Habiba Ghribi

Habiba Ghribi
Ghribi at the 2012 Olympics
Personal information
NicknameBibi
NationalityTunisian
Born (1984-04-09) 9 April 1984 (age 40)
Kairouan, Tunisia
Height1.74 m (5 ft 8+1⁄2 in)
Weight56 kg (123 lb; 8.8 st)
Websitehabibaghribi.com
Sport
Country Tunisia
SportAthletics
Event3000 metres steeplechase
Coached byConstantin Nourescu (ROU)[1]
Medal record
Women's athletics
Representing  Tunisia
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2012 London 3000 m st.
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2011 Daegu 3000 m st.
Silver medal – second place 2015 Beijing 3000 m st.
Mediterranean Games
Bronze medal – third place 2009 Pescara 1500 m
African Championships
Silver medal – second place 2006 Bambous 3000 m st.

Habiba Ghribi (Arabic: حبيبة الغريبي, born 9 April 1984)[1] is a Tunisian middle- and long-distance runner who specialises in the 3000 metres steeplechase. She won the gold medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics, giving her country its first Olympic medal by a woman. She is also the Tunisian record holder in the event, having run 9:05.36 at the Memorial van Damme in Brussels in September 2015.

Ghribi competed at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships a number of times but found greater success on the track, winning a steeplechase silver at the 2006 African Championships in Athletics and a bronze in the 1500 metres at the 2009 Mediterranean Games. She represented Tunisia at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, finishing thirteenth in the first ever women's Olympic steeplechase race. In the 2016 Müller Anniversary Games, she won the women's 3000m steeplechase. She was voted the Best Sportswoman of 2009 by the Arabic daily newspaper Assahafa.

Career

Ghribi began her career as a cross country runner and competed in the junior race at the 2000 IAAF World Cross Country Championships at the age of fifteen, finishing in 46th place (the second best of the Tunisian team).[2] She competed in the senior short race in 2002, finishing in 76th. Ghribi competed at the 2002 African Championships in Athletics in Radès, Tunisia and ended up in 11th place in the 5000 metres final. Ghribi won the gold in the junior race at the 2002 Pan Arab Cross Country Championships.[3] She also went back to the junior race in 2003 IAAF World Cross Country Championships, improving to 23rd place and heading the Tunisian team to 7th place overall.[4] After modest finishes in the World Cross Country short race in the 2004 and 2005, she switched to focus on the 3000 m steeplechase on the track instead when it became a world championship event.[5]

Ghribi took part in her first World Championships in Athletics at the 2005 Helsinki Championships and finished eighth in her heat, not managing to qualify for the women's final but setting a personal best and Tunisian record of 9:51.49 nevertheless.[6] She gained her first major medal in the event the following year, taking the silver medal at the 2006 African Championships in Athletics behind world medallist Jeruto Kiptum[7]

Ghribi's next major competition was the 2008 Beijing Olympics. This was the first time that the Olympics had held a women's steeplechase competition and she greatly improved her record to 9:25.50 in the Olympic heats, but was a little slower in the final and finished 13th overall.[8][9]

Ghribi competed at a number of major events in 2009, starting with her first ever long race at the 2009 IAAF World Cross Country Championships where she finished in 41st place.[10] After this she ran in the 1500 metres at the 2009 Mediterranean Games and achieved a personal best of 4:12.37 on her way to a bronze medal.[11] She made her second world steeplechase appearance at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics and further improved her best by a significant amount in the World final. Her time of 9:12.52 took her up to sixth place.[12] Ghribi closed the year with a performance at the 2009 IAAF World Athletics Final results, but she failed to finish the race.[13]

In recognition of her achievements in 2009, Ghribi topped a poll organised by the Arabic language daily Assahafa and was named as the "Best Sportswoman in 2009" in Tunisia.[14]

In September 2015 she ran a personal best, Tunisian national record, African record and the 4th fastest time ever of 9:05.36 at the Memorial van Damme in Brussels, Belgium.[15]

In June 2016, Ghribi was officially named the 2012 Olympic champion in the women's 3000 m steeplechase, several months after the original gold medalist, Yuliya Zaripova of Russia, was disqualified due to a doping violation.[16][17] As of December 2016, Ghribi was considering legal action to recover at least $38,000 in prize money that Zaripova had received at events from which she was later disqualified.[18]

Personal bests

Event Time (m:s) Venue Date
1500 metres 4:06.38 Zagreb, Croatia 2 September 2014
3000 metres 8:52.06 Franconville, France 28 April 2013
5000 metres 16:12.9 Radès, Tunisia 22 June 2003
3000 metres steeplechase 9:05.36 Brussels, Belgium 11 September 2015
  • All information taken from IAAF profile.

