Letesenbet Gidey (Tigrinya: ለተሰንበት ግደይ, born 20 March 1998)[2] is an Ethiopian long-distance runner. A 10,000 metres 2020 Tokyo Olympic bronze medallist, at the World Athletics Championships she won the silver medal in the event in 2019 and a gold in 2022.

Letesenbet Gidey

Letesenbet at the 2022 World Championships in Eugene
Personal information
Born	(1998-03-20) 20 March 1998 (age 24) Endameskel, Tigray Region, Ethiopia
Height	1.66 m (5 ft 5 in)[1]
Weight	50 kg (110 lb)[1]
Sport
Country	Ethiopia
Sport	Athletics
Event(s)	Track, road and cross-country long-distance running
Team	NN Running Team
Achievements and titles
World finals	2017 London 5000 m, 11th 2019 Doha 10,000 m,  Silver 2022 Eugene 5000 m, 5th 10,000 m,  Gold
Olympic finals	2021 Tokyo 10,000 m,  Bronze
Personal best(s)	3000 m: 8:20.27 (Palo Alto 2019) 5000 m: 14:06.62 WR (Valencia 2020) 10,000 m: 29:01.03 WR (Hengelo 2021) Road 10  km: 33:55 (Bengaluru 2019) 15 km: 44:20 WB (Nijmegen 2019) Half marathon: 1:02:52 WR (Valencia 2021)
Medal record Women's athletics Representing  Ethiopia Olympic Games 2020 Tokyo 10,000 m World Championships 2022 Eugene 10,000 m 2019 Doha 10,000 m World Cross Country Championships 2015 Guiyang Junior race 2015 Guiyang Junior team 2017 Kampala Junior race 2017 Kampala Junior team 2019 Aarhus Senior team 2019 Aarhus Senior race

Letesenbet holds the current world records for the 5000 metres and 10,000 metres, which she set in October 2020 and June 2021 respectively. She is the first woman since Ingrid Kristiansen from 1986–1993 to hold them both simultaneously.[3][4] In October 2021, she set the world record in the half marathon, breaking previous mark by more than a minute.[5][6] She also holds the world best in the 15 km road race. Letesenbet became the first woman to break the 64- and 63-minute barriers in the half marathon and 45-minute barrier in the 15 km.

At age 17, Letesenbet won the junior race at the 2015 World Cross Country Championships. She retained this title in 2017 to take a bronze medal in the senior race in 2019.

Early life

Letesenbet Gidey was born in Endameskel in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia. She is the youngest of four siblings, having two brothers and a sister, and grew up on the family's farm.[7]

She was expelled from school as a 13-year-old for refusing to run in physical education classes and was only allowed to return when she agreed to take part. She then won the 3000 m / 2000 m steeplechase double for the Tigray region at the Ethiopian Schools Championships in Shashemane in late 2012.[7]

Career

Junior career

2014

On 14 June, a 16-year-old Letesenbet ran the 5000 metres at the Ethiopian Championships to finish third with a time of 16:19.30. Almaz Ayana won in a time of 16:11.40, and Kidsan Alema was second in 16:13.48.[2][8]

2015

On 1 February, she won the junior 6 km race at the Jan Meda International Cross Country in Addis Ababa – Ethiopia's trials for the World Cross Country Championships – with a time of 20:30.[9]

On 28 March, she competed at the World Cross Country Championships in Guiyang, China, winning the Under-20 world title on a 6030 m course in a time of 19:48; together with her Ethiopian teammates Letesenbet took also the team title. At the age of 17, she was the youngest junior women's winner for 15 years.[10]

On 21 June, Letesenbet won the 5000 m run in Bottrop, Germany in a time of 15:39.83. The runner-up was Jana Groß-Hardt in 17:06.33. At first, Letesenbet was disqualified because she had stepped on a marking on the track, and Groß-Hardt stood at the top of the podium during the award ceremony. Letesenbet objected to this decision, reasoning that her misstep had not given her an unfair advantage, and as a result of her appeal she was reinstated as the winner.[11][12][13]

