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Elvan Abeylegesse

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Elvan Abeylegesse
Elvan Abeylegesse
Personal information
NationalityEthiopian / Turkish
Born (1982-09-11) 11 September 1982 (age 42)
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Height1.59 m (5.2 ft)[1]
Weight40 kg (88 lb)[1]
Sport
SportRunning
Event(s)5000 metres, 10,000 metres
ClubEnkaspor Athletics Team
Coached byCarol Santa
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)5000m: 14:24.68
10000m: 29:56.34
Medal record
Representing  Turkey
Women's athletics
Olympic Games
Disqualified 2008 Beijing 5000 m
Disqualified 2008 Beijing 10,000 m
World Championships
Disqualified 2007 Osaka 10,000 m
European Championships
Gold medal – first place 2010 Barcelona 10,000 m
Gold medal – first place 2010 Barcelona 5000 m
Bronze medal – third place 2006 Gothenburg 5000 m
Mediterranean Games
Disqualified 2009 Pescara 10,000 m
Silver medal – second place 2013 Mersin 10,000 m

Elvan Abeylegesse (also formerly: Hewan Abeye (አልቫን አበይለገሠ, Amharic) and Elvan Can (Turkish); born 11 September 1982) is an Ethiopian-born Turkish middle and long-distance running athlete who competes over distances from 1500 metres up to the marathon, and also in cross country. She is the former world record-holder for the 5000 metres, at 14:24.68 minutes.

In August 2015, the Turkish Athletics Federation confirmed that an anti-doping test taken during the 2007 World Championships in Athletics had been retested and found to be positive for a controlled substance, and that the athlete had been temporarily suspended pending retesting of her 'B-sample'.[2] On 29 March 2017, IAAF confirmed the positive test, expunged her results from 25 August 2007 until 25 August 2009 (thereby stripping her of the two silver medals she had won at the 2008 Olympic Games), and banned her from athletics for two years.[3]

Early life and career

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Abeylegesse was born Hewan Abeye on 11 September 1982 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and raised with her seven brothers and sisters. She began her career running cross country. In 1999, she started for the Ethiopian junior team at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Belfast, Northern Ireland and finished ninth. There, she was invited to a meeting in Istanbul, Turkey. She decided to move to Turkey and became a Turkish citizen after marrying a Turkish national. She took the name Elvan Can. Later she divorced and took the name Elvan Abeylegesse.

Registered in the Enka Sports Club in Istanbul, she is coached by Ertan Hatipoglu, a former triple jumper of Turkish origin from Bulgaria.

Career highlights

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Abeylegesse's career in the international arena began at the age of 18 in Grosseto, Italy in 2001 by winning the European 3000 m and 5000 m titles, setting a national record for Turkey. She became a world leader with a time of 8:31:94 in the 3000 m in Brussels, Belgium in 2002 and with a time of 3:58.38 in the 1500 m in Moscow, Russia in 2004.

Abeylegesse has been a scholarship holder with the Olympic Solidarity program since August 2002.

At the Evergood Bergen Bislett Games in Norway on 11 June 2004, the sixth meeting of TDK Golden League, Abeylegesse broke the women's 5000 m world record, which had belonged to Chinese runner Jiang Bo since 1997 (14:28.09), improving the mark by over three seconds to 14:24.68.[4] She became the first Turkish athlete ever to set a world record.

On 3 June 2006 her record time was beaten by Ethiopian Meseret Defar, who ran in 14:24.53 in New York City.[5]

She ran at the inaugural World 10K Bangalore race in 2008 and finished in a dead heat with Grace Momanyi, with both runners eventually being declared joint victors.[6]

She was the 2010 recipient of the Pierre de Coubertin World Fair Play Trophy, an annual award given by the International Fair Play Committee. She had lent a pair of running shoes to competitor Meselech Melkamu just moments before the beginning of the 10,000 metres final at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics. Having forgotten to bring her shoes to the track, Melkamu went on to take the silver.[7]

Abeylegesse won the 2010 edition of the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon in a time of 1:07:07. This was the fastest ever time for a woman in the half marathon race and made her the sixth fastest woman overall. She played down suggestions of a permanent switch to longer road races, however, saying a marathon debut would have to wait until after the 2012 London Olympics.[8]

At the 2010 European Athletics Championships, Abeylegesse won gold in the 10,000 m, finishing in 31 minutes, 10.23 seconds On 28 July 2010,[9] and she won the silver medal in 5000m finishing in 14 minutes, 54.44 seconds on 1 August 2010.[10] She narrowly missed out on a medal at the 2010 IAAF Continental Cup, finishing two seconds behind Molly Huddle in the 5000 m.

