IAAF

Meseret Defar was gunning for her own 11-year-old meeting record of 8:30.05 in the women’s 3000m at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix, the second IAAF World Indoor Tour event of 2016, and she came tantalisingly close to it in her first race on a track since 2013, running a world-leading 8:30.83 on Sunday (14).

“I didn’t have the confidence to push hard in the middle of the race after so long away,” Defar explained after her run in the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletics Center in the Boston suburb of Roxbury.

“Now, after the race, I feel my confidence rising. I want to prepare for the World Indoor Championships,” where she is a four-time world indoor champion over 15 laps of the track.

In a pre-meeting press conference on Friday in a city she referred to as her “second home”, and where she has now won eight times in nine appearances starting in 2002, the much-decorated Defar had outlined ambitious goals for a comeback which hadn’t yet truly begun.

However, in the mixed zone after her victory, the reality that they might just be in reach was beginning to settle on her.

“This,” Ethiopia’s two-time Olympic 5000m champion continued, with utter seriousness, “was the biggest race of my life.”

World junior champion Dawit Seyaum went in to the women’s 1500m gunning for the meeting record of 3:59.98 but just slid off the pace in the middle of the race.

Read more at IAAF.org »

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Related:
Defar makes triumphant return in Boston

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San Francisco Chronicle

Through the first half of the men’s and women’s Houston Marathon, it looked like the Ethiopians’ grip on the race could be coming to an end.

Gebo Burka and Biruktayit Degefa made sure that didn’t happen. Both came from behind to win on Sunday.

This was the eighth straight year an Ethiopian man won in Houston and the 10th straight year an Ethiopian woman did so.

Burka, along with countrymen Girmay Gebru and Yitayal Atanfu, trailed Poland’s Artur Kozlowski by 1 minute, 1 second through 18.6 miles (30 kilometers) but rallied to overtake Kozlowski by 24.8 miles (40 kilometers).

Read more »

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Tadias Magazine

By Tadias Staff

Published: Monday, November 23rd, 2015

New York (TADIAS) — For the past nine years the Washington, D.C.-based non-profit organization Girls Gotta Run Foundation (GGRF) has been supporting running teams in Ethiopia, which allows young and vulnerable rural girls to stay in school while pursuing their dreams of becoming athletes.

GGRF recently rolled out a new program model in Sodo and Bekoji, Ethiopia based on a three-year athletic scholarship that includes “school tuition, participation on a running team, leadership & mentoring skills, entrepreneurship and extracurricular programming around building life skills,” explains the founder Dr. Patricia E. Ortman, a former Women’s Studies professor and artist, who established GGRF in 2006 after reading a 2005 Washington Post article that discussed the difficulties faced by poor young women in Ethiopia.

“Our pilot program is doing fantastically well in Sodo and we have added a second class there as we scale up to a total of 60 students in the program,” Ortman tells Tadias. “And we are in the process of establishing the program in Bekoji this fall with a first year class of 20.”

The scholarship targets girls between the ages of 10 and 14 before their entrance into high school. “The reason is because that’s the age when they get pulled out of school by parents,” Ortman says.

GGRF started implementing the 3-year scholarship project in Bekoji in Fall 2015. (Photograph: GGRF)

GGRF’s partners include Abba Pascal School for Girls in Sodo & Center for Creative Leadership. (Photo: GGRF)

In addition to school tuition coverage and leadership skills the scholarship covers fees for healthcare, daily meals, uniform, books, tutoring, access to school clubs and library, showers and space to wash clothes on the weekend, as well as running clothes, shoes, transportation to races, coaches and running mentors.

“The Girls Gotta Run Scholarship Program represents a major breakthrough for our organization because it is the first time that we are implementing a program that was designed by us,” says the non-profit’s Chairperson, Ashley Griffith Kollme. “GGRF spent its first several years supporting other education and running-related organizations and learning about what works and what doesn’t work.”

