Dibaba at the 2008 Bislett Games.
Medal record
Women’s Athletics
Competitor for  Ethiopia
Olympic Games
Gold	2008 Beijing	10000 m
Gold	2008 Beijing	5000 m
Bronze	2004 Athens	5000 m
World Championships
Gold	2003 Paris	5000 m
Gold	2005 Helsinki	5000 m
Gold	2005 Helsinki	10000 m
Gold	2007 Osaka	10000 m
World Cross Country Championships
Gold	2003 Lausanne	Junior race
Gold	2005 Saint-Galmier	Short race
Gold	2005 Saint-Galmier	Long race
Gold	2006 Fukuoka	Long race
Gold	2008 Edinburgh	Senior race
Silver	2002 Dublin	Junior race
Silver	2004 Bruxelles	Short race
Silver	2007 Mombasa	Senior race
African Championships
Gold	2008 Addis Ababa	10000 m
Gold	2010 Nairobi	10000 m
Silver	2006 Bambous	5000 m
World Junior Championships
Silver	2002 Kingston	5000 m

Tirunesh Dibaba also known as Tirunesh Dibaba Kenene (Amharic: ጥሩነሽ ዲባባ ቀነኔ; born October 1, 1985 in Bekoji, Arsi, Ethiopia) is an Ethiopian long distance track athlete and the outdoor 5000 metres world record holder.^[1] She is the current Olympic 5000 metres and 10,000 metres champion. She has also won four world track titles and five world cross country titles. She is nicknamed the “Baby Faced Destroyer”.

Born in the village of Bekoji, Dibaba was the 4th of 6 children. She is a member of the Oromo ethnic group, and was raised in the high-altitude Arsi Zone of the Oromia Region. She began doing athletics at the age of 14. She moved to the capital Addis Ababa in 2000.

Dibaba is part of an athletic family, with older sister Ejegayehu Dibaba also making her mark on the international stage and brother Dejene marked as a future star. Their sister Genzebe won the junior race at the 2008 World Cross Country Championships.^[2] 1992 and 2000 Olympic champion Derartu Tulu is also their cousin. She continues the successful athletic history of the Oromo people in long distance running.

Career

Dibaba’s first fully international outdoor track event was the 2001 IAAF World Cross Country Championships. Running at the age of 15 in women’s junior race, she finished 5th. She won the 5000 m silver medal at the 2003 Afro-Asian Games.

Dibaba had great success in the world championships athletics events of 2003, 2005 and 2007. In 2003, Dibaba won the 5000 m in a sprint finish against Marta Dominguez of Spain and Edith Masai of Kenya. She became the youngest athlete ever to win an individual gold medal at the World Championships. So little was known about her that during this race British commentators Steve Cram and Brendan Foster failed to mention her name even once until the final 100 metres. At the 2005 championships, Dibaba produced a blistering finish to out-sprint compatriot Berhane Adere and her own sister Ejegayehu and also became the first woman to win the 10,000/5,000 m double at the same championships. In 2007, when the championships were held in Osaka, Dibaba again utilised her sprint finish to overhaul Turkey‘s Elvan Abeylegesse despite a tumble that happened mid-race and having abdominal pains throughout the race. She became the only woman to win back-to-back 10,000 m titles. In Osaka, Dibaba won with a time of 31:55.41.

At the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Dibaba was beaten into third place by Meseret Defar of Ethiopia and Isabella Ochichi of Kenya in 5000 m event. The result was considered by some to be a disappointment but at 19, she still became the youngest ever medalist for Ethiopia at the Olympics.

In 2006 she won five out of six Golden League events (5000 m) in the same season, which earned her a total of $83,333.

Dibaba is also a remarkably successful cross country runner; she has five IAAF World Cross Country Championships victories, including one junior title (Lausanne, 2003), one short course title (Saint-Galmier, 2005), and two long course titles (Saint-Galmier, 2005, and Fukuoka, 2006). From 2007, there was just one race in each category. Dibaba won the silver in the women’s race at Mombasa in 2007 and the gold at Edinburgh in 2008.

Dibaba is known to have an on-track rivalry with Meseret Defar, and races featuring the two are highly anticipated, but rare, usually only occurring at championships.

