Hunegnaw Mesfin

Last updated

Hunegnaw Mesfin (born 31 January 1989) is an Ethiopian professional long-distance runner who competes in cross country and track running events. He has represented his country at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships and won medals in the senior and junior team categories.

Mesfin won his first major medal at the 2007 African Junior Championships in Athletics, taking the 10,000 metres silver medal behind Kenya's Mathew Kisorio. [1] His first year of global competition came in 2008. He was eleventh in the junior race at the 2008 IAAF World Cross Country Championships – a performance which helped Ethiopia to the team silver medals. [2] He just missed out on a medal at the 2008 World Junior Championships in Athletics, finishing fourth behind fellow Ethiopian Ibrahim Jeilan. [3] He competed for Ethiopia at the International Chiba Ekiden and won his race stage, helping the national team to the title. [4] He ended the year with a third-place finish at the inaugural Bahir Dar Cross Country. [5]

Mesfin started 2009 with a win at the Sululta Cross Country in the junior section. [6] He competed as a senior at the 2009 IAAF World Cross Country Championships, however, and his tenth-place performance brought the Ethiopian men second place in the team rankings. [7] He began to compete on the senior European cross country circuit at the end of that year and took a significant victory at the Cross Internacional Zornotza in January 2010, coming out on top of a photo finish with Gebre Gebremariam, the reigning world champion. [8] He celebrated his 21st birthday with a second high-profile victory, this time at the Cinque Mulini. [9] In spite of these performances, he failed to match his placing of the previous year at the 2010 IAAF World Cross Country Championships, where he ended the race in the nineteenth place as Ethiopia took the bronze behind Kenya and Eritrea. [3]

He gave a strong performance at the Jan Meda Cross Country in February 2011, surprising the more established Imane Merga with a burst of speed to win his first national senior title. [10] However, it was his compatriot who took the title at the 2011 IAAF World Cross Country Championships while Mesfin faded in the latter stages and came eighth, although he and Imane led the Ethiopian's to second in the team rankings. [11] He began to compete on the European road circuit that year and was third at the Giro Media Blenio 10K in April, setting a time of 28:33 minutes. [12] He ran a 5000 m personal best of 13:38.92 minutes at the Athletissima meet in June and made his debut over the half marathon at the Udine Half Marathon, coming sixth in a time of 1:02:00 hours. [3]

At the Cross Zornotza in 2012 he took third place. [13]

His 2011/2012 cross country season began with a third-place finish at the Cross de Atapuerca. [14]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joseph Ebuya</span> Kenyan long-distance runner

Joseph Ebuya is a Kenyan professional runner who specialises in the 5000 metres and was the 2010 IAAF World Cross Country Championships champion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abebe Dinkesa</span> Ethiopian long-distance runner

Abebe Dinkesa Negera is an Ethiopian professional long-distance runner who specializes in the 10,000 metres. He came to prominence with a silver medal at the 2004 African Championships in Athletics and he won a bronze medal in the same event two years later. He is the sixth fastest ever over the 10,000 m with a best time of 26:30.74 set in 2005.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Linet Masai</span> Kenyan long-distance runner

Linet Chepkwemoi Masai is a Kenyan professional long-distance runner who competes in track and cross country running events. She won her first world title in the 10,000 metres at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cross de Atapuerca</span>

The Cross Internacional de Atapuerca is an annual cross country running competition that takes place in Atapuerca, Spain. Established in 2004, it takes place in early November and is among the first major competitions of the cross country season. In its initial years, it was usually the first permit meeting in the European Athletic Association's cross country season, and it now begins the IAAF Permit Meeting series, having replaced the Cross de Soria event in 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Imane Merga</span> Ethiopian long-distance runner

Imane Merga Jida is an Ethiopian professional long-distance runner who specializes in the 5000 and 10,000 metres. He won his first world title at the 2011 IAAF World Cross Country Championships. At the 2011 World Championships in Athletics he won the 10,000 m bronze medal, but he was disqualified in the 5000 m, losing a second bronze.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vincent Chepkok</span> Kenyan long-distance runner

Vincent Kiprop Chepkok is a Kenyan professional long-distance runner who specializes in the 5000 metres.

