Alemitu Bekele Degfa
Alemitu Bekele (Alemitu Bekele Degfa; born 17 September 1977) is an Ethiopian-born Turkish long-distance runner, who specializes in the 5000 metres.
 Celebrating gold in Turin | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Nationality | Turkey | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 17 September 1977 Shoa, Ethiopia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Running | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Event(s) | 3000 metres, 5000 metres | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | Üsküdar Belediyespor | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Achievements and titles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal best(s) | 3000m: 8:35.19 5000m: 14:42.62 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Bekele was born in Shoa, Ethiopia. In the 5000 metres she finished seventh at the 2008 Olympic Games. In the 3000 metres she won the gold medal at the 2009 European Indoor Championships, and also competed at the 2008 World Indoor Championships, without reaching the final round.
She set an indoor European record at the beginning of 2010: her time of 14:46.44 at the GE Galan was enough to beat Gabriela Szabo's 11-year-old mark. Despite this achievement, which made her the fifth fastest of all-time over the distance, she finished some twenty seconds adrift of winner Meseret Defar who narrowly missed the world record.[1] This record was later rescinded due to a doping offense.[2]
She won the 5000 m at the 2010 European Athletics Championships in a championship-record time of 14 minutes, 52.20 seconds at Barcelona's Olympic stadium. She represented Team Europe at the 2010 IAAF Continental Cup and claimed the 3000 m silver medal behind Meseret Defar.[3] She opened her 2011 season at the Cinque Mulini and won the individual title as well as the team title for Üsküdar Belediyespor as part of the European Cross Country Club Championships.[4]
Doping ban
On 16 January 2013, the IAAF announced, that she had been banned from competition for four years until 14 February 2016 due to use or attempted use of illegal drugs, and all her results since August 17, 2009 will be voided. This resulted from irregularities in her biological passport.[2]
Personal bests
| Distance | Time | Location | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1500 m | 4:06:32 | Istanbul, Turkey | June 7, 2008 |
| 3000 m | 8:55:51 | Sofia, Switzerland | July 5, 2007 |
| 3000 m (indoor) | 8:46:50 NR | Torino, Italy | March 8, 2009 |
| 5000 m | 15:05:85 | Izmir, Turkey | May 31, 2008 |
See also
References
- Julin, A. Lennart (2010-02-11). Another blazing 5000m run by Defar - Stockholm report. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-02-11.
- Fuchs, Christian (2013-01-16). "Alemitu Bekele verliert EM-Titel" (in German). Leichathletik. Retrieved 2013-01-17.
- EVENT Report - Women's 3000 Metres. IAAF (2010-09-04). Retrieved on 2011-02-07.
- Sampaolo, Diego (2011-02-06). Lamdassem and Bekele are triumphant in the Cinque Mulini. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-02-06.
