Sport in Ethiopia
Encyclopedia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
is best known internationally for its middle-distance
Middle distance track event
Middle distance running events are track races longer than sprints, up to 3000 metres. The standard middle distances are the 800 metres, 1500 metres and mile run, although the 3000 metres may also be classified as a middle distance event. The 880 yard run, or half mile, was the forebear to the...
and long-distance
Long-distance track event
Long-distance track event races require runners to balance their energy. These types of races are predominantly aerobic in nature and at the highest level, exceptional levels of aerobic endurance is required more than anything else...
. Seifu Mekonnen
Seifu Mekonnen
Seifu Mekonnen was a two-time Olympic boxer from Ethiopia. He was born in Aleltu, in the province of Showa. By the age of 12, he already showed athletic prowess as a bodybuilder. In 1971, inspired by Muhammed Ali, he became a boxer...
was an Olympic
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
contestant for Ethiopia in boxing. And the Ethiopian national football team won the 1962 Africa Cup of Nations. There are also traditional sports events, such as stick fighting
Stick fighting
Stick fighting is a generic term for martial arts which use simple long slender, blunt, hand-held, generally wooden 'sticks' for fighting such as a staff, cane, walking stick, baton or similar....
which is popular amongst the Surma
Surma
Surma may refer to:* Surma — a beast which guards the gates of the Underworld;* Surma people — a pastoralist ethnic group in western Ethiopia;* Kohl — another name for the eyelash dye and eye cosmetic;...
and Nyangatom people
Nyangatom people
The Nyangatom are a Nilotic ethnic group inhabiting southwestern Ethiopia and southeastern South Sudan...
s.
Ethiopia in distance running
In middle and long-distance events, KenyaKenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
and Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
are often its opponents in World Championship
World championship
A world championship is the top achievement for any sport or contest. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the best nation, team, individual in the world in a particular field. Certain sports do not have a world championship, instead...
s and Olympic
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
competitions. The New York Times called Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
a "running mecca" due to its historical successes in the athletics program, in which it also took 5th place in the world ranking during the Beijing Olympics. As of March 2006, three Ethiopians dominate the long-distance running scene, mainly: Haile Gebreselassie (World champion and Olympic champion) who has set over twenty new world record
World record
A world record is usually the best global performance ever recorded and verified in a specific skill or sport. The book Guinness World Records collates and publishes notable records of all types, from first and best to worst human achievements, to extremes in the natural world and beyond...
s and currently holds the 20 km, half-marathon, 25 km, and marathon
Marathon
The marathon is a long-distance running event with an official distance of 42.195 kilometres , that is usually run as a road race...
world record, and Kenenisa Bekele
Kenenisa Bekele
Kenenisa Bekele is an Ethiopian long-distance runner, who holds the world record and Olympic record in both the 5000 metres and 10,000 metres events...
(World champion, World cross country champion, and Olympic champion), who holds the 5,000 m and 10,000 m world records. Ethiopia has also had various successful sweeps by taking all three medals in various world races including during the Olympics and Lewis Michael Fletcher who is now based in Peterborough
Peterborough
Peterborough is a cathedral city and unitary authority area in the East of England, with an estimated population of in June 2007. For ceremonial purposes it is in the county of Cambridgeshire. Situated north of London, the city stands on the River Nene which flows into the North Sea...
who won 4 golds in the Ethiopian para Olympics. The last few years Ethiopian women runners have joined the men in dominating athletics, particularly the multi-gold medalists Meseret Defar
Meseret Defar
Meseret Defar is a female long-distance runner from Ethiopia who competes chiefly in the 3000 metres and 5000 metres events. She has won medals at top-tier international competitions including Olympic and World Championship gold medals over 5000 metres...
and Tirunesh Dibaba
Tirunesh Dibaba
Tirunesh Dibaba also known as Tirunesh Dibaba Kenene is an Ethiopian long distance track athlete and the outdoor 5000 metres world record holder. She is the current Olympic 5000 metres and 10,000 metres champion...
. Ethiopia has added more events to the list of its preeminence in athletics, including the steeplechase which Legese Lamiso recently took the top honors.
Ethiopian distance-runners include Derartu Tulu
Derartu Tulu
Derartu Tulu is an Ethiopian long distance track, road and marathon athlete.Derartu , a member of the Oromo ethnic group, grew up tending cattle in the village of Bekoji in the highlands of Arsi Province...
