place and was over twenty seconds behind the rest of the runners. His first international outdoor competition followed later that year and he ran in the heats of the 5000 metres at the

1999 World Championships in Athletics The 7th World Championships in Athletics, a World Athletic Championships event held under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held at the Estadio Olímpico, Seville, Spain, between the August 20 and Augu ...

in Seville. In 2000 he came 61st at the 2000 IAAF World Cross Country Championships and made his Olympic debut with a performance in the heats of the

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 ...

. He began to improve from the 2002 season onwards: he was eighth in the long race at the 2000 IAAF World Cross Country Championships, fourth at the

2002 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships The 11th IAAF World Half Marathon Championships was held on May 5, 2002 in the city of Brussels, Belgium. A total of 198 athletes, 123 men and 75 women, from 60 countries took part. Detailed reports on the event and an appraisal of the results were ...

with a time of 1:01:05 hours, and came sixth over 5000 m at the 2002 African Championships in Athletics.Kifle Yonas
IAAF. Retrieved on 2012-03-24. He also won the Cursa de Bombers 10K in Spain that year. Kifle was injured in the 2003 season, but came back in 2004 with a top ten finish at the 2004 IAAF World Cross Country Championships and a second Olympic appearance on the track, taking 16th in the 10,000 m final 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), ...

. He was eleventh in the 10,000 m 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 won his first major individual medal with a third-place finish at the

. He made the top ten at both the 2006 IAAF World Cross Country Championships and

2006 IAAF World Road Running Championships The 1st IAAF World Road Running Championships were held in Debrecen, Hungary on 8 October 2006, the women's race starting at 11:00 and the men's race at 13:00. This was the first time the title of World Road Running Champion had been competed for ...

. He had some of his best half marathon performances in 2007, including a bronze medal at the

and set a significant personal best of 59:30 minutes to take fifth at the 2007 IAAF World Road Running Championships. On his marathon debut, he was fifth at the 2007

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 ...

with a personal best time of 2:07:34 hours – an Eritrean record. At the 2008

London Marathon The London Marathon is an annual marathon held in London, United Kingdom, and is the 2nd largest annual road race in the UK, after the Great North Run in Newcastle. Founded by athletes Chris Brasher and John Disley in 1981, it is typically he ...

he ran a time of 2:08:51 for seventh place. Kifle attempted his first

Olympic marathon The marathon at the Summer Olympics is the only road running event held at the multi-sport event. The men's marathon has been present on the Olympic athletics programme since 1896. Nearly ninety years later, the women's event was added to the prog ...

at the 2008 Beijing Games, but he could only manage 36th place overall. He was seventh for a second year running at the

2009 London Marathon The 2009 London Marathon was the 29th running of the annual marathon race in London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 ...

having finished in 2:08:28. He took part in the marathon 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 ...

and was in contention up to the 30 km but he dropped out soon after and did not finish the race. He ran at the 2010 London Marathon and finished in ninth place with a time of 2:14:39, behind compatriot

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 ...

. Kifle was chosen to compete at the

2011 World Championships in Athletics The 13th IAAF World Championships in Athletics () was an international athletics competition that was held in Daegu, South Korea. It started on 27 August 2011 and finished on 4 September 2011. The United States topped the medal standings in th ...

, but he failed to finish the men's marathon race. He ran his best time since 2009 at the 2012

Seoul International Marathon The Seoul International Marathon, also known as the ''Dong-A Ilbo Seoul Marathon or Seoul Marathon'' is an annual marathon race that takes place in Seoul, South Korea. It is one of two annual races over the 42.195 km classic distance in the ...

(2:08:51) and he was the only non-Kenyan runner to feature in the top ten. At the 2012 Summer Olympics he finished in 58th place.

Achievements

Personal bests

* 3000 metres - 7:53.02 min (2002) * 5000 metres - 13:17.72 min (2002) *

- 27:35.72 min (2005) *

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 shortcut ...

- 59:30 min (2007) * Marathon - 2:07:34 (2007)

References

External links

*
Photo of Yonas Kifle in the half marathon in Rotterdam 2006
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kifle, Yonas 1977 births Living people Eritrean male long-distance runners Eritrean male marathon runners Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes of Eritrea African Games bronze medalists for Eritrea African Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 2007 All-Africa Games