 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Andrew Letherby |
| Born | 19 September 1973 Modbury, Adelaide, Australia |
| Height | 1.65 m (5 ft 5 in) |
| Weight | 54 kg (119 lb) |
| Sport | |
| Country |  Australia |
| Sport | Athletics |
| Event | Long-distance running |
Medal record | |
Andrew Letherby (born 19 September 1973) is an Australian former long-distance runner who won a bronze medal in the marathon at the 2002 Commonwealth Games.
Letherby, originally from Adelaide, later lived in Queensland, before taking up an athletics scholarship at Georgia State University in 1994. [1] He graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree and in 2001 married an American, Meg, with whom he moved to Boulder, Colorado, where he remained based during his athletics career. [1]
At the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, Letherby finished in third position, behind Francis Naali and Joshua Chelanga. He won a sprint finish for the bronze medal against one of the pre-race favourites, Kenya's Erick Wainaina. [2]
Other notable performances in the marathon over the next two years includes a 35th placing at the 2003 World Championships and finishing eighth at both the 2004 and 2005 Boston Marathons. [3]
His personal best in the marathon was set at the 2005 Berlin Marathon, when he finished in eight position with a time of 2:11:42. [4]
In 2006 he was the national champion in the 10,000 metres and came fifth in the marathon at the 2006 Commonwealth Games. [5]
He was 30th in the marathon event at the 2009 World Championships. [6]
Kenenisa Bekele Beyecha is an Ethiopian long-distance runner. He was the world record holder in both the 5,000-metre and 10,000-metre from 2004 until 2020. He won the gold medal in both the 5,000 m and 10,000 m events at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. At the 2004 Olympics, he won the gold medal in the 10,000 m and the silver medal in the 5,000 m.
Edith Chewanjel Masai is a Kenyan former long-distance runner who specialised in cross country and track races, then road races in her late career. She represented Kenya at the 2004 Summer Olympics. Her best achievements are three individual gold medals in the short race at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships between 2002 and 2004.
Bernard Kipchirchir Lagat is a Kenyan-American middle and long-distance runner.
Meseret Defar Tola is an Ethiopian long-distance runner who competes chiefly in the 3,000 metres and 5,000 metres events. She has won medals at top-tier international competitions including Olympic and World Championship gold medals over 5,000 metres. She broke the world record in the event in 2006, broke it again in 2007 and held it until 2008, when fellow Ethiopian Tirunesh Dibaba beat her time.
Gelete Burka Bati is an Ethiopian middle-distance and long-distance runner. She was born in Kofele in the Arsi Zone of the Oromia Region, the same district as double Olympic champion Haile Gebrselassie.
Lucy Wangui Kabuu is a Kenyan long-distance runner who specializes in the 5000 and 10,000 metres events. She has represented Kenya twice at the Summer Olympics, finishing in the top ten of the 10,000 m race in both 2004 and 2008. Her personal bests of 14:33.49 minutes for the 5000 m and 30:39.96 minutes for the 10,000 m make her one of Kenya's fastest ever runners in the events.
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 10 fastest marathons in history.
Priscah Jepleting Cherono, née Ngetich is a Kenyan professional runner who specialises in the 5000 metres and cross-country running. She represented Kenya in the 5000 m at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. She is the Kenyan record holder over the two miles distance.
Yonas Andebrhan Kifle is an Eritrean runner who specializes in the 10,000 metres, the marathon and cross-country running. He has represented Eritrea at the Olympics on four occasions; in 2000, 2004, 2008 and 2012. He has also competed at World Championship-level in cross country, road running, and on the track indoors and outdoors.
Abreham Cherkos Feleke is an Ethiopian professional long-distance runner. A former track specialist, he now competes in road running events including the marathon.
Paul Malakwen Kosgei is a Kenyan long-distance and marathon runner. He first came to prominence in athletics by taking the World Junior Record of 3000m steeple in 1997, and later with consecutive medals at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships from 1998 to 2000.
Teyba Erkesso Wako is an Ethiopian runner who specializes in road running as well as cross-country running.
Sally Pearson, OAM is a retired Australian athlete who competed in the 100 metre hurdles. She is the 2011 and 2017 World champion and 2012 Olympic champion in the 100 metres hurdles. She also won a silver medal in the 100 m hurdles at the 2008 Summer Olympics and the 2013 World Championships.
Colleen S. De Reuck is a long-distance runner from South Africa, who became an American citizen on 11 December 2000. She has had a long-lasting career, running in her forties, and made a total of four appearances at the Summer Olympics.
Helalia Lukeiko Johannes, also known as Hilaria Johannes, is a Namibian long-distance runner who specializes in the marathon. She holds the Namibian records in the 10 km, 20 km, half marathon and marathon events.
Lisa Jane Weightman is an Australian long distance runner and four time Olympian who specializes in the marathon event. At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics she came 26th in the Women's marathon with a time of 2:34.19, 7 minutes behind the eventual winner, Peres Jepchirchir.
Sharon Jemutai Cherop is a Kenyan long-distance runner who specialises in the marathon. She won a bronze medal at the age of sixteen in the 5000 metres at the World Junior Championships. She was the bronze medal winner in the marathon at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics and won the Boston Marathon in 2012.
Andrew James Vernon is a British long-distance runner who specialised in the 5000 metres, the 10,000 metres on track and cross country running. After the 2018 commonwealth games and started to concentrate on the roads winning Manchester Half Marathon with the aim of doing a full marathon in 2019. Vernon competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in the men's 10,000 metres. He has also competed in two Commonwealth Games, a World Indoor Championship and six World Cross Country Championships. Vernon is a two-time European Athletics Championship medallist and a Summer Universiade gold medallist. He currently competes for Aldershot, Farnham & District AC.
Joyce Chepkirui is a Kenyan long-distance runner who competes in road running events. She established herself as a half marathon runner, winning races in Granollers, Bogotá and Gothenburg. She set a best of 1:06:19 hours to win the 2014 Prague Half Marathon. She also competes in 10K road races and her personal best of 30:38 minutes makes her fifth fastest woman ever.
Tanzania competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. Seven athletes, five men and two women, competed in five events across three sports, but did not win any medals. Hilal Hemed Hilal, however, set a new national record in the men's 50 m freestyle event. Four athletes took part in track and field athletics, all in marathons, while two participated in the swimming tournament's 50 m freestyle category. The flagbearer for the opening ceremony was Andrew Thomas Mlugu, who was Tanzania's first Olympic judoka. His counterpart in the closing ceremony was Alphonce Felix Simbu, who had earned the nation's best finish at the Games by placing fifth in the men's marathon. Prior to these Games, Tanzania had sent athletes to twelve editions of the Summer Olympics.
