Ababel Yeshaneh

Ababel Yeshaneh

Yeshaneh at the 2016 Olympics
Personal information
Birth name	Ababel Yeshaneh Birhane
Nationality	Ethiopian
Born	22 July 1991
Height	165 cm (5 ft 5 in)[1]
Weight	54 kg (119 lb)
Sport
Sport	Athletics
Event(s)	10000 metres, half marathon, marathon, cross country
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)	3000 m: 8:49.45 (2014) 5000 m: 15:17.05 (2012) 10000 m: 30:35.91 (2013) 15 km: 49:38 (2011) Half Marathon: 1:09:54 (2011) Marathon: 2:33:10 (2013)
Medal record Representing  Ethiopia African Cross Country Championships 2014 Kampala Women's team

Ababel Yeshaneh Birhane (born 22 July 1991) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner who competes in track, road and cross country events. She represented her country in the 10,000 metres at the 2013 World Championships in Athletics, coming ninth, and ranked fifth in the world on time that year. She was a team silver medallist at the African Cross Country Championships in 2014.

On the roads she has a marathon best of 2:33:10 hours and was the 2011 winner of the Stramilano.

Career

While running in Ethiopia, she joined the Ethiopian Defense Forces sports club.^[2] She began to compete outside of Ethiopia in 2011, starting with a win at the Vadodara Half Marathon in India. She followed this with a win at the Stramilano in a best of 69:54 minutes, then had a runner-up finish at the Nice Half Marathon a few weeks later.^[3] She made her marathon debut that year, placing sixth at the Turin Marathon with a time of 2:34:36 hours in November.^[4] She ran sparingly in 2012, though she did set a 5000 metres track best of 15:17.05 minutes.^[5]

Ababel came third at the Milan Marathon in April 2013, setting a new best of 2:33:10 hours.^[6] However, it was on the track that she made her impact. At the Golden Spike Ostrava meeting she was part of the most competitive 10,000 metres race of the season and her time of 30:35.91 minutes for fourth eventually ranked her fifth in the world on time that year.^[7] The performances earned her a place on the Ethiopian team for the 2013 World Championships in Athletics, after world leader Meseret Defar decided to focus on the 5000 m. In the 10,000 m world final she was in the main pack until the halfway point before drifting back to ninth place overall on her international debut.^[8]

Her first international medal came at the 2014 African Cross Country Championships. She finished sixth in the women's race which brought her a silver medal as part of the Ethiopian women's team led by Tadelech Bekele.^[9] After this she returned to the roads, coming fourth at the Portugal Half Marathon.^[5] At the start of 2015 she won the half marathon section of the Ooredoo Marathon in Doha.^[10]

International competitions

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Event	Notes
2013	World Championships	Daegu, South Korea	9th	10,000 metres	32:02.09
2014	African Cross Country Championships	Kampala, Uganda	6th	Senior women's race	26:14.03
			2nd	Senior women's team

References

1. Ababel Yeshaneh. rio2016.com
2. Negash, Elshadai (12 March 2011). Diro's double, Gari, Assefa highlight Municipal Champs in Addis Ababa. IAAF. Retrieved on 2015-02-12.
3. Half Marathon – women – senior – outdoor – 2011. IAAF. Retrieved on 12 February 2015.
4. Marathon – women – senior – outdoor – 2011. IAAF. Retrieved on 12 February 2015.
5. Ababel Yeshaneh Progression. IAAF. Retrieved on 12 February 2015.
6. Marathon – women – senior – outdoor – 2013. IAAF. Retrieved on 12 February 2015.
7. Mulkeen, Jon (27 June 2013). World lead by Adams, five meeting records broken in Ostrava – IAAF World Challenge. IAAF. Retrieved on 2015-02-12.
8. Minshull, Phil (11 August 2013). Report: Women's 10,000m final – Moscow 2013". IAAF. Retrieved on 2015-02-12.
9. Kenya makes a clean sweep at African Cross Country Championships. IAAF (16 March 2014). Retrieved on 2015-02-12.
10. Ooredoo Marathon is "Bigger, Faster and Better". I Love Qatar (10 January 2015). Retrieved on 2015-02-12.

External links

• Ababel Yeshaneh profile at IAAF