 |
Wodajo Bulti (born 11 March 1957) is a retired Ethiopian long-distance runner who specialized in the 5000 metres, 10000 metres and cross-country running.
|
Wodajo Bulti (born 11 March 1957) is a retired Ethiopian long-distance runner who specialized in the 5000 metres, 10000 metres and cross-country running.
Wodajo was one of the most significant Ethiopian middle and long-distance runners in 1980s. In his early years on the track he concentrated more on shorter distances such as 1500 metres because of great depth of Ethiopian talent over longer distances. He spent these years in the shadow of great Miruts Yifter, double Olympic Champion from Moscow and Mohamed Kedir, Olympic and World Cup medalist.
His breakthrough came in 1982, at 25 years of age, when Wodajo finished at third place over 1500 m at the 1982 African Championships in Athletics in Cairo and followed it by the gold medal at 5000 metres. On 16 September in Rieti, he won at 5000 m in huge personal best time of 13:07.29 minutes, recording third fastest time ever. With such achievements behind him, he was somewhat disappointed when finished at seventh place over 5000 m at next year's inaugural 1983 World Championships in Athletics in Helsinki.
In 1984, he was strong 5000 m medal contender for the Olympic Games in Los Angeles, finishing second in Florence behind Said Aouita in a time of 13:10.08 minutes (fourth in the yearly rankings), but was unable to compete in the Olympics due to the Ethiopian boycott. At the Friendship Games in Moscow, Bulti came third at 5000 m and second at 10,000 metres, breaking the 28 minute barrier. After these performances, Wodajo exploded in 1985 and opened season with the bronze medal at the 1985 IAAF World Cross Country Championships, finishing behind Carlos Lopes and Paul Kipkoech. At the African Championships, he became champion at both, 5000 m and 10,000 m distances, beating many great runners and relegating Kipkoech to second respectively third place. He was elected to represent Africa over both distances at the World Cup in Canberra and at day one, he won the gold over longer distance thanks to his fast finish and followed it by the bronze medal performance over 5000 m.
Bulti concentrated on longer distances for the remainder of his career and in 1987, he won in Helsinki over 10,000 m in new personal best time of 27:29.41 minutes which placed him second at 1987 world lists, but finished a disastrous 24th at the World Championships in Rome. He set career best of 2:08:44 finishing third in Rotterdam Marathon in 1988, but again, he was unable to compete at the Olympic Games in Seoul, due to the continued Ethiopian boycott.
| Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Event | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Representing  Ethiopia | |||||
| 1982 | World Cross Country Championships | Rome, Italy | 12th | Long race | |
| 1st | Team | ||||
| African Championships | Cairo, Egypt | 3rd | 1500 m | ||
| 1st | 5000 m | ||||
| 1983 | World Cross Country Championships | Gateshead, United Kingdom | 20th | Long race | |
| 1st | Team | ||||
| World Championships | Helsinki, Finland | 7th | 5000 m | ||
| 1984 | World Cross Country Championships | New York City, United States | 1st | Team | |
| Friendship Games | Moscow, Soviet Union | 3rd | 5000 m | 13:29.08 | |
| 2nd | 10,000 m | 27:58.97 | |||
| 1985 | World Cross Country Championships | Lisbon, Portugal | 3rd | Long race | |
| 1st | Team | ||||
| African Championships | Cairo, Egypt | 1st | 5000 m | ||
| 1st | 10,000 m | ||||
| World Cup | Canberra, Australia | 3rd | 5000 m | ||
| 1st | 10,000 m | ||||
| 1986 | World Cross Country Championships | Neuchâtel, Switzerland | 2nd | Team | |
| 1987 | World Cross Country Championships | Warsaw, Poland | 3rd | Team | |
| World Championships | Rome, Italy | 24th | 10,000 m | ||
  | This biographical article relating to Ethiopian athletics is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
Kenenisa Bekele Beyecha is an Ethiopian long-distance runner. He was the world record holder in both the 5000-metre and 10000-metre from 2004 until 2020. He won the gold medal in both the 5000 m and 10,000 m events at the 2008 Summer Olympics. At the 2004 Olympics, he won the gold medal in the 10,000 m and the silver medal in the 5000 m.
Saïd Aouita is a former Moroccan track and field athlete. He is the only athlete in history to have won a medal in each of the 800 meters and 5000 meters at the Olympic games. He won the 5000 meters at the 1984 Summer Olympics and the 1987 World Championships in Athletics, as well as the 3000 meters at the 1989 IAAF World Indoor Championships. He is a former world record holder over 1500 metres (3:29.46), 2000 m (4:50.80), 3000 m (7:29.45), and twice at 5000 m. He lives in Orlando, Florida.
Meseret Defar Tola is an Ethiopian long-distance runner who competes chiefly in the 3000 metres and 5000 metres events. She has won medals at top-tier international competitions including Olympic and World Championship gold medals over 5000 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.
