Samuel Tefera
Tefera at the 2022 World Indoor Championships in Belgrade
Personal information
NationalityEthiopian
Born (1999-10-23) 23 October 1999
Sport
SportAthletics
Event(s)1500 metres, Mile
Achievements and titles
Personal bests
Medal record
Men's athletics
Representing  Ethiopia
World Indoor Championships
Gold medal – first place2018 Birmingham1500 m
Gold medal – first place2022 Belgrade1500 m

Samuel Tefera (born 23 October 1999) is an Ethiopian middle-distance runner who specialises in the 1500 metres. At the age of 18, he became the 2018 World indoor champion, and defended his title at the 2022 World Indoor Championships, setting the championship record in the process.[1][2] Tefera is the African indoor record holder for the 1500 m.

He held the world indoor 1500 m record for three years, with his mark currently being the second-fastest on the respective world all-time list.[3]

Career

Samuel Tefera made her first major appearance in 2017, when the then-17-year-old represented Ethiopia in the 1500 metres at the World Championships in London, not advancing from the heats.

In March 2018, he won the gold medal in the event at the World Indoor Championships held in Birmingham. He achieved 3:58.19 to beat Marcin Lewandowski (3:58.39) and Abdalaati Iguider (3:58.43).

In February 2019, still 19, Tefera set a world indoor record in his specialty distance at the Birmingham Indoor Grand Prix with a time of three minutes 31.04 seconds. He broke by 0.14 seconds a 22-year-old mark of Moroccan Hicham El Guerrouj.[4] Tefera's record was bettered in 2022 by Jakob Ingebrigtsen.

After suffering an injury he did not finish his semifinal run at the 2019 World Championships in Doha.[5] Timothy Cheruiyot won the title.

Tefera represented Ethiopia at the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics, where he had an injury problem again and was eliminated in the heats of the men's 1500 metres.[6][5] Ingebrigtsen became the event winner.

At the 2022 World Indoor Championships in Belgrade, Tefera defended his title in a time of 3m 32.77s, beating Ingebrigtsen who ran 3:33.02, and setting the championship record in the process. Abel Kipsang finished third in 3:33.36.[2]

Competition record

Tefera won his first world title with a 1500 m victory at the 2018 World Indoor Championships in Birmingham.
Representing  Ethiopia
YearCompetitionVenuePositionEventTime
2017 World Championships London, United Kingdom h (31st) 1500 m 3:46.22
2018 World Indoor Championships Birmingham, United Kingdom 1st 1500 m i 3:58.19
World U20 Championships Tampere, Finland 5th 1500 m 3:43.91
African Championships Asaba, Nigeria 10th 1500 m 3:45.38
2019 World Championships Doha, Qatar – (sf) 1500 m DNF
2021 Olympic Games Tokyo, Japan 20th (h) 1500 m 3:37.78
2022 World Indoor Championships Belgrade, Serbia 1st 1500 m i 3:32.77 CR
World Championships Eugene, OR, United States 17th (sf) 1500 m 3:37.71

References

  1. ↑ "Young Ethiopian Samuel Tefera Wins 1500m Gold 36 Days after His First Indoor Race, Blankenship 5th, Engels 7th". 4 March 2018.
  2. 1 2 Crumley, Euan (2022-03-21). "Tefera turns the tables on Ingebrigtsen". AW. Retrieved 2022-03-21.
  3. ↑ "All time Top lists – 1500 m Men – World Indoors | until 2022-02-23". World Athletics. Retrieved 2022-02-23.
  4. ↑ "Samuel Tefera: Ethiopian teenager breaks 22-year-old 1500m world record". bbc.co.uk. 16 February 2019.
  5. 1 2 Gault, Jonathan; Johnson, Robert (2022-03-20). "Samuel Tefera Upsets Olympic Champ Jakob Ingebrigtsen in Thriller". LetsRun.com. Retrieved 2022-03-21.
  6. ↑ "Athletics TEFERA Samuel - Tokyo 2020 Olympics". Olympics.com. Retrieved 2021-08-08.
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