Kollme adds: “We spent a lot of time gathering information on the needs of vulnerable adolescent girls in Ethiopia and designed a culturally competent running and education program that we feel very confident about. I believe the scholarship program is making a real difference in the lives and futures of our girls and their families. In the short time that we have been running the program, I have found that donors are more engaged because they feel a connection to their sponsored athletes, which is facilitated by letters and reports from Kayla Nolan, our Executive Director.” Nolan, who oversees the project in Ethiopia, interviews the students and parents before making the final selection into the program.

Ortman notes that “$600 a year or $50 a month will pay all expenses for one student.”

“I can’t believe we’ve been going at this for almost 10 years now,” Ortman says. “I think we’ve really found our formula for success.” She adds: “I am happy we are making a big impact on the lives of the girls now in the program and I am looking forward to replicating the program all over the country.”

Watch: video about the GGRF Athletic Scholarship Program in Sodo

Rewriting motherhood from CCL Ethiopia on Vimeo.

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You can learn more and support Girls Gotta Run Foundation (GGRF) at www.girlsgottarun.org.

Related:

Why Girls Gotta Run: Tadias Interview with Dr. Patricia E. Ortman

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IAAF News

Mo Farah and Genzebe Dibaba have amassed the most votes in the middle/long distance category in the first round of voting for the 2015 IAAF World Athlete of the Year award.

Farah successfully defended his 5000m and 10,000m titles at the IAAF World Championships, Beijing 2015. The British runner also clocked a world-leading time of 7:34.66 over 3000m, a world indoor best of 8:03.40 over two miles and a European record of 59:32 in the half marathon.

Dibaba won the world 1500m title in Beijing, having broken the world record in the event one month earlier with her time of 3:50.07 in Monaco. She also set a world indoor 5000m record of 14:18.86 and took the bronze medal at that distance at the World Championships.

Read more at IAAF.org »

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The Associated Press

2015 New York City Marathon Results

Men:

1. Stanley Biwott, Kenya, 2:10:34.

2. Geoffery Kamworor, Kenya, 2:10:48.

3. Lelisa Desisa, Ethiopia, 2:12:10.

4. Wilson Kipsang, Kenya, 2:12:45.

5. Yemane Tsegay, Ethiopia, 2:13:24.

6. Yuki Kawauchi, Japan, 2:13:29.

7. Meb Keflezighi, United States, 2:13:32.

8. Craig Leon, United States, 2:15:16.

9. Birhanu Dare Kemal, Ethiopia, 2:15:40.

10. Kevin Chelimo, Kenya, 2:15:49.

Women:

1. Mary Keitany, Kenya, 2:24:25.

2. Aselefech Mergia, Ethiopia, 2:25:32.

3. Tigist Tufa, Ethiopia, 2:25:50.

4. Sara Moreira, Portugal, 2:25:53.

5. Christelle Daunay, France, 2:26:57.

6. Priscah Jeptoo, Kenya, 2:27:03.

7. Laura Thweatt, United States, 2:28:23.

8. Jelena Prokopcuka, Latvia, 2:28:46.

9. Anna Incerti, Italy, 2:33:13.

10. Caroline Rotich, Kenya, 2:33:19.

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IAAF

Sisay Lemma and Gulume Tollesa Achieve Historic Ethiopian Double at Frankfurt Marathon

Sisay Lemma and Gulume Tollesa became the first Ethiopian duo to win both the men’s and women’s races at the Frankfurt Marathon when they triumphed at the IAAF Gold Label Road Race on Sunday.

In a thrilling finish, three men entered the final kilometre together but Lemma then had enough in reserve to pull away from his Kenyan rivals Lani Rutto and Alfers Lagat and win in 2:06:26, improving his best by 40 seconds. Rutto and Lagat were second and third in PBs of 2:06:34 and 2:06:48 respectively.

The finish in the women’s race was even closer as Tollesa beat compatriot Dinkinesh Mekash in a sprint finish to win in a huge PB of 2:23:12. Mekash was given the same time in second place.

