Tsehay Gemechu (born 12 December 1998)[1] is an Ethiopian long-distance runner. She finished fourth in the 5000 metres at the 2019 World Athletics Championships. Gemechu won the 10,000 metres at the 2019 African Games. She placed second at the 2023 Tokyo Marathon.
 Gemechu at the 2023 World Athletics Championships | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Tsehay Gemechu Beyan |
| Nationality | Ethiopian |
| Born | 12 December 1998 |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Athletics |
| Event | Long-distance running |
| Achievements and titles | |
| Personal bests | |
Medal record | |
Gemechu was suspended from competition in November 2023 whilst an investigation into a failed doping test took place. In October 2024, Gemechu was banned for four years and had all results from 22 March 2020 stripped.[2][3]
Career
editTsehay Gemechu twice won the Delhi Half Marathon (2018, 2019), setting new consecutive course records. She placed second at the Great Ethiopian Run, a 10 km road race in Addis Ababa, in 2018.
In 2019, she won the 10K Valencia Ibercaja, setting a new national record of 30:15 and slicing 15 seconds off Tirunesh Dibaba's previous best.[4] She competed in the senior women's race at the World Cross Country Championships held in Aarhus, Denmark in March of that year, finishing in sixth place and helping Ethiopia take team title.[5] In August, Gemechu took victory in the 10,000 metres at the African Games in Rabat, Morocco, and in October, placed fourth in the 5000 metres event at the Doha World Championships in Qatar.[1]
The 22-year-old competed in the women's 10,000 metres event at the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics in 2021, but was disqualified.[6] After the Games, she won the Copenhagen Half Marathon with a new course record and personal best of 1:05:08, and then the Lisbon Half Marathon (1:06:06).[1]
In March 2022, Gemechu placed second at the Istanbul Half Marathon (1:05:52) to take her second successive Lisbon Half Marathon title two months later (1:06:44). In August, she finished second at the Antrim Coast Half Marathon in Northern Ireland, setting new personal best of 1:05:01. She debuted in the marathon in October, placing third at the Amsterdam Marathon with a time of 2:18:59.[1]
In March 2023, on her debut in a World Marathon Major and her second race over the classic distance, the 24-year-old finished second at the Tokyo Marathon with a new personal best time of 2:16:56, becoming just the eighth woman in history to run a sub-2:17.[1][7]
On 23 November 2023, Gemechu was provisionally suspended for a doping infringement. In October 2024, she was banned for four years and had 3 years worth of results annulled.[8][3]
Personal bests
edit- 3000 metres – 8:33.42 (Doha 2020)
- 5000 metres – 14:29.60 (Doha 2019)
- 10,000 metres – 30:19.29 (Hengelo 2021)
- 10 kilometres – 30:15 (Valencia 2019)
- Half marathon – 1:05:01 (Larne 2022)
- Marathon – 2:16:56 (Tokyo 2023)
References
edit- ^ a b c d e "Tsehay GEMECHU – Athlete Profile". World Athletics. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
- ^ Dickinson, Marley (30 November 2023). "Ethiopian marathon star Tsehay Gemechu suspended for anti-doping violation". Canadian Running. Retrieved 15 September 2024.
- ^ a b Adams, Tim (31 October 2024). "Tsehay Gemechu banned for four years for doping". Athletics Weekly. Retrieved 1 November 2024.
- ^ "Gemechu smashes Ethiopian 10km record in Valencia". World Athletics. 13 January 2019. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
- ^ "Senior women's race" (PDF). World Athletics. Archived (PDF) from the original on 27 June 2020. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
- ^ "Athletics GEMECHU Tsehay". Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Archived from the original on 9 August 2021. Retrieved 9 August 2021.
- ^ "Deso Gelmisa leads Ethiopian trifecta at Tokyo Marathon". The Japan Times. 5 March 2023. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
- ^ "Ethiopian marathoner Gemechu suspended for doping". Athletics Weekly. 30 November 2023. Retrieved 1 December 2023.