Almaz Ayana

This article holds a patronymic name. This person is addressed by their name, Almaz, and not as Ayana.
Almaz Ayana

Almaz Ayana at the 2015 World Championships
Personal information
Nationality Ethiopian
Born (1991-11-21) 21 November 1991
Benishangul-Gumuz Region, Ethiopia[1]
Height 1.66 m (5.4 ft)[2]
Weight 47 kg (104 lb)[2]
Sport
Country  Ethiopia
Sport Athletics
Event(s) 3000 metres, 5000 metres, 10,000 meters
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)

3000 m (Outdoor): 8:22.22 
5000 m: 14:12.59 2nd of all time;

10000 m 29:17.45 WR
Medal record
Olympic Games
2016 Rio de Janeiro 10,000 m
2016 Rio de Janeiro 5000 m
World Championships
2015 Beijing 5000 m
2013 Moscow 5000 m
African Championships
2014 Marrakech 5000 m

Almaz Ayana Eba (born 21 November 1991) is an Ethiopian female long-distance runner who competes in the 3000 metres, 5000 metres, and 10,000 metres events. She set a new 10,000 metres world record, breaking the previous one set in 1993, when winning gold in the event at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

Career

Almaz won bronze medal in 5000 m event at the 2013 World Championships in Athletics held in Moscow, Russia. In the 2015 IAAF World Championships in Beijing, she won the 5000 m course beating Genzebe Dibaba by a long distance.

Almaz won her first senior title over 5000 metres at the 2014 African Championships in Marrakech, defeating favourite Genzebe Dibaba in a championship record time of 15:32.72.[3] One month later in the same stadium, she won the 5000 m representing Africa at the 2014 IAAF Continental Cup by over 24 seconds.[4]

Almaz ran a personal best of 14:14.32 over 5000 metres at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Shanghai in 2015,[5][6] improving upon her previous record of 14:25.84 which she had set in Paris in 2013.[7] This made her the third fastest female athlete over that distance, behind compatriots Tirunesh Dibaba, the world record holder, and Meseret Defar.

On June 2, 2016, Almaz Ayana ran 5000 metres in 14:12.59 at IAAF Golden Gala in Rome. This made Almaz the second fastest woman ever on 5000 metres, second only to Tirunesh Dibaba, who holds the world record of 14:11.15.

At the 2016 Summer Olympics final, she recorded the fastest time in history for the 10,000 m event, topping by 14 seconds the previous world record of Chinese athlete Wang Junxia, which had stood for 23 years;[8] no one had previously managed to get within 22 seconds of Wang's record.[9] Almaz stopped the clock at 29:17.45.[10][11] Already a world champion in 5000 m, this was the first time she had attempted to run the distance at a major event. She had run the distance competitively just once before,[12] when she beat Tirunesh in the Ethiopian Olympic trials in June with the fastest ever debut of 30:07.[13]

The 10,000m final was an extremely fast race, with second-placed Vivian Cheruiyot of Kenya finishing just a second shy of Wang's record, and double Olympic 10,000m-champion Tirunesh Dibaba claiming bronze with an improvement in her PB of more than 12 seconds. Multiple national records were set, and eighteen competitors set personal bests.[14]

Nevertheless, the extremely lax nature of drug testing in Ethiopia,[15] and the doping scandals that had embroiled athletics before the Rio Olympics, meant questions were immediately raised about how Almaz could have surpassed the previous, seemingly untouchable record of China's Wang by such a margin.[16] British commentators Brendan Foster and Paula Radcliffe, both former world-record holders in distance events, expressed scepticism about Almaz's performance.[8] Fellow competitors were also concerned: they reported that, before the race, the Ethiopian was coughing and did not seem well.[17] In her post-race press conference, Almaz said her time was purely an outcome of hard training.[18]

International competitions

Year Competition Venue Position Event Notes
2010 World Junior Championships Moncton, Canada 5th 3000 m st. 9:48.08
2013 World Championships Moscow, Russia 3rd 5000 m 14:51.33
2014 African Championships Marrakech, Morocco 1st 5000 m 15:32.72
IAAF Continental Cup Marrakech, Morocco 1st 5000 m 15:33.32
2015 World Championships Beijing, China 1st 5000 m 14:26.83
2016 Olympic Games Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 1st 10,000 m 29:17.45 WR OR
3rd 5000 m 14:33.59

References

  1. ↑ "Rome: Ayana, the feather of 5000 meters". IAAF Diamond League. 26 May 2016. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
  2. 1 2 "Almaz Ayana". Rio2016. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
  3. ↑ Mulkeen, Jon (2014-08-11).More gold medals and records for Okagbare and Bourrada at African championships. IAAF. Retrieved on 2014-08-15.
  4. ↑ Ramsak Bob (2014-09-14).Report: Women's 5000m – IAAF Continental Cup, Marrakech 2014. IAAF. Retrieved on 2015-06-09.
  5. ↑ Almaz Ayana Wins Women's 5000m | Brussels Diamond League. Retrieved on 2016-09-10.
  6. ↑ "IAAF - Shanghai 2015 Results 5000m W".
  7. ↑ "IAAF Profiles » Almaz Ayana". iaaf.org. Retrieved 13 August 2016.
  8. 1 2 Ingle, Sean (12 August 2016). "Ethiopia's Almaz Ayana smashes 10,000m world record on way to gold". theguardian.com. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
  9. ↑ Schofield, Daniel (12 August 2016). "Almaz Ayana insists 'my doping is my training, my doping is Jesus' after smashing world record at Rio 2016". telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
  10. ↑ "Almaz Ayana of Ethiopia wins first track gold medal at Rio 2016 and shatters 10,000m world record". rio2016.com. 12 August 2016. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
  11. ↑ http://en.omriyadat.com/african-athletics/almaz-ayana-ethiopia-10-000-world-record
  12. ↑ Morse, Parker (12 August 2016). "Report: Women's 10,000m – Rio 2016 Olympic Games". iaaf.org. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
  13. ↑ Mulkeen, Jon (29 June 2016). "Ayana wins in Hengelo with fastest 10,000m debut in history". iaaf.org. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
  14. ↑ Germano, Sara (12 August 2016). "Ethiopia's Almaz Ayana Obliterates 10,000 Meters Record". wsj.com. Retrieved 13 August 2016.
  15. ↑ "Ethiopia told to do mass doping tests or face IAAF ban". ESPN.com. 7 April 2016. Retrieved 6 November 2016.
  16. ↑ McCann, Allison (12 August 2016). "Did Almaz Ayana Break The World Record By Too Much?". FiveThirtyEight. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
  17. ↑ Henderson, Jason (12 August 2016). "Ethiopian tells cynics her Olympic 10,000m win is down to hard training and religious faith". athleticsweekly.com. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
  18. ↑ Gatward, Matt (12 August 2016). "Rio Olympics: Jo Pavey calls Almaz Ayana's surprise record smash 'the craziest race I've ever been in'". independent.co.uk. Retrieved 12 August 2016.

External links

Records
Preceded by
China Wang Junxia		 Women's 10,000 m World Record Holder
12 August 2016 – present 		Succeeded by
Incumbent
Awards
Preceded by
Ethiopia Genzebe Dibaba		 IAAF World Athlete of the Year
2016 		Succeeded by
Incumbent
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