Alemitu Bekele
Celebrating gold in Turin
Personal information
NationalityTurkish
Born (1977-09-17) 17 September 1977
Shoa, Ethiopia
Sport
SportRunning
Event(s)3000 metres, 5000 metres
ClubÜsküdar Belediyespor
Achievements and titles
Personal best3000m: 8:35.19 5000m: 14:42.62
Medal record
Representing  Turkey
Women's athletics
European Indoor Championships
Gold medal – first place2009 Torino3000 m
European Championships
Disqualified2010 Barcelona5000 m
Continental Cup
Disqualified2010 Split3000 m

Alemitu Bekele (Alemitu Bekele Degfa; born 17 September 1977) is an Ethiopian-born Turkish long-distance runner, who specialized in the 5000 metres.

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 - a result later voided - 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finished some 20 seconds adrift of winner Meseret Defar who narrowly missed the world record.[1] This record was later rescinded due to a doping offense.[2]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 - a result later voided - at Barcelona's Olympic stadium. She represented Team Europe at the 2010 IAAF Continental Cup and claimed the 3000 m silver medal - a result later voided.[3] She opened her 2011 season at the Cinque Mulini and won the individual title as well as the team title for Üsküdar Belediyespor - results later voided - 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 m4:06:32Istanbul, TurkeyJune 7, 2008
3000 m8:55:51Sofia, SwitzerlandJuly 5, 2007
3000 m (indoor)8:46:50 NRTorino, ItalyMarch 8, 2009
5000 m15:05:85Izmir, TurkeyMay 31, 2008

See also

References

  1. ↑ Julin, A. Lennart (2010-02-11). Another blazing 5000m run by Defar - Stockholm report. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-02-11.
  2. 1 2 Fuchs, Christian (2013-01-16). "Alemitu Bekele verliert EM-Titel" (in German). Leichathletik. Retrieved 2013-01-17.
  3. ↑ EVENT Report - Women's 3000 Metres. IAAF (2010-09-04). Retrieved on 2011-02-07.
  4. ↑ Sampaolo, Diego (2011-02-06). Lamdassem and Bekele are triumphant in the Cinque Mulini. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-02-06.
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