Kidane Tadesse Habtesilase is an Eritrean long-distance runner who specializes in the 5000 metres and 10,000 metres.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ibrahim Jeilan</span> Ethiopian long-distance runner

Ibrahim Jeilan Gashu is an Ethiopian professional long-distance runner who specialises in the 5000 metres and 10,000 metres on the track, as well as cross country running. He is a former world champion in 10,000 metres.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ayad Lamdassem</span> Moroccan-born long distance runner (born 1981)

Ayad Lamdassem El Mouhcine is a Moroccan-born long distance runner who competes for Spain internationally. He has represented Spain twice in the 10,000 metres at the Summer Olympics as well as the European Athletics Championships.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ayele Abshero</span> Ethiopian long-distance runner

Ayele Abshero Biza is an Ethiopian long-distance runner who mainly competes in cross country and road races.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Azmeraw Bekele</span> Ethiopian long-distance runner

Azmeraw Bekele Molalign is an Ethiopian professional long-distance runner who competes in road running and cross country running competitions.

Pauline Chemning Korikwiang is a Kenyan professional long-distance runner who competes in track and cross country running competitions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Belaynesh Oljira</span> Ethiopian long-distance runner

Belaynesh Oljira Jemama is an Ethiopian long-distance runner who competes mainly in 10K and half marathon races. She represented her country at the 2012 Summer Olympics, the 2013 World Championships and the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in 2011 and 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dejen Gebremeskel</span> Ethiopian long-distance runner

Dejen Gebremeskel is an Ethiopian long-distance runner who primarily competes in track events. His personal best of 12:46.81 minutes for the 5000 metres ranks him as the fifth fastest of all time for the distance. He was the 5000 m silver medallist at the 2012 London Olympics and took the bronze medal over that distance at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hiwot Ayalew</span> Ethiopian long-distance runner

Hiwot Ayalew Yimer is an Ethiopian professional long-distance runner whose speciality is the 3000 metres steeplechase. She represented Ethiopia in the event at the 2012 Summer Olympics, finishing fifth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hagos Gebrhiwet</span> Ethiopian long-distance runner

Hagos Gebrhiwet Berhe is an Ethiopian long-distance runner and the former World Junior Record holder in the 5000 meters (12:47:53).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Muktar Edris</span> Ethiopian long-distance runner

Muktar Edris is an Ethiopian professional long-distance runner who competes in track and cross country races.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yigrem Demelash</span> Ethiopian long-distance runner

Yigrem Demelash is an Ethiopian long-distance runner. He was the 2012 World Junior champion in the 10,000 metres. He holds a personal best of 26:57.56 minutes for that event.

The Jan Meda International Cross Country is an annual cross country running competition held at the Jan Meda Race Course in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Typically held in January or February, the event serves as the national championship for Ethiopia and doubles as the national trials for the World Athletics Cross Country Championships.

Getaneh Tamire Molla is an Ethiopian male long-distance runner who competes over distances up to 10K. He was the gold medallist in the 5000 metres at the 2015 African Games.

References

  1. ↑ 2007 African Junior Championships Archived April 7, 2014, at the Wayback Machine . WJAH. Retrieved on 2011-02-21.
  2. ↑ Official Team Results Junior Race - M Archived 2012-10-18 at the Wayback Machine . IAAF (2008-03-30). Retrieved on 2011-02-21.
  3. 1 2 3 Mesfin Hungenaw. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-02-21.
  4. ↑ Nakamura, Ken (2008-11-24). Ethiopia sweeps Chiba Ekiden. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-11-18.
  5. ↑ Negash, Elshadai (2008-12-15). Tola and Urgessa triumph in inaugural Bahir Dar Cross Country. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-02-21.
  6. ↑ Negash, Elshadai (2009-01-24). Gelan shocks Etea, Leilsa and Mesfin victorious in Sululta Cross Country. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-02-21.
  7. ↑ Official Team Results Senior Race - M Archived April 2, 2010, at the Wayback Machine . IAAF (2009-03-18). Retrieved on 2011-02-21.
  8. ↑ Valiente, Emeterio (2010-01-10). Mesfin out-sprints World champion Gebremariam in Amorebieta. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-02-21.
  9. ↑ Sampaolo, Diego (2010-01-31). Mesfin comes of age with 21st birthday victory at Cinque Mulini. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-02-21.
  10. ↑ Negash, Elshadai (2011-02-21). Melkamu, Mesfin dominate Ethiopian trials for Punta Umbria. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-02-21.
  11. ↑ Minshull, Phil (2011-03-20). Merga gets a rare taste of victory - Men’s senior race report – Punta Umbrìa 2011. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-03-29.
  12. ↑ Sampaolo, Diego (2011-04-26). Merga defends title in Dongio 10Km. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-04-27.
  13. ↑ Valiente, Emeterio (2012-01-09). Ebuya dominates in Amorebieta XC. IAAF. Retrieved on 2012-01-09.
  14. ↑ Valiente, Emeterio (2011-11-13). Merga and Masai confirm supremacy in Atapuerca as IAAF Cross Country Permit season kicks off Archived 2011-11-14 at the Wayback Machine . IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-11-15.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.