Elvan Abeylegesse

Elvan Abeylegesse
Elvan Abeylegesse
Personal information
NationalityEthiopian / Turkish
Born (1982-09-11) 11 September 1982 (age 42)
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Height1.59 m (5.2 ft)[1]
Weight40 kg (88 lb)[1]
Sport
SportRunning
Event(s)5000 metres, 10,000 metres
ClubEnkaspor Athletics Team
Coached byCarol Santa
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)5000m: 14:24.68
10000m: 29:56.34
Medal record
Representing  Turkey
Women's athletics
Olympic Games
Disqualified 2008 Beijing 5000 m
Disqualified 2008 Beijing 10,000 m
World Championships
Disqualified 2007 Osaka 10,000 m
European Championships
Gold medal – first place 2010 Barcelona 10,000 m
Gold medal – first place 2010 Barcelona 5000 m
Bronze medal – third place 2006 Gothenburg 5000 m
Mediterranean Games
Disqualified 2009 Pescara 10,000 m
Silver medal – second place 2013 Mersin 10,000 m

Elvan Abeylegesse (also formerly: Hewan Abeye (አልቫን አበይለገሠ, Amharic) and Elvan Can (Turkish); born 11 September 1982) is an Ethiopian-born Turkish middle and long-distance running athlete who competes over distances from 1500 metres up to the marathon, and also in cross country. She is the former world record-holder for the 5000 metres, at 14:24.68 minutes.

In August 2015, the Turkish Athletics Federation confirmed that an anti-doping test taken during the 2007 World Championships in Athletics had been retested and found to be positive for a controlled substance, and that the athlete had been temporarily suspended pending retesting of her 'B-sample'.[2] On 29 March 2017, IAAF confirmed the positive test, expunged her results from 25 August 2007 until 25 August 2009 (thereby stripping her of the two silver medals she had won at the 2008 Olympic Games), and banned her from athletics for two years.[3]

  1. ^ a b "Athletes-Abeylegesse Elvan TUR". IAAF. Retrieved 12 August 2010.
  2. ^ "Elvan Abeylegesse tests positive". Turkish Athletics. 13 August 2015. Archived from the original on 16 August 2015. Retrieved 13 August 2015.
  3. ^ IAAF March 2017 Newsletter