Tirunesh Dibaba – Ethiopian Long Distance Athlete
Tirunesh Dibaba Kenene is an Ethiopian female athlete and the youngest world champion gold medalist. She is remembered as the first woman to attain the Olympic 5,000m and 10,000m double. Tirunesh has also successfully defended her long-distance title at the Olympic Games.
Dibaba has maintained a record beyond compare comprising of 3 Olympic golds, 5 World Championship track titles, and 5 World Cross Country (WCCC) adult and junior titles.
Fellow athletes call her the “Baby Faced Destroyer” because of her perfect running form. Tirunesh gracefully and effortlessly glides after completing 24 laps as if it’s just 2 laps. In fact, very few female athletes can challenge her because she is dominant.
Here in this article, you will learn about Tirunesh’s childhood, educational background, personal life, career and what people can emulate from her.
Childhood
Bekoji in the Oromia Region welcomed the birth of Tirunesh Dibaba on June 1, 1985. The city is also the home to several other long-distance champions such as Kenesia Bekele, and Derartu Tulu.
This three-time Olympic winner grew up in a high-altitude area – high plans with an altitude of 2,800m – and the necessity to help her mother fetch water every day after school molded her and her three siblings who now enjoy success on the track. Still the influence of the legendary local coach – Sentayehu Eshetu- and her coach – Hussein Shebo- can’t be taken for granted.
Tirunesh was the fourth out of the six children. In 2004, her older sister Ejegayehu competed in a 10,000m race in Olympic held in Athens and won a silver medal. Her younger sister Genzebe is the current world recorder holder of 1,500m and the 2015 World Champion. Tirunesh and Genzebe hold world records thus becoming the first siblings to hold such records at the same period. Her younger brother Dejene Dibaba has shown great potential in the 800m race.
Further, Derartu Tulu who is their cousin competed and won various medals in Summer Olympics and World Champions between 1992 and 2004.
Personal Life
Tirunesh Dibaba is married to Sileshi Sihine, a 10,000m silver medalist in the 2004 and 2008 Olympics. The couple has two kids Nathan Sileshi who was born in March 2015 and second-born Allon whose birth was announced on Instagram in January 2020.
The Prisons Police bestowed this Ethiopian golden girl the rank of Chief Superintendent after the Beijing Olympics because of her exemplary service to her club and nation. In fact, she is one of the world-beating long-distance runners that have Bekoji – a remote mountain town – on the map.
Additionally, this long-distance track athlete has an honorary doctorate from Addis Ababa University. Still, her country has named a hospital after her.
Career and Achievements
§ Olympics
In August 2004, Tirunesh participated for the first time at the Summer Olympics held in Athens. She was 19 at that time and finished third in the 5,000m race after Meseret Defar who won a gold medal while Isabella Ochichi from Kenya took the silver medal.
In August 2008, Tirunesh competed and won the Summer Olympics held in Beijing where she broke Derartu Tulu’s 2000 Sydney record in the 10,000m race. She also won the 5,000m race making it a 10,000m/5,000m double win.
In August 2012, Tirunesh successfully defended her title in London and became the first female athlete to win two consecutive 10,000m titles in Olympics. However, she finished third in the 5,000m race and Meseret Defar won the gold medal. Although she was happy about her 10,000m win, she was a bit disappointed by the 5,000m because she gave it her best shot but ended up with a bronze.
In August 2016, Tirunesh competed and lost in the 10,000m race in the Summer Olympics that was held in Rio de Janeiro Brazil. She also didn’t participate in the 5,000m for the first time in her career. That marked the end of her participation in the Olympics.
§ IAAF World Championship Events
This outdoor 5,000m world record holder began competing in the World Championship Event in March 2003 in Lausanne, Switzerland where she finished 7th while her sister took the 9th position.
In August 2003, she participated and won in a 5,000m race held in Paris against the Kenyan Edith Masai and Spain’s Marta Dominguez. In fact, this is what earned her title the youngest World Champions gold medalist. Everybody called her “little girl” when she topped this race but rejected this title when she won the 5,000/10,000m race in Paris. However, she finished 2nd in 2004 in Brussels.
In March 2005, she participated in Saint-Galmier, France WCCC and won two gold medals. Records indicate that Tirunesh and Sonia O’Sullivan are the only two women who have ever won in two events since the start of this game in 1998.
In August 2005, Tirunesh led Ejegayehu and Adere in the Helsinki, Finland World Championship 10,000m race. In the same competition, she won the 5,000m race defeating Meseret Defar and Ejegayehu thus earning the 5,000/10,000m double victories. These two wins were recognized by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF).
In April 2006, Tirunesh won Fukuoka Japan 10,000m cross country race but failed to complete the 5,000m that was held the following day.
In 2007, she won the 10,000m outdoor race in Osaka but finished 2nd in the senior cross country race in Mombasa Kenya. However, she won the same race in 2008.
She finished 4th in the cross country championships in 2010, won the outdoor race in 2013 and 2nd in 2017.
Tirunesh didn’t participate in cross country or outdoor events in 2009, 2011 to 2013 and 2015 to 2017. She failed to compete in 2009 because of injuries she sustained after the Beijing Olympics.
Tirunesh Dibaba owns an eponymous Three Star hotel designed and built by the Kellog Consult.
§ World Athletics Finals
IAAF organized these annual outdoor track competitions between 2003 and 2009.
In 2003 Tirunesh competed in the 5,000m race in Monaco but finished 3rd and didn’t participate in the race in 2004 and 2007.
She finished 2nd in 2005, and 2009, but won the gold medal in the 5,000m and a silver in 3,000m in 2006.
