Elvan Abeylegesse

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Elvan Abeylegesse

Elvan Abeylegesse
Personal information
Nationality Turkey
Born 11 September 1982 (1982-09-11) (age 29)
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Residence İstanbul, Turkey
Height 1.59 m (5.2 ft)[1]
Weight 40 kg (88 lb)[1]
Sport
Sport Running
Event(s) 5000 metres, 10,000 metres
Club Enkaspor Athletics Team
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)

5000m: 14:24.68

10000m: 29:56.34
Medal record
Competitor for  Turkey
Women's athletics
Olympic Games
Silver 2008 Beijing 5000 m
Silver 2008 Beijing 10000 m
World Championships
Silver 2007 Osaka 10000 m
European Championships
Gold 2010 Barcelona 10,000 m
Silver 2010 Barcelona 5000 m
Bronze 2006 Gothenburg 5000 m
Mediterranean Games
Gold 2009 Pescara 10000 m

Elvan Abeylegesse (also formerly: Hewan Abeye (Amharic) and Elvan Can (Turkish)) (Amharic: አልቫን አበይለገሠ; born September 11, 1982) is an Ethiopian-born Turkish middle and long distance track and field athlete, running in the disciplines of 1500 m, 3000 m and 5000 m, but also 10000 m, 2 miles and cross country. She is the former world-record holder for 5000 m, at 14:24.68.

Contents

[edit] Early life and career

Abeylegesse was born Hewan Abeye on September 11, 1982 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and raised with her seven brothers and sisters. She began her career running cross country. In 1999, she started for the Ethiopian junior team at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Belfast, Northern Ireland and finished ninth. There, she was invited to a meeting in Istanbul, Turkey. Coming to Istanbul, she said that she liked it there very much. "I didn't get enough support from my federation in Ethiopia," she said. "My track club in Turkey gave me all the support I needed. So I decided to move to Turkey. The support was much better in Istanbul. I thought it would be easier to reach my goals in Turkey.” To get Turkish citizenship,[2] she married and took the name Elvan Can. She has since divorced and is now called Elvan Abeylegesse.

“As a youngster, my heroes were Ethiopian runners. I would follow the victories of Gete Wami particularly”, Abeylegesse said. “I studied all their actions: how they slept, how they ate, how they trained, and how they competed.” Registered in the Enka Sports Club in Istanbul, she is coached by Ertan Hatipoglu, a former triple jumper of Turkish origin from Bulgaria. She still has a friendly relationship with other Ethiopian runners, but there is a problem with her former federation. “The officials don’t allow me to train in Ethiopia any longer", Abeylegesse says. “I train now at high altitudes in Turkey as I think that some of my former compatriots see me as a threat. They are uncomfortable with me training in Ethiopia. But I, of course, remain friends with the individual Ethiopian runners.”

[edit] Career highlights

Abeylegesse’s career in the international arena began at the age of 18 in Grosseto, Italy in 2001 by winning the European 3000 m and 5000 m titles, setting a national record for Turkey. She became a world leader with a time of 8:31:94 in the 3000 m in Brussels, Belgium in 2002 and with a time of 3:58.38 in the 1500 m in Moscow, Russia in 2004.

Abeylegesse has been a scholarship holder with the Olympic Solidarity program since August 2002.

At the Evergood Bergen Bislett Games in Norway on June 11, 2004, the sixth meeting of TDK Golden League, Abeylegesse broke the women’s 5000 m world record, which had belonged to Chinese runner Jiang Bo since 1997 (14:28.09), improving the mark by over three seconds to 14:24.68.[3] She became the first Turkish athlete ever to set a world record. "I worked very hard, day and night," Abeylegesse said, speaking through an interpreter. "My target since the first day I started running has been to break world records and become Olympic champion." Şarık Tara, the honorary president of her club, said, "I am proud of our daughter Elvan. Her achievement is an even greater success than our men's national soccer team finishing third in the World Cup."

On 3 June 2006 her record time was beaten by Ethiopian Meseret Defar, who ran in 14:24.53 in New York City.[4]

She ran at the inaugural World 10K Bangalore race in 2008 and finished in a dead heat with Grace Momanyi, with both runners eventually being declared joint victors.[5]

She was the 2010 recipient of the Pierre de Coubertin World Fair Play Trophy, an annual award given by the International Fair Play Committee. She had lent a pair of running shoes to competitor Meselech Melkamu just moments before the beginning of the 10,000 metres final at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics. Having forgotten to bring her shoes to the track, Melkamu went on to take the silver.[6]

Abeylegesse won the 2010 edition of the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon in a time of 1:07:07. This was the fastest ever time for a débutante in the half marathon race and made her the sixth fastest woman overall. She played down suggestions of a permanent switch to longer road races, however, saying a marathon debut would have to wait until after the 2012 London Olympics.[7]

At the 2010 European Athletics Championships, Abeylegesse won gold in the 10,000 m, finishing in 31 minutes, 10.23 seconds On 28 July 2010,[8] and she won the silver medal in 5000m finishing in 14 minutes, 54.44 seconds on 1 August 2010.[9] She narrowly missed out on a medal at the 2010 IAAF Continental Cup, finishing two seconds behind Molly Huddle in the 5000 m.

