Letesenbet Gidey

With a timing of 20:30, she prevailed in the junior 6 km race on February 1 at the Jan Meda International Cross Country in Addis Abeba, Ethiopia’s trials for the World Cross Country Championships. She raced in her first international competition outside of Ethiopia on March 28 at the World Cross Country Championships in Guiyang, China, winning the under-20 division with a timing of 19:48 over a 6.03 km course. She not only won the individual podium, but the team title as well. She became the youngest junior women’s winner in 15 years just eight days after turning 17 years old.

Gidey finished fourth in the 3000m at the 9th IAAF World Youth (U18) Championships 2015 in Cali, Colombia, with a time of 9:04.64. She topped the podium in the junior women’s race at the 2016 Ethiopian Cross Country Championships on February 13 in Addis Abeba. At the World Cross Country Championship in Kampala, Uganda, on March 26, she successfully defended her junior championship over the 6 km circuit.

The year 2019 saw her compete in the senior race at the World Cross Country Championships in Aarhus, Denmark, where she took home the bronze medal. On May 8, she competed in the 10,000 m at the Ethiopian Championships in Addis Abeba, taking first place with a timing of 32:10.2. On 30 June, she finished third in the 3000 m event at the Diamond League Prefontaine Classic meet in Stanford, California, with a timing of 8:20.27, a new African outdoor best, which was won by Sifan Hassan in 8:18.49, a European record. Letesenbet clinched the silver medal in the 10,000 m at the World Championships in Doha on September 28 in a time of 30:21.23 with a personal best timing.

Letesenbet broke Joyciline Jepkosgei’s previous record from 2017 by one minute and 17 seconds on November 17, 2019, during the road race in Nijmegen, Netherlands. She also became the first woman to complete a 15-kilometer race in under 45 minutes. She smashed Tirunesh Dibaba’s 2008 mark in the 5000 m on October 7, 2020, at the NN Valencia World Record Day meet, shaving more than four seconds off the time to finish the race with a timing of 14 minutes and 6.62 seconds.

A 10,000 m world record of 29:06.82 was set on June 6, 2021, by Sifan Hassan. Two days later, Letesenbet shattered Hassan’s record at the Ethiopian trials on the same track by more than four seconds, running the final lap in one minute and three seconds on June 8. At the much-anticipated  Tokyo Olympics 2020, she clinched the bronze medal, finishing behind Sifan Hassan and Bahrain’s Kalkidan Gezahegne.  Letesenbet went on to break Ruth Chepng’etich’s previous world record by 70 seconds on October 24, 2021, when she finished the Valencia Half Marathon in 62 minutes and 52 seconds on her half-marathon debut. She became the first woman to run under 64 minutes (legally) and under 63 minutes.

At the World Championships in Eugene, Oregon, in July 2022, Letesenbet won her first senior world championship as well as her first world track championship. In a nail-biting finale, she battled a dual Kenyan challenge to win the 10,000m gold in a world-leading timing of 30:09.94. She made her much awaited marathon debut at the Valencia Marathon in December, finishing second to Amane Beriso in 2:16:49. She also set a record for the fastest women’s marathon debut of all time and ranking sixth overall in the world.

Her greatest rival is Sifan Hassan, who is an Ethiopian-born athlete but represents the Netherlands in international competitions. She won gold medals in the 5000 and 10,000 meters as well as a bronze in the 1500 meters to achieve a historic triple at the Tokyo Olympics 2020.

Letesenbet Gidey was born on 20 March, 1998 in Endameskel, Tigray Region, Ethiopia. S She was raised on the family farm, which is located in the lovely, rural area of Endameskel. Letesenbet is the youngest of four siblings, with her parents having two sons and two daughters. She received her elementary education at a nearby school in Endameskel. Gidey initially didn’t like racing. Gidey had opted out of the physical education sessions. She was thus expelled from school in 2011. In order for Gidey to return to class in 2011, her teacher encouraged her to register for the major races. Letesenbet was so dedicated to education that she was willing to do anything to go back to the school. After winning a few competitions at the 2012 Ethiopian School Championships in Shashemane, Tigray, she was eventually given permission to return to the school to finish her studies.