She returned to action in 2012 after her pregnancy and made her debut over 20 km, finishing as runner-up at the 20 Kilomètres de Paris.[11] She was also runner-up in the 15K section of the Istanbul Eurasia Marathon. She won the Nice Half Marathon in April 2013.[12] On 17 November 2013 she became runner-up in the women's category at the Istanbul Marathon with a time of 2:29:30.[13]

Doping ban

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In August 2015, the Turkish Athletics Federation confirmed that an anti-doping test taken during the 2007 World Championships in Athletics had been retested and found to be positive for a controlled substance, and that the athlete had been temporarily suspended pending retesting of her 'B-sample'. If confirmed, Abeylegesse stood to lose her 2007 medal, and possibly other awards from that date.[2] On 29 March 2017, IAAF confirmed the positive test, expunged her results from 25 August 2007 until 25 August 2009 (thereby stripping her of the two silver medals she had won at the 2008 Olympic Games), and banned her from athletics for two years.[3]

Personal life

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Abeylegesse married her longtime partner Semeneh Debelie in February 2011 and decided to take the season off due to pregnancy.[14] In July 2011, she gave birth to a girl named Arsema.[15]

International competitions

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Year Competition Venue Position Event Notes
Representing  Turkey
1999 World Cross Country Championships Belfast, Northern Ireland 9th Junior race 22:03
World Youth Championships Bydgoszcz, Poland 5th 3000 metres 9:08.29
European Junior Championships Riga, Latvia 2nd 5000 metres 16:06.40
2000 World Cross Country Championships Vilamoura, Portugal 90th Short race 14:30
World Junior Championships Santiago, Chile 6th 3000m 9:28.20
6th 5000m 16:33.77
2001 World Cross Country Championships Ostend, Netherlands 22nd Junior race 23:30
European Junior Championships Grosseto, Italy 1st 3000 metres 8:53.42
1st 5000 metres 15:21.12
World Championships Edmonton, Canada 8th (heats) 5000 metres 15:22.89
Mediterranean Games Tunis, Tunisia 3rd 10,000 metres 32:29.20
European Cross Country Championships Thun, Switzerland 1st Junior race 10:35
2002 European Championships Munich, Germany 7th 5000 metres 15:24.41
IAAF Grand Prix Final Paris, France 8th 3000 metres 9:01.50
European Cross Country Championships Medulin, Croatia 3rd Junior race 20:19
2003 European U23 Championships Bydgoszcz, Poland 1st 5000m 15:16.79
World Championships Paris, France 5th 5000 metres 14:53.56
IAAF World Athletics Final Monaco 1st 5000m 14:56.25
2004 European Champion Clubs' Cup Moscow, Russia 1st 1500 metres 3:58.28
European Cup Istanbul, Turkey 1st 3000 metres 8:49.14
Olympic Games Athens, Greece 8th 1500 metres 4:00.67
12th 5000 metres 15:12.64
IAAF World Athletics Final Monaco 1st 5000m 14:59.19
2006 European Championships Gothenburg, Sweden 3rd 5000 metres 14:59.29
2007 World Championships Osaka, Japan DSQ 10,000 metres 31:59.40
2008 Olympic Games Beijing, China DSQ 5000 metres 15:42.74
DSQ 10,000 metres 29:56.34
2009 Mediterranean Games Pescara, Italy DSQ 10,000 metres 31:51.98
2010 European Championships Barcelona, Spain 1st 5000 metres 14:54.44
1st 10,000 metres 31:10.23
2013 Mediterranean Games Mersin, Turkey 2nd 10,000 meters 32:59.30
2019 World Championships Doha, Qatar DNF Marathon N/A

Marathons

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World records

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Personal bests

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Discipline Performance Place Date
1500 m 3:58:28 Moscow, Russia 30 May 2004
2000 m 5:33:83 İstanbul, Turkey 7 June 2003
3000 m 8:31:94 Brussels, Belgium 30 August 2002
5000 m 14:24:68 Bergen, Norway 11 June 2004
10,000 m 29:56:34 Beijing, China 15 August 2008

