Kenenisa Bekele

Kenenisa Bekele
Kenenisa in 2012
Personal information
Full nameKenenisa Bekele Beyecha
NationalityEthiopian
Born (1982-06-13) 13 June 1982 (age 42)[1]
near Bekoji, Arsi Province, Socialist Ethiopia[2]
Height165 cm (5 ft 5 in)[3]
Weight56 kg (123 lb)[3]
Sport
CountryEthiopia
SportTrack, Long-distance running
Event(s)5000 metres, 10,000 metres, Marathon
TeamAnta Sports
NN Running Team (past)
Achievements and titles
Personal bests

Kenenisa Bekele Beyecha[4] (Oromo: Qananiisaa baqqalaa; Amharic: ቀነኒሳ በቀለ; born 13 June 1982) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner. He was the world record holder in both the 5,000-metre and 10,000-metre from 2004 until 2020. He won the gold medal in both the 5,000 m and 10,000 m events at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. At the 2004 Olympics, he won the gold medal in the 10,000 m and the silver medal in the 5,000 m.

He is the most successful runner in the history of the IAAF World Cross Country Championships, with six long (12 km) course and five short (4 km) course titles. He won the 10,000 m title at the World Championships in Athletics in 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2009 (matching Haile Gebrselassie's four in a row win streak). Kenenisa was unbeaten over 10,000 m from his debut in 2003 until 2011, when he failed to finish at the World Championships final.

At the 2009 World Championships in Athletics he became the first man to win both 5000 m and 10,000 m title at the same championships. Over 5000 m he has also won an Olympic silver (2004), World Championship bronze (2003), two African Championship titles and one All-Africa Games gold medal. He also won the 3000 metres title at the 2006 World Indoor Championships.

On 6 April 2014, he produced the sixth fastest marathon debut ever on a record-eligible course with his victory at the Paris Marathon, in a course record time of 2:05:04. On 25 September 2016, Kenenisa won the Berlin Marathon in a time of 2:03:03, a new personal best, then the third-fastest marathon of all time. On 29 September 2019, he again won the Berlin Marathon in a time of 2:01:41, two seconds slower than the then world record of 2:01:39 set by Eliud Kipchoge in the 2018 Berlin Marathon.[5] Considering his accomplishments in cross country, track, and road racing, many consider him to be the greatest distance runner of all time.[6][7][8]

  1. ^ "Kenenisa Bekele". bbc.com. BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 21 March 2014. Retrieved 9 February 2014.
  2. ^ "Kenenisa Bekele". iaaf.org. International Association of Athletics Federations. Archived from the original on 21 February 2014. Retrieved 9 February 2014.
  3. ^ a b "Kenenisa BEKELE". olympicchannel.com. Olympic Channel Services. Archived from the original on 18 October 2020. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  4. ^ "Kenenisa Bekele". Olympedia. OLYMadMen. Retrieved 4 January 2022.
  5. ^ "Bekele runs two seconds short of marathon world record in Berlin". 29 September 2019. Archived from the original on 29 September 2019. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
  6. ^ Futterman, Matthew (5 November 2021). "The Fastest Man Ever to Run the New York City Marathon Has Arrived". The New York Times. Retrieved 9 November 2021.
  7. ^ Chavez, Chris (19 August 2021). "Kenenisa Bekele to Run Berlin, New York City Marathon Double". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 9 November 2021.
  8. ^ Henderson, Jason (4 November 2021). "Why Kenenisa Bekele is the greatest male distance runner in history". AW. Retrieved 9 November 2021.