Read more at IAAF.org »

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Related:
Ethiopian Runners Aim to Best New York Marathon Record (VOA News)

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VOA News

By Bernard Shusman

Last updated on: October 21, 2015

NEW YORK — More than 50,000 runners will make their way to the starting line in the borough of Staten Island on November 1, for the start of the world’s most famous annual races – the New York City marathon. The race course runs a total of 42.195 km through all five boroughs of New York City, ending up at the finish line in Central Park.

A Kenyan man has won the past three marathons and for the past two a Kenyan has finished 1st in the women’s group. But a group of Ethiopians is training hard, hoping to win back the top prize after five years of Kenyan dominance.

Many Ethiopian runners train in New York City under the auspices of the West Side Runners Club. A vast majority of the club’s runners are foreign born and this year there is a large Ethiopian contingent.

Read more at VOA News »

Watch: 50,000-Plus Runners Get Set for New York Marathon (VOA Video)

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IAAF

The 2015 TCS Amsterdam Marathon has signed up Ethiopia’s London 2012 Olympic Games marathon champion Tiki Gelana for the IAAF Gold Label Road Race on 18 October.

The 27-year-old hasn’t won a marathon since her victory in London three years ago but showed signs that the injury problems of 2013 and 2014 are now behind her when she but clocked 2:24:26 for third place at the Tokyo Marathon in February, her fastest outing since her Olympic triumph.

Gelana’s national record of 2:18:58 from the 2012 Rotterdam Marathon makes her the fastest in the women’s elite field and, whether coincidentally or not, has always run well in the Netherlands, setting several personal bests over shorter distances in Dutch road races.

She also won the Amsterdam Marathon back in 2011, setting what was then a personal best and course record of 2:22:08, so Gelana has some familiarity with the race itself and knows fast times can emerge if there are favourable weather conditions.

Two places behind Gelana in the Japanese capital at the start of this year was Kenya’s 2014 Commonwealth Games winner Filomena Cheyech, and the latter will also be on the start line in Amsterdam.

Read more at IAAF.org »

In Pictures: Tiki Gelana Wins Gold Medal at the 2012 London Olympic Women’s Marathon

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Related:
Meseret Mengistu Leads Strong Ethiopian Women’s Team at 2015 Frankfurt Marathon
Berhane Dibaba and Yebrqual Melese added to Chicago Marathon
Ethiopian Runners Begin New Lives After Fleeing to the United States

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IAAF

By Jorg Wenig (organisers) for the IAAF

Meseret Mengistu Biru, the winner of the Paris Marathon in April, will head a strong Ethiopian women’s quartet at this year’s Frankfurt Marathon on Sunday 25 October, the organisers of the IAAF Gold Label Road Race announced.

Mengistu will arrive in Frankfurt aiming to continue her winning streak., having won her last three marathons. She won in Cape Town and Soweto last year but the 25-year-old had a breakthrough performance in the French capital, triumphing on the streets of Paris with 2:23:26, an improvement in her personal best of almost six minutes.

However, victory far from a foregone conclusion for Mengistu.

Among her rivals is Ashete Bekele, who has a very similar personal best. In Dubai at the start of this year, Bekele improved to 2:23:43 yet, such was the quality of the field, it was only good enough for 10th place.

Bekele also has the advantage of knowing the course of the Frankfurt Marathon already, having finished third here a year ago in 2:24:59. Another Ethiopian marathon runner on the Frankfurt start line will be Dinkinesh Mekash. Since 2012 she has been admirably consistent, running between 2:25 and 2:30 each year.

Read more at IAAF.org »

—
Related:
Ethiopia’s Olympic Champion Tiki Gelana Will Return to Amsterdam Marathon
Berhane Dibaba and Yebrqual Melese added to Chicago Marathon
Ethiopian Runners Begin New Lives After Fleeing to the United States

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IAAF

Ethiopia’s Berhane Dibaba and Yebrqual Melese added to Chicago Marathon

This year’s Tokyo Marathon winner Berhane Dibaba has been added to the Bank of America Chicago Marathon women’s race on Sunday 11 October, the organisers of the IAAF Gold Label Road Race announced on Monday (28).