§ Diamond League, and Golden League
IAAF has been holding the Diamond league since 2010 around the world. Golden League was an annual meeting held in Europe between 1998 and 2009.
1. Diamond League
She was in the first position in the 5,000m race in 2010, and in 5,000m/10,000m in 2012 and 2013. Tirunesh didn’t participate in 2011, and 2014 through 2016.
2. Golden league
In 2002 she took the 11th position in the 3,000m race in Brussels 3rd in the 5,000m in Oslo and 6th in Berlin.
In 2003 she was 4th in 5,000m race in Rome, and 3rd in Oslo, 2nd in Bergen and 4th in Rome in 2004.
She was the 1st from 2005 to 2008 but didn’t participate in 2009.
§ Grand Prix, World Athletics Challenge
Tirunesh began competing in Grand Prix (former Boston indoor Games) in 2002 where she won the 5,000m race in Portland, Oregon US. She finished fifth in the Super Grand Prix in Lausanne in 2003 and didn’t participate in 2004.
In January 2005, Tirunesh stepped on the finish line at 14:32.93 helping her to break Berhane Adere’s previous record by 6.36 seconds. Her sister Ejegayehu was also competing with her in this 5,000m race and finished second, 25 seconds later.
She participated and won various races from 2006 to 2009 and 2013 but didn’t participate from 2010 to 2012 and 2014 to 2016.
§ African Championships in Athletics
Tirunesh began competing in these traces in 2006. She finished 2nd in the 5,000m race that year in Bambous Mauritius, 1st in the 10,000m race in 2008 and 2010. She didn’t participate again in these races after that.
§ All-Africa Games
In October 2003, she participated in a 5,000m race at the All-Africa Games that were held in Abuja, Nigeria but finished fourth and second at the Afro-Asian Games held in Hyderabad India. Tirunesh attributed her loss to a lack of proper training and fatigue from the previous Paris event. She never competed again in these games.
§ Cross Country Races
Tirunesh competed and won the Jan Meda International Cross country held in Ethiopia in 2003, and 2005 but finished third in 2004.
She participated in Ethiopian Athletics championships In May 2003 and won, finished second in 2004 and 2005
She competed and won in 2004, 2005 and 2010 Great North Cross Country but finished third in 2006.
She won the 2005 Reebok Grand Prix 5000m race held in New York City as well as the 2016 Guldendensporenmeeting 5,000m in Kortrijk, Belgium.
Awards
2005 Female Performance of the Year
2008 Track and Field News Athlete of the Year
2008 Female Performance of the Year
What can People Learn from Tirunesh Dibaba?
Tirunesh has an incredible accomplishment and this earned her the title, Track and Field Athlete of the Year. This was after she became the first woman to win the 5,000m/10,000m in the 2008 Olympics. She faced several challenges before and during her running career which provides excellent lessons.
- Even with her faultless pedigree, Tirunesh faced a lot of challenges before taking the global stage. For instance, she had to leave Bekoji and move to Addis Ababa in 2000 to further her education and grow her running career. However, she missed her school registration deadline by at least six days. She and her cousin Tulu faced societal discouragement; however, they have demonstrated that distance running is also a career that women are capable of.
- She understands that women are not given a lot of chances not only in her country but also in Africa. Thus she was determined to prove that women can also achieve bigger things when they’re given a chance and when they’re committed. So Tirunesh run to give women the power to win and she had indeed accomplished that goal.
- She remembers and appreciates her family’s help and her sacrifices in order to achieve her success. To be a good sportsperson she had to work hard such as rising at 6 a.m. to engage in intensive speed sessions. She also restricted herself to pasta and rice diet.
- Her cousin enrolled her in the Prison Police in Ethiopia when she discovered her talent. In Ethiopia, clubs which are mostly owned by the government such as the Prison Police, Police and Defense compete for the best athletes. She grabbed the opportunity and her early promise blossomed. For instance, she won the 5000m gold at the Paris’ World championships in 2003 at the age of 18.
- She didn’t give up when she lost but instead applied the lessons learnt to improve her performance. For instance, she won a bronze medal in the 2004 Olympics in Athens but dominated in the 2005 World Championships and the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. Indeed she took home a 10,000m/5,000m double win in the two events.
- During the 2008 Olympics, Tirunesh Dibaba was dating Sileshi Sihine and both worked as a team to win the gold medals. Whenever she was tired during the training, Sileshi would encourage her to work hard just for the Beijing event. His motto was “a great runner has to win the Olympic gold” and for sure both athletes participated and won the race (Tirunesh won gold while Sileshi won Silver).
- This Ethiopia athlete didn’t allow injuries to keep down. In fact, in the 2008 Olympics Tirunesh sustained a lot of injuries however she took some time off to recover. As a result, in 2012 she was able to defend her 10,000m title in the London Olympics.
She told CNN’s Human to Hero that running is her job and source of entertainment. As a result, running has made her known globally and for her, that is the ultimate thing.
Her Contributions to Society
Tirunesh Dibaba and other athletes such as Kenenisa Bekele have severally engaged in charity races to help fight hunger. Her first humanitarian activity was in 2003 after winning the 10,000m world championships race in Paris.
Although she is a reluctant public figure she has been supporting the Voluntary Counselling and Testing (VCT) program in Addis Ababa. In fact, there were many billboards in Addis Ababa in the mid-2000s of Tirunesh, Sileshi and Tulu encouraging people to get tested.
Further, Tirunesh, her husband Sileshi and Haile Gebrselassie have invested in several commercial projects that create employment for their countrymen. One of them is the high rise hotels in the capital city. These Ethiopian athletes take pride in providing employment opportunities in their country.
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