Sonia O'Sullivan is an Irish former track and field athlete. She won a gold medal in the 5000 metres at the 1995 World Championships, and a silver medal in the 5000 metres at the 2000 Olympic Games. Her 2000 m world record of 5:25.36, set in 1994 stood until 2017.
Sileshi Sihine is a retired Ethiopian long-distance runner.
Ejegayehu Dibaba Keneni ; born 21 March 1982, in Bekoji) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner. She won the silver medal in the 10,000 metres at the 2004 Athens Olympics. Ejegayehu earned bronze medals for the 5000 metres and 10,000 m at the 2005 World Championships in Athletics. She took gold medals in the 10,000 m at the 2003 Afro-Asian Games and All-Africa Games.
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.
Ayelech Worku is an Ethiopian long-distance runner, most known for winning two World Championships bronze medals on the 5000 metres. She was born in the Arsi Zone of the Oromia province, the same region as double Olympic champion Haile Gebrselassie.
Martti Olavi Vainio is a Finnish former long-distance runner. In Finland he is recognized as the last of the great runners of the famous "V-line", the previous ones being Juha Väätäinen, Lasse Virén, and Pekka Vasala. Each of them won at least one gold medal either at the Summer Olympics or the European Athletics Championships in the 1970s. Vainio's accomplishments are tarnished though, for testing positive for PEDs on at least two occasions. One of those events was the 1984 Olympic Games where he was disqualified and stripped of his medal and later suspended from sport.
Hailu Mekonnen is an Ethiopian runner, who specializes in the 5000 metres and cross-country running.
Tariku Bekele Beyecha is an Ethiopian professional long-distance runner, who specializes in the 5000 metres and has moved up to 10000 metres as well. He is the younger brother of Kenenisa Bekele. He is the fourth fastest Ethiopian ever over 5000 m and 3000 metres. His indoor 3000 m best of 7:31.09 ranks him as the ninth fastest of all-time in the event. He was the 10,000 m bronze medallist at the 2012 Summer Olympics.
Sylvia Jebiwott Kibet is a Kenyan professional long-distance runner. She was the silver medallist in the 5000 metres at the World Championships in Athletics in both 2009 and 2011. She also won medals over the distance at the 2006 African Championships in Athletics, the 2007 All-Africa Games and 2010 Commonwealth Games.
Genzebe Dibaba Keneni is an Ethiopian middle- and long-distance runner. A 1500 metres 2016 Rio Olympics silver medalist, she won a gold medal in this event and a bronze in the 5000 metres at the 2015 World Championships. Genzebe is the current world record holder for the indoor events of the one mile, 3000m and 5000m.
These are the official results of the men's 5000 metres event at the 1983 IAAF World Championships in Helsinki, Finland. There were a total of 39 participating athletes, with three qualifying heats, two semi-finals and the final held on Sunday 14 August 1983.
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.
Bekele Debele is an Ethiopian former long-distance runner who specialised in cross country running. His greatest achievement was winning the gold medal at the 1983 IAAF World Cross Country Championships, becoming only the second African man to do so.
Gudaf Tsegay Desta is an Ethiopian middle- and long-distance runner. She is the current world record holder on 5000 m (14:00.21), set at the 2023 final Diamond League event, the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon. Eugene is also where she won the World Athletics Championships on 5000 m in 2022. At the World Athletics Championships, Tsegay also won the gold medal for 10,000 metres in 2023; a bronze for the 1500 metres in 2019, and silver in 2022. She is the 2020 Tokyo Olympic bronze medallist in the women's 5000 metres. She is a two-time World Indoor Championship 1500 m medallist, claiming bronze in 2016 and gold in 2022. She is also the world indoor record holder for the 1500 m, setting previously in this event world under-18 (current) and U20 (former) records.
John Chepkwony Kipkoech is a Kenyan professional long-distance runner who competes in the 5000 metres. He represented Kenya in the event at the 2013 World Championships in Athletics. He was a silver medallist at the 2010 World Junior Championships in Athletics and a junior team gold medallist at the 2009 IAAF World Cross Country Championships. His personal best of 12:49.50 minutes ranks him in the top twenty all-time runners for the 5000 m.
Yemaneberhan "Yeman" Crippa is an Ethiopian-born Italian long-distance runner. He won the gold medal in the 10,000 metres and bronze for the 5000 metres at the European Athletics Championships in 2022, and bronze in the 10,000 m in 2018. Crippa claimed four medals in the age-group races at the European Cross Country Championships and a bronze in the senior race in 2019.
Selemon Barega Shirtaga is an Ethiopian long-distance runner. He won the gold medal in the 10,000 metres at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, silver for the 5000 metres at the 2019 World Championships in Doha and bronze in the 10,000 metres at the 2023 World Championships in Budapest. Barega is a two-time 3000 metres World Indoor Championship medallist, taking silver in 2018, and a gold in 2022.
