Meb Keflezighi

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Keflezighi at the 2009 London Marathon

Mebrahtom "Meb" Keflezighi (born May 5, 1975 in Asmara ) is an American long-distance runner of Eritrean origin.

Life and athletic career

When Mebrahtom Keflezighi was twelve years old, his family of 13 left Eritrea and went to the United States to prevent the family's children from being drafted in the Ethiopian civil war . They moved to San Diego , California . In 1997, Keflezighi applied for US citizenship. At that time it was not yet certain that Eritrea would take part in the Olympic Games for the first time in Sydney 2000. On July 2, 1998, he became a US citizen and started for the first time in the US championships over 5000 m . He finished fourth straight away, just like a year later in the 10,000 meter run .

In 2000 he qualified as a US champion over 10,000 m for the Olympic Games in Sydney . However, he was only twelfth due to flu. In 2001 he set a US record over 10,000 m. He improved Mark Nenow's mark from 1986 to 27: 13.98 minutes. A year later he was again over 10,000 m US champion and took part in the New York City Marathon for the first time . He was ninth straight away.

At World Athletics Championships, however, his appearances were less successful. In Edmonton 2001 he came in 23rd over 10,000 m, in Paris / Saint-Denis in 2003 he came in 16th.

His most successful year was the following. Although he qualified again as the best American for the 10,000 meter run at the Olympic Games in Athens , he started there on the marathon course and won an Olympic medal in a marathon with a silver medal as the first male American after Frank Shorter in 1976 . In the same year he also finished second in the New York City Marathon with his personal best of 2:09:53. In 2005 he was third in New York City, in 2006 third in the Boston Marathon . In November 2007 he missed another Olympic participation in eighth place in the elimination competition of the US Athletics Federation.

After repeatedly struggling with injury problems in 2008, he successfully started the season again in 2009. In January, he won the US Half Marathon Championship in a personal best of 1:01:25 h , which was held as part of the Houston Marathon . In his ninth place at the London Marathon in April, he also set a personal best with a time of 2:09:21 h. He achieved a further increase in the San José Half Marathon , which he won in 1:01:00. With his 20 km split time of 57:52 minutes, he also set a US record. He then ran another six seconds faster than in London in the New York City Marathon in November. There he won surprisingly as the first American since Alberto Salazar in 1982 and at the same time secured the US championship title.

In 2010, he finished fifth in Boston, defended his title in San José and finished sixth in New York City. At the 2012 Olympic Marathon in London, Keflezighi finished fourth. At 2014 Boston Marathon , he became the first American since 1,983th

Meb Keflezighi is 1.70 m tall and weighs 58 kg.

Personal bests

publication

Web links

Commons : Meb Keflezighi  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Footnotes

  1. ↑ LetsRun.com: Keflezighi Impresses with Dominant US Half-Marathon Victory . January 18, 2009
  2. ^ IAAF: Keflezighi sets 20km American record en-route to half marathon win in San Jose ( Memento of October 6, 2009 in the Internet Archive ). 4th October 2009
  3. ^ IAAF: Keflezighi and Tulu triumph in New York ( Memento of November 3, 2009 in the Internet Archive ). November 1, 2009
  4. ^ IAAF: Keflezighi defends title at San Jose Half Marathon ( Memento of October 6, 2010 in the Internet Archive ). 4th October 2010
personal data
SURNAME Keflezighi, Meb
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Keflezighi, Mebrahtom
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American long-distance runner of Eritrean origin
DATE OF BIRTH May 5th 1975
PLACE OF BIRTH Asmara