Dawit Wolde (born 19 May 1991) is an Ethiopian middle distance runner who specialises in the 1500 metres. A medallist at the World Youth Championships and the African Junior Athletics Championships, he has represented Ethiopia at the African Championships in Athletics and the All-Africa Games. He was chosen to compete at the 2012 Summer Olympics and 2016 Olympics. His 1500 m personal best is 3:33.82 minutes.
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Born in Debre Zeyit in Ethiopia's Oromia Region, [1] he came to international prominence as a teenager with a bronze medal at the 2007 World Youth Championships in Athletics and a silver at the 2007 African Junior Athletics Championships. [2] [3] He set a personal best of 3:41.25 minutes for the 1500 m that year at the Meeting Iberoamericano. He ran at the 2008 World Junior Championships in Athletics but was eliminated in the first round. [4]
Dawit knocked nearly five seconds off his best in 2009. He won the Josef Odlozil Memorial 1500 m, [5] took bronze at the 2009 African Junior Athletics Championships, [6] and closed the season with a best of 3:36.74 minutes at the Shanghai Golden Grand Prix. [4] A third-place finish in the 800 metres at the 2010 Ethiopian Athletics Championships led to an appearance in that event at the 2010 African Championships in Athletics, [7] where he was a semi-finalist. He had top three finishes on the 2011 European track and field circuit, highlighted by a run of 3:34.13 minutes in Oordegem. [4] He was a 1500 m finalist at the 2011 All-Africa Games, but did not finish in the final. [8]
He had a successful debut over the half marathon distance at the 2012 Egmond Half Marathon, breaking a thirteen-year-old course record with a time of 60:46 minutes. [9] He was less successful at the Prague Half Marathon, coming eighth, but his 1500 m performances improved: he ran 3:33.82 minutes at the FBK Games and set a mile run best of 3:57.48 minutes at the Prefontaine Classic. [4] As the second fastest Ethiopian that season, he was chosen for the Ethiopian team for the 2012 London Olympics. [10]
In 2015 he competed at the World Championship in the 1500 m. [11]
In 2016, he reached the final of the 1500 m at the World Indoor Championship, finishing in 5th place. [11] That year, he also reached the semifinals of the 1500m at the 2016 Olympics. [11]
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