Performance progression

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Discipline Season Performance Place Date
1500 m 2004 3:58:28 Moscow, Russia 30 May 2004
1500 m 2003 4:07:25 Beograd, Serbia 25 May 2003
1500 m 2002 4:11:00 İzmir, Turkey 11 May 2002
1500 m 2001 4:11:31 Istanbul, Turkey 28 July 2001
2000 m 2003 5:33:83 Istanbul, Turkey 7 June 2003
3000 m 2004 8:35:83 Doha, Qatar 14 May 2004
3000 m 2003 8:42:29 İzmir, Turkey 11 May 2003
3000 m 2002 8:31:94 Brussels, Belgium 30 August 2002
3000 m 2001 8:53:42 Grosseto, Italy 21 July 2001
3000 m 2000 9:08:07 İzmir, Turkey 21 May 2000
3000 m 1999 9:08:29 Bydgoszcz, Poland 17 July 1999
5000 m 2004 14:24:68 Bergen, Norway 11 June 2004
5000 m 2003 14:53:56 Paris, France 30 August 2003
5000 m 2002 15:00:49 Hengelo, Netherlands 2 June 2002
5000 m 2001 15:21:12 Grosseto, Italy 20 July 2001
5000 m 2000 16:33:77 Santiago de Chile, Chile 17 October 2000
5000 m 1999 16:06:20 Riga, Latvia 7 August 1999
10000 m 2008 29:56.34 Beijing, China 15 August 2008
10000 m 2006 30:21.67 Antalya, Turkey 15 April 2006
10000m 2001 32:29:20 Tunis, Tunisia 12 September 2001

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Athletes-Abeylegesse Elvan TUR". IAAF. Retrieved 12 August 2010.
  2. ^ a b "Elvan Abeylegesse tests positive". Turkish Athletics. 13 August 2015. Archived from the original on 16 August 2015. Retrieved 13 August 2015.
  3. ^ a b IAAF March 2017 Newsletter
  4. ^ "Abeylegesse obliterates the women's 5000m World record in Bergen – TDK Golden League". IAAF. 11 June 2004. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
  5. ^ Morse, Parker Morse (3 June 2006). "Meseret Defar runs 5000m World Record in New York – 14:24.53". IAAF. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
  6. ^ Krishnan, Ram. Murali (18 May 2008). "Tadese the men's 10km victor, while Abeylegesse and Momanyi share women's spoils in Bangalore". IAAF. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
  7. ^ "Fair play to Abeylegesse!". IAAF. 19 January 2010. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
  8. ^ Fairlie, Greg (19 February 2010). "Stunning 1:07:07 Half Marathon debut by Abeylegesse Ras Al Khaimah". IAAF. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
  9. ^ Hunke, David (28 July 2010). "Abeylegesse of Turkey wins 10,000 at Europeans". USA Today. Gannett Company. Retrieved 28 July 2010.
  10. ^ Hunke, David (1 August 2010). "Turkey's Bekele wins women's 5,000 at Europeans". USA Today. Gannett Company. Retrieved 1 August 2010.
  11. ^ Vazel, Pierre-Jean (14 October 2012). "Nizigiymana and Jerotich battle the rain en route to Paris 20K wins". IAAF. Retrieved 10 February 2013.
  12. ^ April 2013 Results Archived 2014-05-01 at the Wayback Machine. AIMS. Retrieved 6 May 2013.
  13. ^ "35th Vodafone Istanbul Marathon 2013-Marathon Overall Results" (PDF). Istanbul Marathon. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 November 2013. Retrieved 23 November 2013.
  14. ^ "Congratulations to Elvan Abeylegesse and Jonna Tilgner". European Athletics. 22 April 2011. Archived from the original on 2 May 2011. Retrieved 23 April 2011.
  15. ^ "Milliyet - Elvan anne oldu". Spor.milliyet.com.tr. 29 July 2011. Retrieved 6 October 2012.[permanent dead link]
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Elvan Abeylegesse.
Records
Preceded by Women's 5000 m World Record Holder
11 June 2004 – 3 June 2006 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Women's 5000 m European Record Holder
11 June 2004 – 19 July 2008 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Women's 10,000 m European Record Holder
15 August 2008 – 		Succeeded by
Incumbent
Sporting positions
Preceded by Women's 5000 m Best Year Performance
2004 		Succeeded by
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