Degaga "Mamo" Wolde was an Ethiopian long distance runner who competed in track, cross-country, and road running events. He was the winner of the marathon at the 1968 Summer Olympics.
Paul Kibii Tergat is a Kenyan former professional long distance runner. He became the first Kenyan man to set the world record in the marathon in 2003, with a time of 2:04:55, and is regarded as one of the most accomplished long-distance runners of all time. Runnerworld called him the "Most comprehensive runner of all time".
Shambel Abebe Bikila was an Ethiopian marathon runner who was a back-to-back Olympic marathon champion. He is the first Ethiopian Olympic gold medalist, winning his and Africa's first gold medal at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome while running barefoot. At the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, he won his second gold medal. In turn, he became the first athlete to successfully defend an Olympic marathon title. In both victories, he ran in world record time.
William Henry Rodgers is an American runner, Olympian, and former record holder in the marathon. Rodgers is best known for his four victories in both the Boston Marathon, including three straight from 1978 to 1980, and 4 straight wins in the New York City Marathon, between 1976 and 1979.
Fatuma Roba is an Ethiopian long-distance runner, best known for being the first African woman to win a gold medal in the women's Olympic marathon race at the Atlanta 1996 Summer Olympics and for winning three successive Boston Marathons.
Ethiopia competed at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. The nation returned to the Olympic Games after a 12 year absence, having boycotted the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, United States and 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. Twenty competitors, fourteen men and six women, took part in eleven events in two sports.
The men's marathon was part of the Athletics at the 1964 Summer Olympics program in Tokyo. It was held on 21 October 1964. 79 athletes from 41 nations entered, with 68 starting and 58 finishing. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by Abebe Bikila of Ethiopia, the first man to successfully defend Olympic gold in the marathon. Unlike in 1960, he wore shoes this time. Great Britain earned its first marathon medal since 1948 with Basil Heatley's silver; Japan took its first medal since 1936 with bronze by Kōkichi Tsuburaya.
Eliud Kipchoge is a Kenyan long-distance runner who competes in the marathon and formerly specialized at the 5000 metre distance. Regarded as one of the greatest marathon runners of all time, he is the 2016 and 2020 Olympic marathon champion, and was the world record holder in the marathon with a time of 2:01:09 set at the 2022 Berlin Marathon, until that record was broken by Kelvin Kiptum at the Chicago Marathon on 8 October 2023 with a time of 2:00:35. He has run five of the nine fastest marathons in history.
Abebe is a male name of Ethiopian origin. Notable people with the surname include:
Hailu Mekonnen is an Ethiopian runner, who specializes in the 5000 metres and cross-country running.
Rhadi Ben Abdesselam was a Moroccan long-distance runner. He competed at the 1960 Olympics in the marathon and 10,000 meters events.
Hailu Negussie is a marathon runner who was the winner of the 109th Boston Marathon in 2005. He finished with a time of 2:11:45 and became the first Ethiopian to win the Boston Marathon since Abebe Mekonnen won the race in 1989. His personal best for the marathon is 2:08:16.
Tumo Turbo was an Ethiopian long-distance runner, who won the inaugural Prague Marathon in 1995 in 2:12:44 and the Eindhoven Marathon in 1996, clocking a time of 2:11:26. Only 3 weeks later, he came in second place in the 1996 New York Marathon in 2:10:09, finishing 15 seconds behind champion Giacomo Leone.
Aurèle Vandendriessche was a Belgian marathon runner, who won silver medals at the 1962 and 1966 European Championships. He competed at the 1956, 1960, and 1964 Summer Olympics with the best result of seventh place in 1964. Twice winner of the Boston Marathon, he recorded his best time there, 2:17:44 in 1965, while finishing fourth.
Sergei Konstantinovich Popov was a Russian marathon runner. He won a gold medal at the 1958 European Championships setting a new world record at 2:15:17; this record stood for more than two years and remained the Soviet national record until 1970. He also set a world record in Moscow, on June 15, 1958, for 30 kilometers, running 1:32:58.8. Popov won the Soviet marathon title in 1957, when he ran the world's fastest marathon of the year in 2:19:50 in Moscow, 1958 and 1959, and placed second in 1962 and third in 1963. In 1959, he set the course record at the Košice Peace Marathon, the third year in a row he ran the world's fastest time. He finished fifth at the 1960 Summer Olympics when the winner, Ethiopia's Abebe Bikila, broke Popov's world record by less than a second.
Germán Silva Martínez is a Mexican former long-distance runner who specialized in the marathon. His foremost achievements were back-to-back victories at the New York City Marathon in 1994 and 1995. He represented Mexico twice at the Summer Olympics, in 1992 and 1996. He also competed at the World Championships in Athletics on two occasions. His personal best for the marathon is two hours, eight minutes, and 56 seconds.
Sports in Ethiopia include many fields, although Ethiopia is best known internationally for its middle-distance and long-distance runners. Seifu Mekonnen was an Olympic contestant for Ethiopia in boxing. The Ethiopian national football team won the 1962 African Cup of Nations. There are also traditional sports events, such as stick fighting which is popular amongst the Surma and Nyangatom people.
Lelisa Desisa Benti is an Ethiopian long-distance runner who specialises in road running competitions. Desisa gained his first international medal at the 2009 African Junior Athletics Championships, where he took the 10,000 metres gold medal.
Jemal Yimer Mekonnen is an Ethiopian long-distance runner.
The 1989 Boston Marathon was the 93rd running of the annual marathon race in Boston, United States, which was held on April 17. The elite men's race was won by Ethiopia's Abebe Mekonnen in a time of 2:09:06 hours and the women's race was won by Norway's Ingrid Kristiansen in 2:24:33. In the wheelchair race, Philippe Couprie of France won the men's race in 1:36:04 and Connie Hansen of Denmark won the women's race in 1:50:06.
