 Merga during the 2009 World Championships | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | 15 October 1988 (age 36) Tulu Bolo, Ethiopia | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Imane Merga Jida (ኢማነ መርጋ ጂዳ) (born 15 October 1988) is an Ethiopian professional long-distance runner who specializes in the 5000 and 10,000 metres. He won his first world title at the 2011 IAAF World Cross Country Championships. At the 2011 World Championships in Athletics he won the 10,000 m bronze medal, but he was disqualified in the 5000 m, losing a second bronze.
Imane won the first two 5000 m titles in the annual IAAF Diamond League and was the gold medalist at the 2009 IAAF World Athletics Final. He has also won the Giro Media Blenio and BOClassic road races. His personal best times are 7:51.24 minutes in the 3000 metres, achieved in May 2009 at the Icahn Stadium; 12:53.58 minutes in the 5000 metres, achieved in August 2010 in Stockholm; and 26:48.35 minutes in the 10,000 metres, achieved in June 2011 in Oregon. He began working with Italian technical coach Renato Canova at the start of 2010.