Letesenbet Gidey

This article is about a person whose name includes a patronymic. The article properly refers to the person by her given name, Letesenbet, and not as Gidey.

Letesenbet Gidey
Letesenbet at the 2022 World Championships in Eugene
Personal information
Born (1998-03-20) 20 March 1998 (age 26)
Endameskel, Tigray Region, Ethiopia
Height1.66 m (5 ft 5 in)[1]
Weight50 kg (110 lb)[1]
Sport
CountryEthiopia
SportAthletics
Event(s)Track, road and cross-country long-distance running
TeamNN Running Team
Achievements and titles
Olympic finals
  • 2021 Tokyo
  • 10,000 m,  Bronze
World finals
  • 2017 London
  • 5000 m, 11th
  • 2019 Doha
  • 10,000 m,  Silver
  • 2022 Eugene
  • 5000 m, 5th
  • 10,000 m,  Gold
  • 2023 Budapest
  • 10,000 m,  Silver
Highest world ranking1st (10,000 m, 2023)[2]
Personal bests
Medal record
Women's athletics
Representing  Ethiopia
Olympic Games
Bronze medal – third place 2020 Tokyo 10,000 m
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2022 Eugene 10,000 m
Silver medal – second place 2019 Doha 10,000 m
Silver medal – second place 2023 Budapest 10,000 m
World Cross Country Championships
Gold medal – first place 2015 Guiyang Junior race
Gold medal – first place 2015 Guiyang Junior team
Gold medal – first place 2017 Kampala Junior race
Gold medal – first place 2017 Kampala Junior team
Gold medal – first place 2019 Aarhus Senior team
Bronze medal – third place 2019 Aarhus Senior race
World Marathon Majors
Silver medal – second place 2023 New York Marathon

Letesenbet Gidey (Tigrinya: ለተሰንበት ግደይ, born 20 March 1998)[3] is an Ethiopian long-distance runner. In the 10,000 metres, she is the 2020 Tokyo Olympic bronze medallist, 2019 World silver medallist, and 2022 World champion. Her record of 29.01.03 is the second fastest time ever, just recently broken by Kenyan rival Beatrice Chebet. Letesenbet is the first athlete ever, male or female, to hold the 5000m, 10000m, and half marathon world records, simultaneously.

Letesenbet holds the current world record in the half marathon, which she set in October of 2021. Remarkably, this was Letesenbet's first ever half marathon. Her record broke the previous mark by more than a minute.[4][5] She also holds the world best in the 15 km road race, which was also an over one-minute improvement. Letesenbet became the first woman to break the 64 and 63-minute barriers in the half marathon and the 45-minute barrier in the 15 km. She recorded the fastest women's marathon debut in history at the 2022 Valencia Marathon, placing her seventh on the respective world all-time list with a time of 2.16.49.

At age 17, Letesenbet won the junior race at the 2015 World Cross Country Championships. She retained the title in 2017 to take a bronze medal in the senior race in 2019.

  1. ^ a b "Doha 2019 – Team Ethiopia Magazine – Special Edition" (PDF). Ethiopian Athletics Federation. Ethiopian Athletics Federation. p. 8. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 July 2022. Retrieved 10 June 2021.
  2. ^ "World Rankings | Women's 10,000m (10km)".
  3. ^ "Letesenbet GIDEY – Athlete Profile". World Athletics. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference 2021HM-WA was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference 2021HM-RW was invoked but never defined (see the help page).