Kalkidan Gezahegne

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Kalkidan Gezahegne
Kalkidan Gezahegn Birmingham indoor 2010.jpg
Medal record
Women's athletics
Representing  Ethiopia
World Indoor Championships
Gold medal – first place 2010 Doha 1500 m
Representing  Bahrain
Olympic Games
Silver medal – second place 2020 Tokyo 10,000 m
Asian Games
Gold medal – first place 2018 Jakarta–Palembang 1500 m
Gold medal – first place 2018 Jakarta–Palembang 5000 m

Kalkidan Gezahegne (born 8 May 1991) is an Ethiopian-born Bahraini middle distance runner who specializes in the 1500 metres. She represented Ethiopia before acquiring Bahraini citizenship in 2013.

Life and career[]

Gezahegne was born in Addis Ababa. She won the silver medal in the 1500 metres at the 2008 World Junior Championships and won another junior silver at the 2009 African Junior Athletics Championships, finishing behind Caster Semenya.[1] Moving up to the senior level, Kalkidan finished ninth in the 1500 m race at the 2009 World Championships and fifth in the 3000 metres at the 2009 World Athletics Final.[2]

Competing at the 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships, she had a startling comeback to qualify for the final. In the middle of her heat, she collided with and fell onto the track. She got back up to continue the race, however, and not only caught up with her competitors, but won the race with the fastest time of any runner that day.[3] In the final she outdid compatriot and reigning champion Gelete Burka to win the gold medal. This made the 18-year-old the youngest ever winner of an event at the IAAF World Indoor Championships, beating the previous record set by Gabriela Szabo 15 years earlier.[4] She missed the outdoor season that year due to injury.[5]

Her personal best times are 4:02.98 minutes in the 1500 metres, achieved in July 2009 in Athens; 4:37.76 minutes in the mile run, achieved in September 2009 in Rieti; and 8:38.61 minutes in the 3000 metres, achieved in September 2009 in Thessaloniki.[2]

On 3 October 2021 Kalkidan broke the world record for the road 10km at The Giants Geneva event, running 29:38 and surpassing the previous mark by 5 seconds.[6]

Personal bests[]

Event Time (m:s) Date Venue
1500 m 4:00.97 29 May 2011 Hengelo, Netherlands
1500 m (indoor) 4:03.28 10 February 2010 Stockholm, Sweden
Mile run (indoor) 4:24.10 20 February 2010 Birmingham, United Kingdom
3000 m 8:34.65 4 September 2018 Zagreb, Croatia
3000 m (indoor) 8:37.47 19 February 2011 Birmingham, United Kingdom
5000 m 14:52.92 1 June 2021 Montreuil, France
10000 m 29:50.77 8 May 2021 Maia, Portugal
10km (road) 29:38 3 October 2021 Geneva, Switzerland

References[]

  1. ^ Ouma, Mark (2009-08-02). African Junior Champs, Day 4. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-03-15.
  2. ^ a b Kalkidan Gezahegne at World Athletics
  3. ^ Morse, Parker (2010-03-12). Doha 2010 - Day 1 Wrap. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-03-12.
  4. ^ Ramsak, Bob (2010-03-14). Doha 2010 - Gezahegne recovers from heat tumble to become youngest ever female champion. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-03-15.
  5. ^ Jalava, Mirko & Julin, A. Lennart (2010-12-28). 2010 - End of Year Reviews – Middle Distances. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-12-28.
  6. ^ "Gezahegne breaks world 10km record in Geneva, Chelimo goes sub-30 in Valencia, Kumela breaks Kosice course record | REPORT | World Athletics". www.worldathletics.org. Retrieved 2021-10-04.
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