[edit] Personal life

Abeylegesse married her longtime partner Semeneh Debelie in February 2011 and decided to take the season off due to pregnancy.[10] In July 2011, she gave birth to a girl named Arsema.[11]

[edit] Achievements

1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
  • May 11 İzmir, Turkey (3000 m)  Gold (8:42:29)
  • May 25 Beograd, Serbia (1500 m)  Gold (4:07:25)
  • June 2 Grand Prix, Hengelo, Netherlands (5000 m)  Gold (15:06:75)
  • June 7 Istanbul, Turkey (2000 m)  Gold (5::33:83) PB
  • August 30 9th IAAF World Championships in Athletics, Paris Saint-Denis, France (5000 m) 5th (14:53:56)
  • September 13 1st IAAF World Athletics Final, Monaco (5000 m)  Gold (14:56:25)
2004
2006
2007
2008

WR World record, ER European Record, NR National record, PB Personal best.

[edit] Personal bests

Discipline Performance Place Date
1500 m 3:58:28 Moscow, Russia May 30, 2004
2000 m 5:33:83 İstanbul, Turkey June 7, 2003
3000 m 8:31:94 Brussels, Belgium August 30, 2002
5000 m 14:24:68 Bergen, Norway June 11, 2004
10000 m 29:56:34 Beijing, China August 15, 2008

[edit] World records

Discipline Performance Place Date Athlete
1500 m 3:50:46 Beijing, China September 13, 1993 Qu Yunxia, China
2000 m 5:25:36 Edinburgh, United Kingdom July 8, 1994 Sonia O'Sullivan, Ireland
3000 m 8:06:11 Beijing, China September 13, 1993 Wang Junxia, China
5000 m 14:11:15 Oslo June 6, 2008 Tirunesh Dibaba, Ethiopia
10000 m 29:31:78 Beijing, China September 8, 1993 Wang Junxia, China

[edit] Performance progression

Discipline Season Performance Place Date
1500 m 2004 3:58:28 Moscow, Russia May 30, 2004
1500 m 2003 4:07:25 Beograd, Serbia May 25, 2003
1500 m 2002 4:11:00 İzmir, Turkey May 11, 2002
1500 m 2001 4:11:31 Istanbul, Turkey July 28, 2001
2000 m 2003 5:33:83 Istanbul, Turkey June 7, 2003
3000 m 2004 8:35:83 Doha, Qatar May 14, 2004
3000 m 2003 8:42:29 İzmir, Turkey May 11, 2003
3000 m 2002 8:31:94 Brussels, Belgium August 30, 2002
3000 m 2001 8:53:42 Grosseto, Italy July 21, 2001
3000 m 2000 9:08:07 İzmir, Turkey May 21, 2000
3000 m 1999 9:08:29 Bydgoszcz, Poland July 17, 1999
5000 m 2004 14:24:68 Bergen, Norway June 11, 2004
5000 m 2003 14:53:56 Paris, France August 30, 2003
5000 m 2002 15:00:49 Hengelo, Netherlands June 2, 2002
5000 m 2001 15:21:12 Grosseto, Italy July 20, 2001
5000 m 2000 16:33:77 Santiago de Chile, Chile October 17, 2000
5000 m 1999 16:06:20 Riga, Latvia August 7, 1999
10000 m 2008 29:56.34 Beijing, China August 15, 2008
10000 m 2006 30:21.67 Antalya, Turkey April 15, 2006
10000m 2001 32:29:20 Tunis, Tunisia September 12, 2001

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b "Athletes-Abeylegesse Elvan TUR". iaaf.org. http://www.iaaf.org/athletes/biographies/letter=a/country=tur/athcode=171056/index.html. Retrieved 2010-08-12. 
  2. ^ http://www.lehmantrack.com/3200m.html Lehman Track
  3. ^ Abeylegesse obliterates the women's 5000m World record in Bergen – TDK Golden League. IAAF. June 11, 2004
  4. ^ Meseret Defar runs 5000m World Record in New York – 14:24.53 by Parker Morse, IAAF, June 3, 2006, retrieved June 4, 2006
  5. ^ Krishnan, Ram. Murali (2008-05-18). Tadese the men’s 10km victor, while Abeylegesse and Momanyi share women’s spoils in Bangalore. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-06-09.
  6. ^ Fair play to Abeylegesse!. IAAF (2010-01-19). Retrieved on 2010-01-20.
  7. ^ Fairlie, Greg (2010-02-19). Stunning 1:07:07 Half Marathon debut by Abeylegesse Ras Al Khaimah. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-02-19.
  8. ^ "Abeylegesse of Turkey wins 10,000 at Europeans". USA Today (David Hunke; Gannett Company). 2010-07-28. http://www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/2010-07-28-142243804_x.htm. Retrieved 2010-07-28. 
  9. ^ "Turkey's Bekele wins women's 5,000 at Europeans". USA Today (David Hunke; Gannett Company). 2010-08-01. http://www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/2010-08-01-525157698_x.htm. Retrieved 2010-08-01. 
  10. ^ Congratulations to Elvan Abeylegesse and Jonna Tilgner. European Athletics (2011-04-22). Retrieved on 2011-04-23.
  11. ^ (Turkish) Elvan anne oldu
Records
Preceded by
China Jiang Bo		 Women's 5,000 m World Record Holder
June 11, 2004 – June 3, 2006		 Succeeded by
Ethiopia Meseret Defar
Sporting positions
Preceded by
Ethiopia Berhane Adere		 Women's 5,000 m Best Year Performance
2004		 Succeeded by
Ethiopia Meseret Defar
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