Kenenisa Bekele

Kenenisa Bekele
Bekele at the 2009 World Championships
Full name	Kenenisa Bekele Beyecha
nation	Ethiopia
birthday	13th June 1982 (age 38)
place of birth	Bekoji ,  Ethiopia
size	165 cm
Weight	56 kg
Career
discipline	Long distance running
Best performance	12: 37.35 min ( 5000 m ) 26: 17.53 min ( 10,000 m ) 2:01:41 h ( marathon )
status	active
Medal table
Olympic games 3 × 1 × 0 × World championships 5 × 0 × 1 × Indoor world championships 1 × 0 × 0 × African Championships 2 × 0 × 0 × Pan-African Games 1 × 0 × 0 × World Cross Country Championships 11 × 1 × 0 ×
Olympic games gold Athens 2004 10,000 m silver Athens 2004 5000 m gold Beijing 2008 10,000 m gold Beijing 2008 5000 m  World championships gold Paris 2003 10,000 m bronze Paris 2003 5000 m gold Helsinki 2005 10,000 m gold Osaka 2007 10,000 m gold Berlin 2009 5000 m gold Berlin 2009 10,000 m  Indoor world championships gold Moscow 2006 3000 m  African Championships gold Bambous 2006 5000 m gold Addis Ababa 2008 5000 m  Africa Games gold Abuja 2003 5000 m  World Cross Country Championships silver Moscow 2001 Short distance gold Dublin 2002 Short distance gold Dublin 2002 Long distance gold Lausanne 2003 Short distance gold Lausanne 2003 Long distance gold Brussels 2004 Short distance gold Brussels 2004 Long distance gold Saint-Galmier 2005 Short distance gold Saint-Galmier 2005 Long distance gold Fukuoka 2006 Short distance gold Fukuoka 2006 Long distance gold Edinburgh 2008 Long distance
last change: September 29, 2019

Kenenisa Bekele Beyecha ( Amharic ቀነኒሳ በቀለ; born June 13, 1982 in Bekoji , Oromiyaa ) is an Ethiopian athlete and since 2002 one of the world's best long-distance runners . He is a three-time Olympic champion and multiple world champion over 5000 and 10,000 meters , holder of the world record over 10,000 meters and until August 14, 2020 also over 5000 meters (as of August 2020) and six-time world champion in cross-country running over the long distance. In 2013, Bekele last achieved successes over 5000 and 10,000 meters; since then he has preferred to run marathons . He won the Berlin Marathon 2019 with a time that is only two seconds behind the world record set in 2018 over this distance.

Career

The junior vice world champion over 5000 meters from 2000 initially made a name for himself as a cross and road runner . At the 2001 World Cross Country Championships in Oostende, he won the junior race and won silver on the short distance, in 2002 in Dublin and 2003 in Avenches he won gold on both the short and the long distance. In 2000 and 2001 he won the Montferland Run and in 2001 the Giro al Sas .

At the World Athletics Championships in Paris in 2003 , the changing of the guard took place on the track . Bekele dethroned his fellow countryman Haile Gebrselassie over 10,000 meters and won his first major title ahead of second-placed Gebrselassie. Bekele also ran over 5000 meters on the bronze rank.

Both on the track and in cross-country running, victories followed as well as on the assembly line. At the World Cross Country Championships in Brussels in 2004 , in Saint-Galmier in 2005 and in Fukuoka in 2006 , he repeated his double victory on short and long distances.

2004 Olympic Games

In 2004 he broke the world records of Haile Gebrselassie over 5000 at the athletics meeting in Hengelo, Netherlands and over 10,000 meters at the Goldene Spikes meeting in Ostrava, Czech Republic, within eight days . At the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens , he won the gold medal in the 10,000 meter race in an Olympic record time. Over 5000 meters he won the silver medal behind Hicham El Guerrouj .

At the 2005 World Championships in Helsinki , Bekele won the 10,000 meters in 27: 08.33 minutes ahead of his compatriot Sileshi Sihine (27: 08.87 minutes) and the Kenyan Moses Cheruiyot Mosop (27: 08.96 minutes).

He dedicated this victory to his fiancée, who died on January 4, 2005, the 2003 youth world champion in the 1500-meter run , Alem Techale . She died unexpectedly at the age of 17 while running together, presumably of a heart attack . In the same year he set a world record over the 10,000 meters. His time of 26: 17.53 min, which he achieved on August 26, 2005 in Brussels (Memorial Van Damme), has not yet been undercut. Bekele also held the world record over 5000 meters with a time of 12: 37.35 min for over 16 years before Ugandan Joshua Cheptegei undercut it in August 2020.

At the 2007 World Championships in Osaka , Bekele also won gold over 10,000 meters. He won in 27: 05.89 minutes ahead of Sileshi Sihine . He made history at the World Cross Country Championships in Edinburgh in 2008 : He was the first athlete to win endurance gold for the sixth time - despite a lost shoe.

Olympic Games 2008

At the Olympic Games in Beijing in 2008 , Bekele was over 10,000 and 5000 meters double Olympic champion, each with new Olympic record times. He ran the 10,000 meters in 27: 01.17 minutes and the 5000 meters in 12: 57.82 minutes. At the end of the year he returned to the streets, but only finished third in the Zevenheuvelenloop .

At the 2009 World Championships in Berlin , Bekele won the gold medal over 10,000 meters for the fourth time in a row. He won with the championship record of 26: 46.31 minutes. Only his compatriot Haile Gebrselassie had previously won four world titles over the 10,000 meters . A week later, Bekele was also successful over 5000 meters and won his first world title on this route. In addition, he won all six IAAF Golden League meetings in 2009 and thus the jackpot of US $ 333,333.33 .

