Sileshi Sihine

Sileshi Sihine (left) and Kenenisa Bekele in Osaka in 2007

Sileshi Sihine (born May 29, 1983 in Sheno ) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner who won two Olympic medals and has great success on the track and in cross-country running. He is the husband of Tirunesh Dibaba .

Career

He started his international career in 2002 with a sixth place in the junior race of the Cross Country World Championships and winning the silver medal in the 10,000 meter run at the Junior World Championships.

In the following year he was seventh at the World Cross Country Championships on the long distance and won the bronze medal over 10,000 m at the World Athletics Championships in Paris / Saint-Denis .

In 2004 he won bronze in the long distance of the Cross Country World Championships and won the silver medal at the Olympic Games in Athens over 10,000 m behind his compatriot Kenenisa Bekele and ahead of Zersenay Tadese (ERI).

In 2005 he won the silver medal in both the 5000 and 10,000 meter runs at the World Championships in Helsinki . At the Half Marathon World Championships in Edmonton , he was fourth.

In 2006 he was runner-up in cross-country skiing (endurance), and at the 2007 World Championships in Osaka, he came silver.

At the Olympic Games in Beijing in 2008 , he finished second over the 10,000 meters and thus won the silver medal again.

Sileshi Sihine comes from a place 75 km northeast of Addis Ababa .

He is 1.65 m tall and weighs 48 kg. His manager is Jos Hermens from the Netherlands .

Personal best

discipline	power	date	place
3000 m	7: 29.92 min	August 28, 2005	Rieti
5000 m	12: 47.04 min	July 2, 2004	Rome
10,000 m	26: 39.96 min	May 31, 2005	Hengelo
15 km road run	41:38 min	November 21, 2004	Nijmegen
half marathon	1:01:14 h	October 1, 2005	Edmonton

Web links

• Sileshi Sihine in the database of World Athletics (English)
• Portrait at IAAF - Focus on Athletes ( Memento from March 15, 2009 in the Internet Archive ), August 17, 2004 (updated on March 26, 2006)