Lamecha Girma

Lamecha Girma
Girma at the 2019 World Championships in Doha
Full name	Lamecha Girma
nation	Ethiopia
birthday	26th November 2000 (age 19)
place of birth	Assela ,  Ethiopia
Career
discipline	3000 meters obstacle
Best performance	8: 01.36 min
society	Youth Sport Academy
Trainer	Teshome Kebede
status	active
Medal table
World championships 0 × 1 × 0 × U20 African Championships 0 × 0 × 1 ×
World championships silver Doha 2019 3000 m obstacle Junior African Championships bronze Abidjan 2019 3000 m obstacle
last change: April 24, 2020

Lamecha Girma (born November 26, 2000 in Assela , Oromia ) is an Ethiopian athlete who specializes in obstacle courses . In 2019, at the age of 18, he was runner- up in the world championships in Doha in the 3000 m obstacle course.

Athletic career

Lamecha Girma initially started over medium distance distances before a former coach suggested that he focus on the obstacle course due to his height. In order to increase his chances of reaching the top of the Ethiopian team, he therefore moved to the capital Addis Ababa. First appeared in 2018 at the age of 17 at the U20 championships in his home country. There he was able to achieve 5th place over a 3000 m obstacle in 8: 46.23 minutes. In spring 2019 he also competed in this discipline at the U20 African Championships in Abidjan. There he won the bronze medal in 8: 48.56 minutes.

In October he competed at the World Championships in Doha. He won the last of a total of three heats. In the final, he had a tough race with the defending champion and top favorite Conseslus Kipruto and had to admit defeat in the finish sprint with a gap of one hundredth of a second. With this runner-up world title, he almost managed to end the long-standing dominance of the Kenyans on this route, he also set a new national record in 8: 01.36 minutes and also set the third fastest time over this distance in the U20 age group at this point in time.

His international breakthrough in 2019 earned him the Rising Star Award at the World Athletics Awards. At the beginning of 2020 he competed in an international cross-country race for the first time .

Major competitions

year	event	place	space	discipline	time
Starts for Ethiopia
2019	U20 African Championships	Abidjan	3.	3000 m obstacle	8: 48.56 min
	World championships	Doha	2.	3000 m obstacle	8: 01.36 min (NR)

Personal best

open air

• 3000 m obstacle : 8: 01.36 min, October 4, 2019, Doha (Ethiopian record)

Hall

• 3000 m : 7: 34.94 min, February 19, 2020, Liévin

Web links

• Lamecha Girma in the database of World Athletics (English)
• Girma's one-year journey from unknown runner to global medallist (English)