After injury problems in 2010 and a year and a half without competition, Bekele returned to the 2011 World Championships in Daegu , but had to give up the 10,000 meter race. This was the first 10,000 meter track race of his professional career that he could not win. A short time later, however, he won the final of the Diamond League in Brussels over this distance in a world best of the year.

Olympic Games 2012

In 2012 he set a course record at the Great Ireland Run . At the Diamond League Meeting in Paris, Bekele missed the Olympic qualification over the 5000 meters.

At the Olympic Games in London he started over 10,000 meters and achieved fourth place just behind his brother Tariku Bekele when Mo Farah won .

In 2013 he defended his title at the Great Ireland Run and won the Great North Run in 1:00:09 h.

In 2014, on his marathon debut, he set a course record for the Paris Marathon with 2:05:03 h , won the Great Manchester Run and came fourth in the Chicago Marathon . At the 2015 Dubai Marathon , he dropped out of the race after around 30 km due to injury.
In the following year, Bekele won the Berlin Marathon 2016 in a time of 2:03:03 h and that was only six seconds slower than the current world record at the time, which Dennis Kipruto Kimetto had also set in Berlin in 2014.

Before the Dubai Marathon on January 20, 2017, Bekele announced that he thought it was possible to set a new world record; in the race, however, like two years earlier, he dropped out due to injury. At the start he fell through the heel kick of another runner, where he suffered wounds; Although he reached the top group again afterwards, he fell behind again before the 10 km mark and gave up after 23 km.

At the London Marathon on April 23, 2017, Bekele ran a time of 2:05:57 h and was second nine seconds behind Daniel Kinyua Wanjiru . Bekele was initially nominated by Ethiopia for the 2017 World Championships in London , but about a week before the race it was announced that he would not be able to start, apparently due to poor form.

On September 29, 2019, Bekele improved his personal best to 2:01:41 h in his victory at the Berlin Marathon. He was only two seconds short of Eliud Kipchoge's world record.

Others

Kenenisa Bekele is 1.65 m tall and weighs 56 kg.

He is the older brother of the long-distance runner Tariku Bekele and comes from the same village as the 10,000 meter Olympic champion Derartu Tulu . On November 18, 2007, he married the then 25-year-old Ethiopian film actress Danawit Gebregziabher in Addis Ababa.

Personal best

• 1500 m : 3: 32.35 min, September 28, 2007, Shanghai
• 2000 m (indoor): 4: 49.99 min, February 17, 2007, Birmingham (indoor world record)
• 3000 m : 7: 25.79 min, August 7th 2007, Stockholm
  • Hall: 7: 30.51 min, February 20, 2007, Stockholm
• 5000 m: 12: 37.35 min, May 31, 2004, Hengelo (world record until August 14, 2020)
  • Hall: 12: 49.60 min, February 20, 2004, Birmingham (indoor world record)
• 10,000 m: 26: 17.53 min, August 26, 2005, Brussels (world record)
• 10 km road run: 27:47 min, April 15, 2012, Dublin
• 15 km road race: 42:42 min, December 9, 2001, 's-Heerenberg
• Half Marathon : 1:00:09 am, September 15, 2013, Newcastle
• Marathon : 2:01:41 h, September 29, 2019, Berlin

Web links

Commons : Kenenisa Bekele  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Kenenisa Bekele in the database of World Athletics (English)
• Kenenisa Bekele in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )
• Beijing 2008 Men 10,000m - EthioTube Video
• Beijing 2008 Men 5000m - EthioTube Video
• Portrait at IAAF - Focus on Athletes ( Memento from February 12, 2008 in the Internet Archive ), August 17, 2004 (updated on March 26, 2006)

Footnotes

1. ↑ World Athletics 2011: Mo Farah misses out on 10,000m gold. In: BBC . Retrieved January 21, 2016 at 4:23 pm.
2. ↑ Bekele sparkles with 27:49 10km in Dublin . In: IAAF . Retrieved April 15, 2012.
3. ↑ Bekele breaks Paris course record with 2:05:04 on marathon debut. In: IAAF. Retrieved January 21, 2017 at 4:34 pm.
4. ↑ January 23rd, 2015. Ethiopian clean sweep at standard chartered Dubai Marathon . Retrieved January 21, 2017 at 3:52 pm.
5. ↑ Results Berlin Marathon 2016 . In: HDsports. Retrieved September 25, 2016.
6. ↑ Dubai Marathon 2017. Kenenisa Bekele: "The world record is possible" . ( Memento of the original from January 20, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: Runner's World . Retrieved January 20, 2017 at 10:12 am. 
7. ↑ Dubai Marathon 2017. Fall instead of world record for Bekele. ( Memento of the original from January 20, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: Runner's World . Retrieved January 20, 2017 at 8:58 pm. 
8. ↑ January 20th, 2017. Bekele's world record hopes crash after early fall. . Retrieved January 21, 2017 at 4:09 pm.
9. ↑ Bekele misses top time in London. At the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung . Retrieved April 23, 2017.
10. ↑ London Marathon 2017: Daniel Wanjiru beats favorite Kenenisa Bekele to win his first title. At Mirror . Retrieved April 23, 2017.
11. ↑ Ethiopia nominates Kenenisa Bekele and Tirunesh Dibaba. ( Memento of the original from August 6, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: Runner's World , June 9, 2017. Retrieved July 27, 2017. 
12. ↑ Kenenisa Bekele does not start the marathon in London. ( Memento of the original from August 6, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: Runner's World , July 31, 2017. Retrieved August 6, 2017. 
13. ↑ Results Berlin Marathon 2019. In: HDsports.de. September 29, 2019, accessed January 20, 2020 . 
14. ↑ Kenenisa Bekele