Ababel Yeshaneh

Ababel Yeshaneh
Yeshaneh at the 2016 Rio Olympics
Personal information
Birth nameAbabel Yeshaneh Birhane
NationalityEthiopian
Born (1991-07-22) 22 July 1991 (age 33)
Height165 cm (5 ft 5 in)[1]
Weight54 kg (119 lb)
Sport
SportAthletics
Event(s)Long-distance running, Cross country
Achievements and titles
Personal bests
Medal record
Women's athletics
Representing  Ethiopia
World Marathon Majors
Silver medal – second place 2019 Chicago Marathon
Silver medal – second place 2022 Boston Marathon
Bronze medal – third place 2021 New York Marathon
African Cross Country Championships
Silver medal – second place 2014 Kampala Women's team

Ababel Yeshaneh Birhane (born 22 July 1991) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner who competes in track, road and cross country events. She represented her country in the 10,000 metres at the 2013 World Championships in Athletics, coming ninth, and ranked fifth in the world on time that year. She was a team silver medallist at the African Cross Country Championships in 2014 and finished 14th in the 5000 metres at the 2016 Olympic Games.

On 21 February 2020, she broke the world record in the half marathon, clocking 1:04:31 at the RAK Half-Marathon in Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates.

She has a marathon best of 2:20:51 set at the 2019 Chicago Marathon where she finished second.

Career

While running in Ethiopia, she joined the Ethiopian Defense Forces sports club.[2] She began to compete outside of Ethiopia in 2011, starting with a win at the Vadodara Half Marathon in India. She followed this with a win at the Stramilano in a best of 69:54 minutes, then had a runner-up finish at the Nice Half Marathon a few weeks later.[3] She made her marathon debut that year, placing sixth at the Turin Marathon with a time of 2:34:36 hours in November.[4] She ran sparingly in 2012, though she did set a 5000 metres track best of 15:17.05 minutes.[5]

Ababel came third at the Milan Marathon in April 2013, setting a new best of 2:33:10 hours.[6] However, it was on the track that she made her impact. At the Golden Spike Ostrava meeting she was part of the most competitive 10,000 metres race of the season and her time of 30:35.91 minutes for fourth eventually ranked her fifth in the world on time that year.[7] The performances earned her a place on the Ethiopian team for the 2013 World Championships in Athletics, after world leader Meseret Defar decided to focus on the 5000 m. In the 10,000 m world final she was in the main pack until the halfway point before drifting back to ninth place overall on her international debut.[8]

Her first international medal came at the 2014 African Cross Country Championships. She finished sixth in the women's race which brought her a silver medal as part of the Ethiopian women's team led by Tadelech Bekele.[9] After this she returned to the roads, coming fourth at the Portugal Half Marathon.[5] At the start of 2015 she won the half marathon section of the Ooredoo Marathon in Doha.[10]

She competed in the women's marathon at the 2022 World Athletics Championships held in Eugene, Oregon, United States.

International competitions

Representing  Ethiopia
Year Competition Venue Position Event Result
2013 World Championships Moscow, Russia 9th 10,000 metres 32:02.09
2014 African Cross Country Championships Kampala, Uganda 6th Senior race 26:14.03
2nd Senior team 29 pts
2016 Olympic Games Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 14th 5000 m 15:18.26
2020 World Half Marathon Championships Gdynia, Poland 5th Half marathon 1:05:41
1st Team race 3:16:39
2022 World Championships Eugene, OR, United States 6th Marathon DNF
World Marathon Majors
2019 Tokyo Marathon Tokyo, Japan 6th Marathon 2:24:02
Chicago Marathon Chicago, IL, United States 2nd Marathon 2:20:51
2021 New York City Marathon New York, NY, United States 3rd Marathon 2:22:52
2022 Boston Marathon Boston, MA, United States 2nd Marathon 2:21:05

References

  1. ^ Ababel Yeshaneh Archived 26 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine. rio2016.com
  2. ^ Negash, Elshadai (12 March 2011). Diro's double, Gari, Assefa highlight Municipal Champs in Addis Ababa. IAAF. Retrieved on 2015-02-12.
  3. ^ Half Marathon – women – senior – outdoor – 2011. IAAF. Retrieved on 12 February 2015.
  4. ^ Marathon – women – senior – outdoor – 2011. IAAF. Retrieved on 12 February 2015.
  5. ^ a b Ababel Yeshaneh Progression. IAAF. Retrieved on 12 February 2015.
  6. ^ Marathon – women – senior – outdoor – 2013. IAAF. Retrieved on 12 February 2015.
  7. ^ Mulkeen, Jon (27 June 2013). World lead by Adams, five meeting records broken in Ostrava – IAAF World Challenge. IAAF. Retrieved on 2015-02-12.
  8. ^ Minshull, Phil (11 August 2013). Report: Women's 10,000m final – Moscow 2013". IAAF. Retrieved on 2015-02-12.
  9. ^ Kenya makes a clean sweep at African Cross Country Championships. IAAF (16 March 2014). Retrieved on 2015-02-12.
  10. ^ Ooredoo Marathon is "Bigger, Faster and Better" Archived 12 February 2015 at the Wayback Machine. I Love Qatar (10 January 2015). Retrieved on 2015-02-12.
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Records
Preceded by Women's Half marathon World record holder
21 February 2020 – 4 April 2021 		Succeeded by