Competition record

Year Competition Venue Position Event Notes
2000 World Cross Country Championships Vilamoura, Portugal 46th Junior race
2002 World Cross Country Championships Dublin, Ireland 76th Short race
Pan Arab Cross Country Championships Amman, Jordan 1st Junior race
African Championships Radès, Tunisia 11th 5000 m
2003 World Cross Country Championships Lausanne, Switzerland 23rd Junior race
2004 World Cross Country Championships Brussels, Belgium 68th Short race
2005 World Cross Country Championships Saint-Étienne, France 48th Short race
World Championships in Athletics Helsinki, Finland heats 3000 m st. 9:51.49 (NR)
2006 African Championships Bambous, Mauritius 2nd 3000 m st.
2008 Olympic Games Beijing, China 13th 3000 m st. 9:25.50 (NR)
2009 World Cross Country Championships Amman, Jordan 41st Senior race
Mediterranean Games Pescara, Italy 3rd 1500 m 4:12.37 (PB)
World Championships in Athletics Berlin, Germany 6th 3000 m st. 9:12.52 (NR)
2011 World Championships in Athletics Daegu, South Korea 1st 3000 m st. 9:11.97 (NR)
2012 Olympic Games London, England 1st 3000 m st. 9:08.37 (NR)
2014 Diamond League Zürich, Switzerland 1st 3000 m st. 9:15:23
2015 Diamond League Monaco, Monaco 1st 3000 m st. 9:11:28
2015 World Championships Beijing, China 2nd 3000 m st. 9:19.24
2015 Diamond League Brussels, Belgium 1st 3000 m st. 9:05.36 (NR) (AR)

Personal Life

Habiba Ghribi married her coach, Khaled Boudhraa, who is of Algerian origin.[19] She announced her divorce after the London Olympics.[20] She later got engaged to athlete Bouabdellah Tahri.[21] On September 30, 2017, Habiba Ghribi married Yassine Saya, a Tunisian businessman.[22] She gave birth to a daughter, Alyssa, on May 2, 2019, in Canada.[23]

References

  1. ^ a b "Habiba Ghribi". london2012.com. Archived from the original on 2013-01-28. Retrieved 2012-07-29.
  2. ^ Official Team Results - CROSS JUNIOR RACE Women Archived 2009-08-30 at the Wayback Machine. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-03-31.
  3. ^ Pan Arab Cross Country Championships. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2010-03-31.
  4. ^ Official Team Results Junior Race - W. IAAF (2003-03-29). Retrieved on 2010-03-31.
  5. ^ Ghribi Habiba. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-03-31.
  6. ^ 3000 Metres Steeplechase - W Heats. IAAF (2005-08-06). Retrieved on 2010-03-31.
  7. ^ Ouma, Mark (2006-08-13). South Africans steal the show - African Championships report - Day Four Archived 2012-10-25 at the Wayback Machine. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-03-31.
  8. ^ 3000 Metres Steeplechase - W Heats. IAAF (2008-08-15). Retrieved on 2010-03-31.
  9. ^ 3000 Metres Steeplechase - W Final. IAAF (2008-08-17). Retrieved on 2010-03-31.
  10. ^ Senior Race - W Final. IAAF (2009-03-28). Retrieved on 2010-03-31.
  11. ^ Women's 1500m Final Archived 2010-03-03 at the Wayback Machine. Pescara 2009. Retrieved on 2010-03-31.
  12. ^ Mulkeen, Jon (2009-08-17). Event Report - Women's 3000m Steeplechase - Final Archived 2012-03-25 at the Wayback Machine. IAAF. Retrieved on 2009-08-18.
  13. ^ 3000 Metres Steeplechase - W Final. IAAF (2009-09-12). Retrieved on 2010-03-31.
  14. ^ Tunisia: Habiba Ghribi Elected Best Sportswoman in 2009. All-Africa (2010-03-08). Retrieved on 2010-03-31.
  15. ^ "3000 steeplechase women". diamondleague.com. Diamond League - IAAF. Archived from the original on 2015-09-11. Retrieved 2015-09-11.
  16. ^ Etchells, Daniel (5 June 2016). "Tunisia's Ghribi receives Olympic and world gold medals stripped from Russian doping cheat Zaripova". Inside the Games.
  17. ^ "Tunisia's First Female Olympic Champion Awarded Gold Medal Four Years After the London Games". tunisia-live.net. 6 June 2016.
  18. ^ Ellingworth, James (1 December 2016). "Clean athletes still waiting for prize money from dopers". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 14 December 2016.
  19. ^ "Mondiaux-2011 – Accueil chaleureux réservé à Habiba Ghribi à son retour à Tunis". tunisie numérique.
  20. ^ "HABIBA GHRIBI Ce qui compte, c'est la « gagne » !". afrique magazine.
  21. ^ "Mondiaux d'athlétisme - 3000m steeple : le Kenya encore !". le point.
  22. ^ "Habiba Ghribi et Yassine Saya fêtent leur mariage". kapitalis.
  23. ^ "Habiba Ghribi donne naissance à son premier enfant !". mosaiquefm.
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