The Ethiopian won in the Japanese capital in 2:23:15 and can boast of a best of 2:22:30 when she finished second in the 2014 Tokyo Marathon.

She will be the fifth fastest runner among the elite women in Chicago, although two of those who have gone quicker in their careers are veterans and US distance running greats Deena Kastor and Joan Samuelson.

Also added is Dibaba’s compatriot Yebrqual Melese, who has won both of her marathons so far this year, setting a personal best of 2:23:23 when winning in Houston in January and then finishing just 26 seconds shy of that time when she won in Prague in May.

Additions to the men’s field include the US runners Luke Puskedra, Brandon Mull, Mohammed Hrezi and Scott MacPherson.

Unfortunately, former Chicago and London marathon winner Tsegaye Kebede will no longer be participating in this year’s Chicago race due to an injury.

Read more at IAAF.org »

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The Guardian

BY Rick Maese

Genet Lire locked herself in a bathroom stall at Dulles International Airport and hid. The clock was ticking. If she was found, she would have to get on the plane and return home. She feared she would be locked up again, probably beaten, and her family terrorised. The time passed slowly: five minutes, 10, 15, 20. Feet tapped on the tile floor. Doors opened and closed. Every noise and shuffle made Lire’s chest tighten.

This was supposed to be a quick layover. Lire was a 17-year-old sprinter from Ethiopia, in the US to compete in the 2014 International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) World Junior Championships in Eugene, Oregon. But she had no intention of reaching the starting line. She and her team-mates flew in from Addis Ababa. They rushed to their gate, watched their bags board the big jet, and that’s when Lire saw her chance, slipping away to the bathroom as the flight began to board.

Read more at The Guardian »

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IAAF

ZURICH, SWITZERLAND — The highly publicised 3000m duel between a trio of gold medallists from the IAAF World Championships, Beijing 2015 was supposed to be one of the highlights of the 2015 IAAF Diamond League final in Zurich and so it proved, with Ethiopia’s Almaz Ayana coming out on top on Thursday.

Ayana and her compatriot Genzebe Dibaba, respectively the 5000m and 1500m world champions in Beijing, were helped initially by the Kenyan pacemaker Lydia Wafula, who took the pair through 1000m in 2:49.92, putting them nicely on course for a fast time below 8:30.

Poland’s Renata Plis then took over but the two Ethiopians wanted a faster pace than she could deliver and so, with just over three laps to go, Ayana went to the front, towing Dibaba behind her as she passed 2000m in 5:35.36.

With two laps to go, the gap between the two Ethiopians and the rest of the field had grown to about 80 metres.

Many pundits in the stands were assuming that Dibaba was just biding her time before pouncing on Ayana, but the latter has clearly grown in confidence after her world title and had other ideas.

Ayana started to pull away from her great domestic rival with 250 metres to go. Unlike in some other races in the past two years, Dibaba couldn’t respond and it was Ayana who took the honours and crossed the line in 8:22.34, a meeting record and just 0.12 outside her own national record.

Dibaba came home second in 8:26.54 but had the consolation of taking the Diamond Race and the US $40,000 winner-takes-all cheque that goes with it.

Read more at IAAF.org »

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Related:
Mare Dibaba Wins Ethiopia’s 1st Women’s Marathon at 2015 World Championships (AP)
Genzebe Storms to 1500m World Title (Video)

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Associated Press

BY CIARAN FAHEY

OSLO, NORWAY — Genzebe Dibaba’s bid to take her elder sister’s 5,000-meter world record at the Bislett Games ended in disappointment when she finished more than 10 seconds off the mark on Thursday.

Having declared her intention to beat older sister Tirunesh’s record of 14 minutes, 11.15 seconds, set in the same stadium in 2008, Dibaba won in 14:21.29, ahead of Ethiopian compatriot Senbere Teferi, and Kenya’s Viola Jelagat Kibiwot.

“I tried hard but the pacemakers could not do what I needed. Of course, cold and wind also played a role, but overall I’m OK with the race. I did my best,” Dibaba said.