On 15 July, she ran the 3000m girls' race at the World U18 Championships in Cali, Colombia finishing fourth with a time of 9:04.64.[14]

2016

On 22 May, a 18-year-old Letesenbet won the 5000 metres at the FBK Games in Hengelo, Netherlands in a time of 14:58.44.[15] On 30 June, she won the event at the track meet in Barcelona with a time of 14:45.63, defeating multiple world record holder Genzebe Dibaba who dropped out after 3600 m.[16]

2017

She won the women's junior race at the Ethiopian Cross Country championships on 13 February in Addis Ababa.[17]

On 26 March, she won the U20 World Cross Country Championship on a 6 km course in Kampala, Uganda.[18]

The then 19-year-old competed in the 5000m event at the World Championships in London.[19] She advanced to the finals and finished 11th of 14 starters, stopping the clock at 15:04.99. The race was won by Hellen Obiri in a time of 14:34.86, the silver medal went to Almaz Ayana who ran 14:40.35, and Sifan Hassan was third in 14:42.74.[20]

Senior career

2018

In February, Letesenbet won the 6 km race at the sixth leg of the IAAF Cross Country Permit series taking place in San Vittore Olona, Italy. Her winning time was 18:14.[21] On 26 May, she ran the 5000 m at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, US, and placed second in a time of 14:30.29.[15] Genzebe Dibaba won in 14:26.89 and Obiri was third in 14:35.03.[22]

2019: 10,000m World silver medallist

On 10 February, Letesenbet competed in the 10 km run at the Jan Meda Cross Country Championships in Addis Ababa, and placed second with a time of 35:55. The winner of the event was Dera Dida in 35:50.[23]

At the World Cross Country Championships in Aarhus, Denmark, she participated in the senior race. The 5000m world champion Hellen Obiri won on the extremely hilly 10.2 km course with a time of 36:14, Dida was the runner-up in 36:16, and Letesenbet took the bronze medal clocking 36:24.

She raced the 10,000m at the Ethiopian National championships in Addis Ababa on 8 May, winning in a time of 32:10.2.[24][25][26] On 19 May, Letesenbet ran the 10 km road race in Bengaluru, India. She placed second, with Agnes Tirop the winner and Senbere Teferi in third place. All three women finished with the same time of 33:55.[27][28] At the Diamond League Prefontaine Classic meet in Palo Alto, CA on 30 June, she took third place in a 3000 m race with a time of 8:20.27. The winner was Sifan Hassan in 8:18.49, a European record, and Konstanze Klosterhalfen was second in 8:20.07.[29][30] Seven of the top 15 runners ran personal bests.[31][32] Letesenbet won the 10,000m Ethiopian trials on 17 July. Her winning time on the track in Hengelo, Netherlands was 30:37.89. World half marathon champion Netsanet Gudeta was the runner-up in 30:40.85.[33]

At the Diamond League final in Brussels, Letesenbet finished second in the 5000m with a time of 14:29.54. Hassan won the race in 14:26.26.[34][35]

On 28 September, Letesenbet took the silver medal in the 10,000 m at the World Championships held in Doha, Qatar with a personal best of 30:21.23. The race was won by Hassan in a time of 30:17.33, a new Dutch national record, with Agnes Tirop third in 30:25.50.[36]

15K run world record

On 17 November 2019, Letesenbet set a new world record of 44m 20s in the 15 km road race at the Zevenheuvelenloop road race in Nijmegen, Netherlands, breaking the 2017 world record held by Joyciline Jepkosgei by one minute and 17 seconds, and becoming the first woman to run 15K under 45 minutes.[37][38] Letesenbet lowered by more than 2 minutes Tirunesh Dibaba's 2009 world record set also at the Zevenheuvelenloop in 46:28, which was in turn a 27-second improvement on the former mark at the time.[37][39] Letesenbet received a prize of 50,000 euros for her world record.[40]

