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Tirunesh Dibaba
Women

TiruneshDibaba

EthiopiaEthiopia

    Birthday
    October 1, 1985

    Age
    41

    Gender
    Female

    Residence
    Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

    Tirunesh Dibaba is a three-time Olympic and 16-time World Championships gold medalist, and at one point held world records in both the indoor and outdoor 5,000 meters, and Ethiopian records in the 10,000 meters and marathon.

    Dibaba, making her TCS New York City Marathon debut, won the 2017 Chicago Marathon in 2:18:31 and has been on the podium in every marathon she has finished. Her personal-best marathon time of 2:17:56 came in her runner-up finish at the 2017 London Marathon.

    Dibaba competed in four consecutive Olympics from 2004–2016; she won bronze in the 5,000 meters at Athens 2004, gold in the 5,000 and 10,000 at Beijing 2008, gold in the 10,000 and bronze in the 5,000 at London 2012, and bronze in the 10,000 at Rio 2016. She was the first woman to achieve the Olympic 5,000/10,000-meter double and the first to successfully defend a longdistance title at the Games. During that time she also accumulated five golds and a silver over those distances at the World Athletics Championships.

    Dibaba was born as the fourth of six children in the Oromia region of Ethiopia and began competing at age 14. Her sister Ejegaehu is an Olympic silver medalist and her sister Genzebe has held world records in the 1,500 meters, 2,000 meters, one mile, 3,000 meters, and 5,000 meters. Their aunt, Derartu Tulu, won Olympic gold in the 10,000 meters twice and bronze once, and won the New York City Marathon in 2009. Dibaba is married to two-time Olympic silver medalist Sileshi Sihine, and the couple have three children: Nathan, Allon, and Mati.

    Race History

    Year

    Event

    Place

    Time

    2016

    Rio Olympic Games 10,000 meters

    3rd

    29:42.56

    2012

    London Olympic Games 10,000 meters

    1st

    30:20.75

    2012

    London Olympic Games 5,000 meters

    3rd

    5:05.15

    2008

    Beijing Olympic Games 10,000 meters

    1st

    29:54.66

    2008

    Beijing Olympic Games 5,000 meters

    1st

    15:41.4