Dibaba, who set the indoor 5,000 world record in Stockholm in February, added, “I’m not sure whether I’ll try to break my sister’s record again. My full concentration will go towards the Beijing world championships (in August).”

Read more »

—
Related:
Dibaba World Record Tradition The Aim for Genzebe in Oslo (Athletics-Africa)
The Dibaba Sisters at the 2014 World Athletics Gala in Monaco (Photos)

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VOA News

Last updated on: June 10, 2015

FIFA said it has suspended the bidding process for the 2026 World Cup because of the ongoing corruption scandal involving the world football governing body.

It would be “nonsense to start any bidding process for the time being,” FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke said at a news conference in Russia on Wednesday.

The host of the 2026 world football championship was set to be chosen by FIFA members during a 2017 meeting in Malaysia. It is not clear when the decision now will be made.

The United States, Canada, Mexico, and European countries are thought to be among the likely bidders for the tournament.

FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke speaks as he attends a news conference during his visit to the southern city of Samara, one of the 2018 World Cup host cities, Russia, June 10, 2015. (Photo: Reuters)

A U.S. indictment issued last month charges nine FIFA officials and five corporate executives with offenses that include racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering. Swiss officials are investigating separate allegations of mismanagement and money laundering connected to the awarding of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Russia and Qatar respectively.

“Were there to be proof the state of Qatar was involved in subverting the process, then [Qatar] would have pretty limited legs to stand on in a legal context, because it would have gained the tournament illicitly,” Martin Lipton, deputy head of sport content at London’s The Sun, said.

Lipton called delayed bidding for the 2018 world cup less likely. “The time scale is incredibly tight,” he said. “We have a provisional draw for qualifying as soon as next month in St. Petersburg, but I think 2022 is different. … I think it’s moving toward a position where 2022 will be moved.”

If there’s going to be a change of venue for 2022, “then the needs of rotation mean that you have to change the list of potential bidders for 2026.” This requirement, he said, makes FIFA’s decision to hiatus the 2026 bidding process a prudent one.

Although he has not been formally charged with any crimes, FIFA President Sepp Blatter became caught up in the scandal and announced he would resign once a new president is elected sometime between December 2015 and March 2016.

FILE – FIFA president Sepp Blatter Franz Beckenbauer (R) chairman of the local organizing committee (LOC) and FIFA Confederations Cup Chairman Chuck Blazer. (Photo: Reuters)

Bribes

U.S. court records unsealed last Wednesday show that a former executive committee member of FIFA admitted accepting bribes in connection with the 1998 and 2010 World Cups.

Charles Blazer, a U.S. citizen who spent two decades as one of the world’s most powerful soccer officials, secretly pleaded guilty in November 2013 to 10 criminal counts in New York as part of an agreement with U.S. prosecutors, according to the partially redacted transcript of the hearing.

Blazer told a U.S. judge that he and others on FIFA’s executive committee accepted bribes in connection with the choice of France as the host of the 1998 World Cup. He said he also accepted bribes linked to the 2010 event awarded to South Africa.

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Related:
As FIFA Scandal Unfolds Obama Urges Integrity in Soccer (VOA News)
African Union Chair Dlamini-Zuma Implicated in Fifa World Cup Bribe Scandal (Mail & Guardian)
Fifa Corruption: Documents Show South Africa’s World Cup Bribe Payments (BBC News)
Gedion Zelalem to play for U.S. at FIFA Under-20 World Cup (Fox Soccer)

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Athletics-Africa

June 10, 2015

In a special tribute to the 50th anniversary of the ExxonMobil Bislett Games, Ethiopia’s world indoor 3,000m champion, Genzebe Dibaba has officially revealed to the media her intent to break the world 5,000m record on Thursday.

The 24-year-old star explained the importance of continuing her family’s fine record-breaking tradition in Oslo, with the task of eclipsing the 14:11.15 global twelve and a half lap mark – held by her elder sibling, Tirunesh Dibaba from her 2008 victory in the Norwegian capital – as the main goal.

