Meseret Defar
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Event(s) | 3000 metres, 5000 metres | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Meseret Defar Tola (
In 2007 on a track in Brussels Belgium, she became the only woman with a 2-mile run in less than 9 minutes (8:58.58). This was an improvement on the world record by 11 seconds.[4]
Defar has been successful in the 5,000 m at the Olympic Games, taking gold at the
Defar held the indoor records for the 5000 metres, 3,000 metres and
Defar took a break from competition in 2014 in order to start a family. She vowed to return by 2015 although she did not compete in the August World Championships in Beijing.[5]
Career
Olympics
Defar won the 5,000 metres gold medal at the inaugural Afro-Asian Games in 2003. She won gold medals in the women's 5,000 metres at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens with a time of 14:45.65 and 5,000 metres at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. She also won bronze medal at 2008 Beijing Olympics, which turned in a silver medal after the disqualification of Turkish athlete Elvan Abeylegesse.
World Records
On 3 June 2006 she ran the 5,000 metres in New York City in a then-world record time of 14:24.53 – she subsequently improved the record to 14:16.63 at the Bislett Games in Oslo on 15 June 2007.
On 3 February 2007 she ran the 3,000 metres indoor in Stuttgart (Germany) in a world record time of 8:23.72.
On 20 May 2007 she ran the 2 mile in Carson, California in a world best time of 9:10.47.[6]
On 1 September 2007 she won gold in 14:57.91 at 5,000 m at the 2007 World Championships in Osaka, to go along with her Olympic victory and world record.[7][8]
On 14 September 2007, she set a world best (8:58.58) in the women's 2-mile (3.2 km) at the Van Damme Memorial meet, shaving 11.89 seconds off the 9:10.47 mark she set in May at Carson, California.
World Championships
She won a silver medal at the 2005 World Championships in Helsinki, losing only to Tirunesh Dibaba. In 2006, she won the World Indoor Championships over 3000 metres, defending her title from the 2004 IAAF World Indoor Championships. In the Reebok Boston Indoor meeting of January 2008, Defar ran a time of 9:10.50 in the two-mile (3.2 km) event to establish a new two-mile indoor world best time, breaking the previous indoor best by over twelve seconds.[11] Defar won her third consecutive World Indoor gold medal in the 3000 m at the
In Berlin, Meseret was leading the
Rebounding from her bronze medal championship performance, she scored a fourth straight gold medal in the 3000 m at the
At the beginning of 2011 she made a world record attempt for the indoor 3000 m and came just short with a run of 8:36.91 minutes.
At the
She began her indoor track season in 2013 with a 3000 m win in 8:35.28 minutes.
She won her second world title in the 5000m 2013 World Championships in Athletics in Moscow in a time of 14:50:19. She won the race by staying close to the front, but without taking the lead before pulling away with 200m left.
Personal bests
Type | Event | Time | Date | Place | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Outdoor | 1500 metres | 4:02.00 | 12 June 2010 | New York City, New York , United States |
|
2000 metres | 5:45.62 | 8 June 2008 | Eugene, Oregon, United States | ||
3000 metres | 8:24.51+ | 14 September 2007 | Brussels, Belgium | ||
Two miles | 8:58.58 | 14 September 2007 | Brussels, Belgium | World Record | |
5000 metres | 14:12.88 | 22 July 2008 | Stockholm, Sweden | ||
10,000 metres | 29:59.20 | 11 July 2009 | Birmingham, England | ||
10 km (road) | 32:08 | 25 February 2007 | San Juan, Puerto Rico | ||
Half marathon (road) | 66:09 a | 15 September 2013 | South Shields, United Kingdom | ||
67:25 | 24 February 2013 | New Orleans, United States | |||
Marathon (road) | 2:23:33 | 10 March 2019 | Nagoya, Japan | ||
Indoor | 3000 metres | 8:23.72 | 2 February 2007 | Brussels, Belgium | |
Two miles | 9:06.26 | 26 February 2009 | Prague, Czech Republic | ||
5000 metres | 14:24.37 | 18 February 2009 | Stockholm, Sweden |
- All information taken from IAAF profile.
Personal life
Defar is a
See also
References
- International Association of Athletics Federations. Retrieved 9 February 2014.
- ^ "Meseret Defar". espn.go.com. ESPN Internet Ventures. Retrieved 9 February 2014.
- ^ "Meseret Defar". Sports-reference.com. Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 9 February 2014.
- ^ "Defar Sets World Record in Two-Mile Race". 14 September 2007.
- ^ Eder, Larry (6 March 2014). "Meseret Defar is pregnant, will miss 2014, back in 2015, by EME News". RunBlogRun. Archived from the original on 10 September 2015. Retrieved 1 September 2015.
- ^ Meseret Defar 2mile WR 9:10.47 at Carson – YouTube video
- ^ 2007 World Championships Women 5000m result – IAAF
- ^ 2007 WC 5000m women's – YouTube video
- ^ Meseret Defar 2mile WR 8:58.58 at IAAF Golden League-Brussels – YouTube video
- ^ "Gay and Defar are World Athletes of the Year – Powell and Vlasic win Performance of the Year Award". IAAF. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
- ^ Morse, Parker. "Defar runs 9:10.50 Two Miles World best in Boston". IAAF. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
- ^ Ramsak, Bob (26 February 2009). "Defar runs 9:06.26 Two Miles World best in Prague". IAAF. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
- ^ Brown, Matthew (12 July 2009). "Defar clocks 29:59.20 in Birmingham to secure Berlin ticket". IAAF. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
- ^ Cruz, Dan (12 April 2010). "Defar and Kipchoge prevail in Carlsbad". IAAF. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
- ^ Larkin, Duncan (20 September 2010). "Defar clocks 1:07:44 in Half Marathon debut in Philadelphia". IAAF. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
- ^ Julin, A. Lennart (23 February 2011). "With three more World junior records, Bengtsson steals the spotlight in Stockholm". IAAF. Retrieved 18 February 2013.
- ^ a b "Focus on Athletes - Meseret Defar". IAAF. Archived from the original on 23 September 2013. Retrieved 18 February 2013.
- ^ Johnson, Len (11 March 2012). "EVENT REPORT - Women's 3000 Metres - Final". IAAF. Retrieved 18 February 2013.
- ^ Rowbottom, Mike (11 May 2012). "Middle distance magic highlights hot results in Doha – Samsung Diamond League". IAAF. Retrieved 18 February 2013.
- ^ Martin, David (10 August 2012). "London 2012 - Event Report - Women's 5000m Final". IAAF. Retrieved 18 February 2013.
- ^ Gordon, Ed (2 February 2013). "Defar delights over 3000m, five world-leading marks in Karlsruhe". IAAF. Retrieved 18 February 2013.
- ^ "Defar and Farah set course records in New Orleans". IAAF. 24 February 2013. Retrieved 2 February 2013.
- ^ CNA. "Virgin Mary 'crosses the finish line' with Olympic gold runner". Catholic News Agency. Retrieved 2023-01-13.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-01-13.