This article is about a person whose name includes a patronymic. The article properly refers to the person by his given name, Selemon, and not as Barega.
Selemon competed in the senior men's race of the World Cross Country Championships in Aarhus, Denmark. He placed fourth and was the first Ethiopian to finish in a race won by Uganda's Joshua Cheptegei.[5] He placed second at the ShanghaiDiamond League on 18 May and the Rome Diamond League on 6 June. On 13 June, Selemon won the 3,000 m at the Bislett Games in Oslo, Norway, clocking 7:32.17. On 30 June, he placed third over two miles at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon with a time of 8:08.69. On 5 July, he was second at the Lausanne Diamond League, clocking 13:01.99 in the 5,000 m. On 17 July, Selemon was second at the Ethiopian Trials in Hengelo, Netherlands in a personal best time of 26:49.46, finishing behind Hagos Gebrhiwet. On 29 August, he was fifth over the 5,000 m at the Zürich Diamond League. On 27 September, he won his heat of the men's 5,000 m at the 2019 World Championships in Athletics in Doha, Qatar. On 30 September, he finished second in the final in 12:59.70, outsprinted by compatriot Muktar Edris.
In February 2020, Selemon competed at several indoor track races in Europe. His next race was on 8 September at the Golden Spike Ostrava, where he contested the 5,000 m, placing second with a time of 12:49.08. Despite attempting to sprint past Jacob Kiplimo in the final 100 m, the Ugandan held on to win in a time of 12:48.63.[6] Selemon next raced the 1,500 m at the Galà dei Castelli in Switzerland, placing third at 3:36.07 on 15 September. At the DohaDiamond League on 25 September, he raced 1,500 m in 3:32.97, placing second. He headed back to Ethiopia, where on 26 December, he ran 1,500 m at the Ethiopian Clubs Competition in Addis Ababa, winning in 3:38.1.
2021–present
In 2021, Selemon won the Olympic candidate trial competition in Addis Ababa, recording a time of 27:58.5. He competed at several indoor track races in January and February, including a 7:26.10 3000 m, clocking him second place behind compatriot Getnet Wale. He became the third fastest performer in history over the indoor 3000 m with his performance, behind Kenya's Daniel Komen, who clocked 7:24.90 on 6 February 1998, and Wale, who won the race in 7:24.98.[7] Selemon next raced two indoor 1500 m races on the World Athletics Indoor Tour winning both, first at the Copernicus Cup in Toruń, Poland he clocked a 3:32.97 on 17 February, and then on 24 February, a 3:35.42 performance in Madrid, Spain. His performance in Toruń made him the eighth fastest performer of all time in the indoor 3000 m.[8] Selemon's first outdoor track 5000 m race of the year came in Bergamo, Italy on 12 May, where he clocked 13:02.47, beaten by Kenya's Mark Owon Lomuket.[9] Selemon next raced at the Ethiopian Trials in Hengelo, where he won the 10,000 m in a time of 26:49.51 [10] holding off Yomif Kejelcha who was second, Berihu Aregawi placed third. The race was tactical, with Selemon putting in surges and then slowing down before it came down to a last lap sprint finish.
On 30 July 2021, at the age of 21, Selemon won the 10,000 m at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, outsprinting world record holder Joshua Cheptegei and World Half Marathon champion Jacob Kiplimo of Uganda to win in 27:43.22.[11][12] Brutal humidity meant that the winning time of 27:43.22 was the slowest in an Olympic final since 1992, but Selemon's close was sublime as he ripped the last kilometer in 2:24.9 and last lap in 53.94.[13] This win made him the fourth Ethiopian to win the 10,000 m title at the Olympics, the other three being Kenenisa Bekele (2004, 2008), Haile Gebrselassie (1996, 2000), and Miruts Yifter (1980).[14]