A major feature of Dibaba’s running style is an incredible sprint finish. During the final lap of the 10,000 m in 2005, Dibaba was clocked over the closing 400 m in 58.33 seconds.

Double Olympic gold

Dibaba created a new 5000 metres world record, 14 minutes 11.15 seconds, at the Oslo Golden League 2008 meeting.^[1]

Dibaba won 10,000 metres Gold in Beijing Olympic on August 15, 2008, setting a new Olympic record time of 29:54.66; the old record of 30:17.49 had been set by fellow Ethiopian and cousin Derartu Tulu at Sydney Olympic Summer Games back in 2000. The new Olympic record was also the second fastest 10,000 meters of all time and an African record. The previous African record (30:04.18) was held by Berhane Adere, set at the 2003 World Championships.

One week later on August 22, 2008 she won the 5000 metres by beating the defending gold medalist Meseret Defar. Dibaba finished the race in 15:41.40. This olympic double win made her the first ever woman to win both 5000 and 10,000 metres at the same Olympics.^[3]

She was named 2008 Track & Field News Athlete of the Year.^[4] She also received the IAAF award for the female Performance of the Year for 2008, the same award she already collected in 2005.

Injuries after Beijing Olympics

In 2009 injuries prevented her from competing in the 2009 IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Amman and 2009 World Championships in Athletics in Berlin.

On November 15, 2009 she won the Zevenheuvelenloop 15 kilometres race in Nijmegen, Netherlands and beat Kayoko Fukushi‘s 15 km world record by almost half a minute, finishing in 46:28. This was her first competitive road race since 2005, but she downplayed the idea of moving on to road running, stating that the track remained her priority.^[5]

At 2010 IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Bydgoszcz she couldn’t repeat her great performances from previous championships and finished fourth. Dibaba defended her 10,000 m title at 2010 African Championships in Athletics in Nairobi with a time of 31:51.39 ahead of teammate Meselech Melkamu and Linet Masai of Kenya. Her final 400 m was timed at 61 seconds.^[6]

Return in 2012

Her career was again beset by injuries and after 16 months out of competition, she returned at the 2011 New Year’s Eve San Silvestre Vallecana and won by beating Gelete Burka in a sprint finish.^[7] She won the two-mile race at the Boston Indoor Grand Prix and took her second career win at the Carlsbad 5000 in March.^[8][9] In her first outdoor track race of the year, she won the 10,000 m at the Prefontaine Classic by holding off Florence Kiplagat at the line.^[10]

Personal life

Dibaba is married to 2004 and 2008 Olympic 10,000 meter silver medallist Sileshi Sihine.

After the Beijing Olympics her club, the Prisons Police, bestowed the rank of Chief Superintendent for her services to club and country.^[11] The hospital named after her is located on the outskirt of Addis Ababa.

IAAF Results

Diamond League

Diamond League is an annual series of track and field meets organised by the IAAF and founded in 2010.

Dibaba celebrating her 10,000 m victory at the 2007 World Championships.

World Athletics Final

World Athletics Final was an annual athletics competition organised by the IAAF from 2003 to 2009.

Golden League

Golden League was an annual series of track and field meetings organised by the IAAF from 1998 to 2009.

Personal bests

Outdoor

Indoor

Video Interview

• Video Interview of Tirunesh Dibaba before and after 2007 IAAF World Championships 10,000m

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Tirunesh Dibaba

• The Official Tirunesh Dibaba Website
• IAAF profile for Tirunesh Dibaba
• IAAF “Focus on Athletes” article
• Athletics Africa report
• Tirunesh Dibaba’s profile from Global Athletics
• Beijing 2008 Women’s 10000 m EthioTube Video
• Beijing 2008 Women’s 5000 m EthioTube Video
• Article from Running Times
• Article from Runner’s World

Records
Preceded by Meseret Defar	Women’s 5,000 m World Record Holder June 6, 2008 – present	Succeeded by Incumbent
Awards
Preceded by Meseret Defar	Women’s Track & Field Athlete of the Year 2008	Succeeded by Sanya Richards
Sporting positions
Preceded by Meseret Defar	Women’s 5,000 m Best Year Performance 2008–2009	Succeeded by Vivian Cheruiyot