With 29-year-old Tirunesh – a three-time Olympic champion, nine-time world champion, and winner here in 2003 and 2006 also – having moved away from the track in order to focus on the marathon distance, Genzebe Dibaba is determined to follow in her illustrious footsteps on the track:

The 2010 world junior 5,000m champion said of her appearance at the sixth leg of the worldwide IAAF Diamond League:

“I’ve spoken to my sister and she told me to use the unique atmosphere in the great stadium.

“My cousin, Meseret Defar (the 31-year-old double Olympic and world 5,000m champion) also broke the world record here (with 14:16.63) in 2007. She also won here in 2009 and 2013.

“I have run here before but I was never the one in focus – this time it is my turn to have the attention and I am looking forward to the experience.”

Having recorded three world indoor records during the space of two weeks during the 2014 winter season with 3:55.17 for 1500m, 8:16,60 for 3,000m and 9:00.48 for two-miles, respectively, Dibaba is eager to translate her indoor form to the outdoor surface this summer:

“It feels more safe to run indoors – this is my first time attacking the 5,000m outdoor world record so I am a bit nervous but I am confident it will go well,” she revealed.

Read more at Athletics-Africa.com »

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Related:
The Dibaba Sisters at the 2014 World Athletics Gala in Monaco (Photos)

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BBC News

By Ed Thomas

A BBC investigation has seen evidence that details what happened to the $10m sent from Fifa to accounts controlled by former vice-president Jack Warner.

The money, sent on behalf of South Africa, was meant to be used for its Caribbean diaspora legacy programme.

But documents suggest Mr Warner used the payment for cash withdrawals, personal loans and to launder money.

The 72-year-old, who has been indicted by the US FBI for corruption, denies all claims of wrongdoing.
Fifa says it is co-operating with the investigation.

And South Africa’s Football Association has issued a detailed statement denying any wrongdoing.
The papers seen by the BBC detail three wire transfers by Fifa.

In the three transactions – on 4 January, 1 February and 10 March 2008 – funds totalling $10m (£6.5m) from Fifa accounts were received into Concacaf accounts controlled by Jack Warner.

At the time, he was in charge of the body, which governs football in North and Central America and the Caribbean.

Read more and watch video at BBC News »
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Related:
African Union Chair Dlamini-Zuma Implicated in Fifa World Cup Bribe Scandal (Mail & Guardian)

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Mail & Guardian

A letter implicates the SA World Cup boss and Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma in the $10-million payment now alleged to be a bribe.

South African 2010 World Cup boss Danny Jordaan asked Fifa to pay the $10-million that United States prosecutors allege was a bribe after he had “a discussion” with Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, now the African Union chairperson.

Jordaan, a former anti-apartheid activist who re-entered politics as the Nelson Mandela Bay mayor last week, put the request to Fifa secretary general Jérôme Valcke in a December 2007 letter, which names Dlamini-Zuma and Jabu Moleketi, respectively foreign affairs minister and deputy finance minister under former president Thabo Mbeki.

Read Jordaan’s letter here

This supports the allegation, first contained in the US indictment of football officials internationally and unsealed last week, that the “government of South Africa” had agreed to a bribe, disguised as a football development contribution, for Caribbean football boss Jack Warner and two others.

The payment was allegedly to secure their support in the Fifa executive committee vote that won South Africa the right to host the 2010 World Cup.

Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula, speaking for the government, has insisted that the $10-million payment was intended as a bona fide contribution to football development in the Caribbean. But it is understood from a senior government source that members of President Jacob Zuma’s Cabinet are privately not convinced of this.

Worldwide scandal

The allegations about South Africa have become the sharp end of the worldwide scandal unleashed by the US indictment, which describes “corruption that is rampant, systemic and deep-rooted” in football. Among those in the firing line are Valcke, whom the New York Times has outed as the unnamed Fifa official allegedly central to the $10-million payment.

Read more »
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Related:
Fifa Crisis: ‘Ex-President Mbeki Approved South Africa’s $10m’ World Cup Bribe (BBC)

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Ottawa Citizen

By GORD HOLDER

The races within the race were the stories behind the Ottawa Marathon on Sunday.

