Kalkidan Gezahegne
Gezahegne in 2010
Personal information
CitizenshipBahraini
Born (1991-05-08) 8 May 1991
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Sport
CountryBahrain
SportAthletics
Event(s)Middle-, Long-distance running
Achievements and titles
Personal bests
Medal record
Women's athletics
Representing  Ethiopia
World Indoor Championships
Gold medal – first place2010 Doha 1500 m
World Junior Championships
Silver medal – second place2008 Bydgoszcz1500 m
African Junior Championships
Silver medal – second place2009 Bambous1500 m
Representing  Bahrain
Olympic Games
Silver medal – second place2020 Tokyo10,000 m
Asian Games
Gold medal – first place2018 Jakarta–Palembang1500 m
Gold medal – first place2018 Jakarta–Palembang5000 m

Kalkidan Gezahegne (born 8 May 1991)[1] is an Ethiopian-born Bahraini middle- and long-distance runner. She is the 10,000 metres 2020 Tokyo Olympics silver medallist. 11 years earlier, at age 18, Gezahegne became the youngest ever female World indoor champion when winning 1500 metres.

17-year-old Gezahegne won a silver medal over the 1500m at the 2008 World Junior Championships. She represented Ethiopia before acquiring Bahraini citizenship in 2013.

Life and career

Kalkidan 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.[2] Moving up to the senior level, Kalkidan finished eighth in the 1500 m race at the 2009 World Championships and fifth in the 3000 metres at the 2009 World Athletics Final.[3]

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 Russia's Yevgeniya Zolotova 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.[4] 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.[5] She missed the outdoor season that year due to injury.[6]

On 3 October 2021, Gezahegne broke the world record for the 10 km road race at The Giants Geneva event, running 29:38 and surpassing the previous mark by 5 seconds.[7]

Achievements

International competitions

YearCompetitionVenuePositionEventTime
Representing  Ethiopia
2008 World Junior Championships Bydgoszcz, Poland 2nd 1500 m 4:16.58
2009 African Junior Championships Bambous, Mauritius 2nd 1500 m 4:09.36
World Championships Berlin, Germany 8th 1500 m 4:08.81
2010 World Indoor Championships Doha, Qatar 1st 1500 m i 4:08.14
2011 World Championships Daegu, South Korea 5th 1500 m 4:06.42
Representing  Bahrain
2017 World Championships London, United Kingdom 14th 5000 m
2018 West Asian Championships Amman, Jordan 2nd 1500 m 4:15.24
2nd 5000 m 16:35.46
Asian Games Jakarta, Indonesia 1st 1500 m 4:07.88
1st 5000 m 15:08.08
2021 Olympic Games Tokyo, Japan 2nd 10,000 m 29:56.18

Personal bests

EventTime (m:s)DateVenueNotes
1500 metres4:00.9729 May 2011Hengelo, Netherlands
1500 metres indoor4:03.2810 February 2010Stockholm, Sweden
One mile4:37.767 September 2008Rieti, Italy
One mile indoor4:24.1020 February 2010Birmingham, United KingdomWorld under-20 record
3000 metres8:34.654 September 2018Zagreb, Croatia
3000 metres indoor8:37.4719 February 2011Birmingham, United Kingdom
5000 metres14:52.921 June 2021Montreuil, Seine-Saint-Denis, France
10,000 metres29:50.778 May 2021Maia, PortugalNR
10 km (road)29:383 October 2021Geneva, Switzerland
Half marathon1:05:4712 December 2021Manama, Bahrain

References

  1. ↑ "Kalkidan GEZAHEGNE – Athlete profile". World Athletics. Retrieved 2021-01-01.
  2. ↑ Ouma, Mark (2009-08-02). African Junior Champs, Day 4. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-03-15.
  3. ↑ Kalkidan Gezahegne at World Athletics
  4. ↑ Morse, Parker (2010-03-12). Doha 2010 - Day 1 Wrap. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-03-12.
  5. ↑ Ramsak, Bob (2010-03-14). Doha 2010 - Gezahegne recovers from heat tumble to become youngest ever female champion. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-03-15.
  6. ↑ Jalava, Mirko & Julin, A. Lennart (2010-12-28). 2010 - End of Year Reviews – Middle Distances. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-12-28.
  7. ↑ "Gezahegne breaks world 10km record in Geneva, Chelimo goes sub-30 in Valencia, Kumela breaks Kosice course record". World Athletics. Retrieved 2021-10-04.
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