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Letesenbet Gidey: Unassuming Ethiopian looking to add global championship Gold to numerous records that she possesses
Updated August 23, 2022
Tirunesh Dibaba and Haile Gebrselassie are two names that are revered in the world of athletics, not just in their native Ethiopia but the entire world. They transcended the sport of distance running with their poise and panache.
More importantly, they were so dominant during the competitive years that they chalked up numerous records and global championships. Both Dibaba and Gebrselassie are so revered back home that it will take someone special to eclipse some of the records and titles they have for their country.
Cue in Letesenbet Gidey. The 24-year-old runner has taken the world by storm in the last three years, taking down records from the 5000m to the half marathon. These records took years for some of her older compatriots to set. The question remains if she can finally replicate it on the world stage and win Gold.
Gidey reached a new gear in Valencia in 2021 as she showed the World that there are no limits to which our body can take us by winning the half marathon. She came out tops in a new World Record of 1:02:52, smashing the previous record by well over a minute and becoming the first debutante to set a World record over the distance.
Gidey, by a mile, is the most impressive athlete regarding all-around records. The world began to take note of her prowess when in 2019, she set a new world record of 44:20 in the 15K run at the Zevenheuvelenloop road race in Nijmegen, Netherlands, breaking the previous world record held by Joyciline Jepkosgei (set in 2017) by more than a minute, and becoming the first woman to run 15K under 45 minutes.
Almost a year afterward, she demolished the women’s 5,000m world record by more than four seconds in Valencia, setting a time of 14:06:62. The Ethiopian easily beat the previous record of 14:11.15 set by her compatriot, Tirunesh Dibaba in Oslo in 2008, and earlier this year, she clocked 29:01.03 to break the 10,000m record at the Ethiopian Olympic Trials. That’s four records in her bag, all in the space of two years.
This year, Gidey has yet to get into a winning stride yet in 2022, finishing a distant runner-up to Taye in the Eugene 5000m and third in the 5000m at the Wanda Diamond League meeting is Oslo behind fellow Ethiopians Dawit Seyaum and Gudaf Tsegay.
Giday has only raced once in the 10000m this year, clocking 30:44.27 at the FBK Games in Hengelo in June. The time fell over one minute short of her Personal Best and World Record time of 29:01.03, although it still puts her at number three in the top list this year over the event.
That really doesn’t matter, considering how stacked the women’s 5000m and 10000m will be in Eugene. Gidey knows she must deliver a title for the East African Nation at this world championships in order for her to etch her name into sporting greatness.
One runner who will prove a stumbling block to Gidey in her quest to wining Gold will be Ethiopian-born Dutch athlete Sifan Hassan.
At the Tokyo Olympics, they both contested the women’s 10000m final, a race that saw Hassan come out tops convincingly in 29:55.32. Gidey finished a distant third in the final. Also, at the last world championships in Doha, Hassan was a class apart from Gidey as she brought out her trademark kick to push the Ethiopian to Silver.
In the 5000m, Gidey’s compatriot, Ejgayehu Taye, is the world leader at 14:12.98, which she picked up by hijacking her world record attempt at the Prefontaine Classic in May, but the two more lethal guns in a championship race are likely Dawit Seyaum and Gudaf Tsegay, who are 1500m specialists that have looked good moving up in distance this season.
The other runner that can pose a stumbling block to Gidey is Hellen Obiri of Kenya, the two-time 5000m world champ who has opted to focus on the 10,000m this year.
Gidey has been training with the NN running team for a while now, and no athlete has got such dexterity over the track and road races the way she does. It is what makes her special. Although she’s still yet to reach her peak, transitioning from breaking records to being a championship athlete needs to happen really fast. Eugene is the perfect opportunity to show the world her prowess.
Update: Letensebet Gidey got her wish! At the 2022 World Championships in Eugene, Oregon, July 15-24, 2022, Letensebet battled the world and took gold in 30:09.94. In the subsequent 5,000m, Letensebet took 5th in 14:47.98. The battle for number one goes on…
Letensebet Gidey, a member of the NN Racing Team, is sponsored by COROS.
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