Zemzem Ahmed
 Ahmed at the 2014 Paris Marathon | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Zemzem Ahmed Deko |
| Nationality |  Ethiopia |
| Born | 27 December 1984 Asella, Ethiopia |
| Height | 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in) |
| Weight | 53 kg (117 lb) |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Athletics |
| Event | Steeplechase |
| Club | Banks SC (ETH) |
Zemzem Ahmed Deko (born December 27, 1984, in Asella) is an Ethiopian steeplechase runner and road runner.[1] She emerged as one of Ethiopia's top steeplechasers, and had broken her own personal records three times in 2007.
Zemzem represented Ethiopia at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, and competed in the women's 3000 m steeplechase, along with her teammates Sofia Assefa and Mekdes Bekele. She ran in the third heat of the competition, where she finished in fourth place and automatically advanced into the final, with a personal best time of 9:25.63.[2] She bettered her performance in the final round, and set a national record, with a time of 9:17.85, just eight seconds faster than her own personal best, finishing only in seventh place.[3]
She returned to the global stage at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics and finished tenth in the steeplechase with a run of 9:22.64 minutes. She did not compete in the 2010 and 2011 seasons and re-emerged in 2012 with a renewed focus as a long-distance road runner. She ran a personal best of 2:27:12 hours for the marathon in October, placing sixth at the high-profile Frankfurt Marathon.[4] A half marathon best of 73:31 minutes followed at the Zhuhai Half Marathon, where she was third. She improved this to 73:25 minutes at the 2013 Houston Half Marathon.
References[edit]
- ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Zemzem Ahmed". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 26 November 2012.
- ^ "Women's 3000m Steeplechase – Round 1 Heat 3". NBC Olympics. Archived from the original on 21 August 2012. Retrieved 26 November 2012.
- ^ "Women's 3000m Steeplechase – Final". NBC Olympics. Retrieved 26 November 2012.
- ^ Butcher, Pat (2012-10-28). Patience pays for Makau in Frankfurt, debut win for Melkamu. IAAF. Retrieved on 2013-02-11.
External links[edit]
- Zemzem Ahmed at World Athletics
- Profile – Elite Sports Management International
- NBC 2008 Olympics profile
  | This biographical article relating to Ethiopian athletics is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
- Living people
- 1984 births
- Ethiopian female steeplechase runners
- Ethiopian female long-distance runners
- Ethiopian female marathon runners
- Olympic athletes for Ethiopia
- Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics
- World Athletics Championships athletes for Ethiopia
- 21st-century Ethiopian women
- 21st-century Ethiopian people
- Ethiopian athletics biography stubs