To begin with, there was a third consecutive Ethiopian sweep of the men’s and women’s titles in the 42.195-kilometre race, with Girmay Birhanu and Aberu Zennebe claiming the $30,000 U.S. top prizes from Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend organizers.

Neither approached record times, but it wasn’t for lack of trying. The elite competitors in both divisions pushed the pace well into the race, but paid for it near the end, particularly as they battled a steady headwind in the final kilometres along Sussex Drive, Colonel By Drive and the Queen Elizabeth Driveway.

“I’m very happy with the result, but I was hoping for 2:06 or 2:07,” said Birhanu, who actually crossed the finish line in two hours eight minutes 14 seconds, more than 40 seconds ahead of Kenya’s Philip Kangogo and another Ethiopian, Chele Dechasa, but 80 seconds off the 2014 record established by Yemane Tsegay.

The lead pack of 15 male runners dropped to a dozen between six and 15 kilometres, and it was down to nine when they reached the 23K mark in just under 69 minutes. Birhanu, three Kenyans and one of the paid pacesetters surged ahead at that point, but there was still a group of four approaching 32K.

Then Birhanu pushed the pace again. Trying to repeat his April victory in a marathon in South Korea, the 28-year-old was leading by about 13 seconds as he left New Edinburgh and turned back onto Sussex Drive, and he ran the rest of the way alone.

“Yes, it was very difficult, not only because I was by myself, but (also) that it was very windy,” Birhanu said through an interpreter. “It was very challenging the last few kilometres.”

Zennebe’s victory was actually the sixth in a row in the Ottawa Marathon for Ethiopian women, following Merina Mohammed (2010), Kebebush Haile Lema (2011), Yeshi Esayias (2012-13) and Tigist Tufa, whose 2:24:30 was exactly a minute faster than the time Zennebe produced on Sunday.

Girmay Birhanu celebrates his marathon win at Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend Sunday May 24, 2015. (Photo: Ashley Fraser / Ottawa Citizen )

“I was uncertain (about winning), but obviously I was very motivated and I was fighting like I could win it,” Zennebe said through the interpreter. “If not first, at least one of the top three, and I was successful.”

Read more at the Ottawa Citizen »

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Related:
Runners From Ethiopia Win Bolder Boulder 10K Race in Colorado

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The Associated Press

May 25th, 2015

Runners from Ethiopia won the Bolder Boulder professional 10K race on Monday while two Colorado residents were the top man and woman in the citizens’ race.

Belete Assefa finished more than 16 seconds ahead of Solomon Deksisa, also of Ethiopia, with a time of 29:04 to win his second Bolder Boulder. Meskerem Assefa was the first professional woman to cross the finish line in a packed Folsom Field at the University of Colorado.

Belete Assefa was the top finisher in the men’s elite race at the 2015 Bolder Boulder. (The Denver Channel)

Ethiopia’s Meskerem Assefa win 2015 Bolder Boulder. (The Denver Channel)

Read more »

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Related:
Ethiopia’s Girmay Birhanu and Aberu Zennebe Win Ottawa Marathon

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Fox Soccer

BY Kyle McCarthy

FIFA has cleared Arsenal midfielder Gedion Zelalem to feature for the United States and play in the upcoming Under-20 World Cup.

U.S. Soccer announced the decision on Wednesday afternoon and ended the protracted saga about Zelalem’s international fate in the process.

Zelalem needed to receive approval from FIFA to turn out for the U.S. after receiving his citizenship in December. He did not fulfill the immediate requirements of living five years in his adopted country prior to turning 18, but U.S. Soccer appealed his case to FIFA and successfully argued that Zelalem — also eligible to feature for Germany (his birthplace) and Ethiopia (his father’s native country) — should receive clearance based upon the specific circumstances in his case.

The decision paves the way for Zelalem to assume his place in the under-20 squad for the upcoming World Cup and subsequently state his claims for inclusion with the senior team in the future.

Read more at Fox Sports »

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