Bekele Debele

Bekele Debele
Medal record
Men's athletics
Representing  Ethiopia
World Cross Country Championships
Gold medal – first place 1983 Gateshead Senior race
Gold medal – first place 1983 Gateshead Team race
Gold medal – first place 1984 East Rutherford Team race
Gold medal – first place 1985 Lisbon Team race
Silver medal – second place 1986 Neuchâtel Team race
Bronze medal – third place 1987 Warsaw Team race
Silver medal – second place 1988 Auckland Team race
Bronze medal – third place 1989 Stavanger Team race

Bekele Debele (born 12 March 1963)[1][a] is an Ethiopian former long-distance runner who specialised in cross country running. His greatest achievement was winning the gold medal at the 1983 IAAF World Cross Country Championships, becoming only the second African man to do so.

During his career he was selected for Ethiopia at every edition of the IAAF World Cross Country Championships from 1982 to 1989. He helped win the junior team title in 1982 and shared in the senior team medals from 1983 to 1989, including a three-year undefeated streak for the Ethiopian senior team from 1983 to 1985.

He also competed in the 10,000 metres and represented Ethiopia in that event at the 1983 World Championships in Athletics. He was the bronze medallist on the track at the Friendship Games, having missed the 1984 Summer Olympics due to Ethiopia's boycott of the games.

  1. ^ Bekele Debele. IAAF. Retrieved on 2013-08-24.