Tariku Bekele

Tariku Bekele during the World Indoor Championships 2008

Tariku Bekele (born February 28, 1987 in Bekoji ) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner . In 2008 he was indoor world champion in the 3000 meter run and won bronze at the 2012 Olympic Games over 10,000 meters .

Life

The younger brother of Olympic champion Kenenisa Bekele has made a steep climb to the top of the world. In 1999 Tariku started running in elementary school. In 2002 he was accepted into a development project for young people. At the end of the year Tariku was celebrated in his homeland as the future hope of running in Ethiopia.

His first major success came just a year later at the Junior World Championships. In the 3000 meter run, he won the silver medal. In 2004 he won the bronze medal at the same championships over 5000 meters (13: 30.86 min). The then 17-year-old Bekele also demonstrated his skills at international sports festivals. He qualified for the IAAF world finals in Monte Carlo and came in tenth there. After that track season ended, Tariku joined his brother Kenenisa's running group, which is trained by Tolosa Kotu.

His first championship participation in the adult class followed a year later. At the World Championships in Helsinki in 2005 , he finished seventh at the age of 18. He mastered the 5000 meters in 13: 34.76 minutes.

At the indoor world championships in 2006 he reached sixth place over 3000 meters. In the outdoor season he competed one last time at the Junior World Championships . In the title fights in Beijing , he won his first world championship gold over 5000 meters. The Ethiopian put a final lap of 56.2 seconds on the track in the final sprint. In doing so, he demonstrated the same qualities as his brother, who also often wins championships with a very fast final lap.

At the 2007 World Championships in Osaka, Bekele, unlike his brother, went back to the 5000 meters. With fifth place, he was able to improve his seventh place, which he had achieved at his world championship premiere two years earlier. In 2008, Bekele became the indoor world champion on the 3000 meter course in Valencia . At the Olympic Games in Beijing, he ran into sixth place in the final, which his brother won.

In 2010, Bekele was caught in a sprint at the World Indoor Championships and ended up in fourth place. At the 2012 Olympic Games in London , he won the bronze medal over 10,000 meters.

Personal best

• 3000 m: 7: 28.70 min, August 29, 2010 in Rieti
  • Hall: 7: 31.09 min, February 2, 2008 in Stuttgart
• 5000 m: 12: 52.45 min, June 1st, 2008 in Berlin
• 10,000 m: 27: 03.24 min, June 22, 2012 in Birmingham

Web links

Commons : Tariku Bekele  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Tariku Bekele in the database of World Athletics (English)
• Portrait at IAAF - Focus on Athletes ( Memento from August 14, 2008 in the Internet Archive ), March 13, 2005 (updated March 26, 2006)