Elvan Abeylegesse

Ethiopian long-distance runner who represented Turkey. (born 1982) Elvan Abeylegesse (née Hewan Abeye (አልቫን አበይለገሠ, Amharic), also formerly Elvan Can (Turkish); born 11 September 1982) is an Ethiopian former middle and long-distance running athlete who represented Turkey. She competed over distances from 1500 metres up to the marathon, and also in cross country. She is a former world record-holder for the 5000 metres, at 14:24.68. In August 2015, the Turkish Athletics Federation confirmed Abeylegesse had failed that an anti-doping test taken during the 2007 World Championships. She was stripped of her results from 2007 to 2009, including two Olympic medals and one World Championship medal, and banned from athletics for two years. Early life and career Abeylegesse was born Hewan Abeye on 11 September 1982 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and raised with her seven brothers and sisters. She began her career running cross country. In 1999, she started for the Ethiopian junior team at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Belfast, Northern Ireland and finished ninth. There, she was invited to a meeting in Istanbul, Turkey. She decided to move to Turkey and became a