, Abebe Bikila
Abebe Bikila
Abebe Bikila was a two-time Olympic marathon champion from Ethiopia. A stadium in Addis Ababa is named in his honor.-1932–1959:...
, Mamo Wolde
Mamo Wolde
Degaga Wolde was an Ethiopian long distance track and road running athlete and was winner of the marathon at the 1968 Summer Olympics....
, Miruts Yifter
Miruts Yifter
Miruts Yifter ]] is a former Ethiopian athlete, winner of two gold medals at the 1980 Summer Olympics. His name is also sometimes spelled as Muruse Yefter....
, Addis Abebe
Addis Abebe
Addis Abebe is a former long-distance runner from Ethiopia, best known for winning a bronze medal in the 10,000 metres at the 1992 Summer Olympics....
, Sileshi Sihine
Sileshi Sihine
Sileshi Sihine is an Ethiopian long-distance runner.Sihine achieved a silver medal in the 10,000 metres at the 2004 Athens Olympics and the 2008 Beijing Olympics as well as at the 2005 World Championships and 2007 World Championships as well as a bronze medal in 2003...
, Gebregziabher Gebremariam, Belayneh Densamo
Belayneh Densamo
Belayneh Densamo is a long-distance track and road running athlete from Ethiopia. He held the world record in the marathon for 10 years . This was the third longest span without the record being broken since the event was first organized at the 1896 Olympics...
, Werknesh Kidane
Werknesh Kidane
Werknesh Kidane , is an Ethiopian long distance running athlete who competes in both 5000 and 10,000 metres. She has won numerous medals at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships and represented Ethiopia at the Summer Olympics in 2000 and 2004...
, Tirunesh Dibaba
Tirunesh Dibaba
Tirunesh Dibaba also known as Tirunesh Dibaba Kenene is an Ethiopian long distance track athlete and the outdoor 5000 metres world record holder. She is the current Olympic 5000 metres and 10,000 metres champion...
, Meseret Defar
Meseret Defar
Meseret Defar is a female long-distance runner from Ethiopia who competes chiefly in the 3000 metres and 5000 metres events. She has won medals at top-tier international competitions including Olympic and World Championship gold medals over 5000 metres...
, Million Wolde, Assefa Mezgebu
Assefa Mezgebu
Assefa Mezgebu is a retired Ethiopian long-distance runner, most known for winning a bronze medal in the 10,000 metres event at the 2000 Summer Olympics...
, etc. Derartu Tulu
Derartu Tulu
Derartu Tulu is an Ethiopian long distance track, road and marathon athlete.Derartu , a member of the Oromo ethnic group, grew up tending cattle in the village of Bekoji in the highlands of Arsi Province...
was the first woman from Africa to win an Olympic gold medal, doing so over 10,000 meters at Barcelona. Abebe Bikila, the first Olympic champion representing an African nation, won the Olympic marathon in 1960 and 1964, setting world records both times. He is well-known to this day for winning the 1960 marathon in Rome while running barefoot
Barefoot
Barefoot is the state of not wearing any footwear. Being barefoot is regarded as a human's natural state, though for functional, fashion and social reasons footwear is worn, at least on some occasions...
. Miruts Yifter, the first in a tradition of Ethiopians known for their brilliant finishing speed, won gold at 5,000 and 10,000 meters at the Moscow Olympics. At the 2008 Beijing Olympics
2008 Summer Olympics
The 2008 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, was a major international multi-sport event that took place in Beijing, China, from August 8 to August 24, 2008. A total of 11,028 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees competed in 28 sports and 302 events...
, Kenenisa Bekele
Kenenisa Bekele
Kenenisa Bekele is an Ethiopian long-distance runner, who holds the world record and Olympic record in both the 5000 metres and 10,000 metres events...
became the second man to achieve this feat, while fellow Ethiopian Tirunesh Dibaba
Tirunesh Dibaba
Tirunesh Dibaba also known as Tirunesh Dibaba Kenene is an Ethiopian long distance track athlete and the outdoor 5000 metres world record holder. She is the current Olympic 5000 metres and 10,000 metres champion...
became the first woman to win gold in both the 5,000 and 10,000 meters.