2020

At the Diamond League Monaco meet on 14 August, Letesenbet finished the 5000 m second in a time of 14:26.57. Hellen Obiri won in 14:22.12, a meeting record.[41]

5000 metres world record

On 7 October 2020, at the NN Valencia World Record Day meet, she broke Tirunesh Dibaba's 2008 record in the 5000m taking more than 4 seconds off to stop the clock at 14m 6.62s.[42]

2021: 10,000m Tokyo Olympic bronze medallist

10,000 metres world record

On 6 June, Sifan Hassan set a 10,000 m world record of 29:06.82. Just two days later, on 8 June, Letensebet broke Hassan's record at the Ethiopian trials on the same track with a time of 29m 1.03s, running the last lap in 1 minute and 3 seconds.[43]

Running in the event at the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics in August, she took the bronze medal, however. After tactical race she led on the final bend, but was then outsprinted by both Hassan (29:55.32) and Bahrain's Kalkidan Gezahegne (29:56.18) to finish in 30:01.72.[44]

Half marathon world record

On 24 October 2021, in her half marathon debut, Letensebet finished in 62m 52s at the Valencia Half Marathon, becoming the first woman to run under 64 minutes (legally) and under 63 minutes, and improving upon a Ruth Chepng'etich's world record by 70 seconds (52 s upon an unratified mark of Yalemzerf Yehualaw).[45]

2022: 10,000m World champion

Letensebet claimed her first senior global title and also her first global track title at the World Championships in Eugene, Oregon in July. She held off a twin Kenyan challenge in a nail-biting finish (the top 3 were only separated by 0.13 s) to win the 10,000 metres gold, achieving a world-leading time of 30:09.94 ahead of Hellen Obiri in 30:10.02 and Margaret Kipkemboi in 30:10.07.[46] Seven days later, she also competed in the 5000 m event and finished fifth.[2]

Achievements

All information from World Athletics profile.[2]

Personal bests

International competitions

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Event	Result	Notes
Representing  Ethiopia
2015	World Cross Country Championships	Guiyang, China	1st	Junior race	19:48
			1st	Junior team	11 pts
	World Youth Championships	Cali, Colombia	4th	3000 m	9:04.64	PB
2017	World Cross Country Championships	Kampala, Uganda	1st	Junior race	18:34
			1st	Junior team	19 pts
	World Championships	London, United Kingdom	11th	5000 m	15:04.99
2019	World Cross Country Championships	Aarhus, Denmark	3rd	Senior race	36:24
			1st	Senior team	21 pts
	World Championships	Doha, Qatar	2nd	10,000 m	30:21.23	PB
2021	Olympic Games	Tokyo, Japan	3rd	10,000 m	30:01.72
2022	World Championships	Eugene, OR, United States	5th	5000 m	14:47.98
			1st	10,000 m	30:09.94	WL
Road races representing NN Running Team
2019	World 10K Bangalore	Bangalore, India	2nd	10 km	33:55
	Zevenheuvelenloop	Nijmegen, Netherlands	1st	15 km	44:20	WB
2021	Valencia Half Marathon	Valencia, Spain	1st	Half marathon	1:02:52	WR

National championships

• Ethiopian Athletics Championships
  • 10,000 metres: 2019

Notes

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Letesenbet Gidey.

• Letesenbet Gidey at World Athletics
• Letesenbet Gidey at Diamond League
• Letesenbet Gidey at ARRS
• Letesenbet Gidey at Olympedia

Records
Preceded by Tirunesh Dibaba	Women's 5000 m World Record Holder 7 October 2020 – present	Succeeded by Incumbent
Preceded by Sifan Hassan	Women's 10,000 m World record holder 8 June 2021 – present	Succeeded by Incumbent
Preceded by Ruth Chepng'etich	Women's Half marathon World record holder 24 October 2021 – present	Succeeded by Incumbent

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