Abreham Cherkos Feleke (

Amharic Amharic is an Ethio-Semitic language, which is a subgrouping within the Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic languages. It is spoken as a first language by the Amhara people, and also serves as a lingua franca for all other metropolitan populati ...

: አብረሃም ቸርቆስ ፈለቀ; born 23 September 1989) is an Ethiopian professional

long-distance runner Long-distance running, or endurance running, is a form of continuous running over distances of at least . Physiologically, it is largely Aerobic exercise, aerobic in nature and requires stamina as well as mental strength. Within endurance ru ...

. A former track specialist, he now competes in

road running Road running is the sport of running on a measured course over an established road. This differs from track and field on a regular track and cross country running over natural terrain. These events are usually classified as long-distance ru ...

events including the

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of kilometres ( 26 mi 385 yd), usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There ...

. He was the 2005 World Youth Champion in the 3000 m and upgraded to a world junior

silver medal A silver medal, in sports and other similar areas involving competition, is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, ...

the next year over 5000 m. He took bronze at the 2006 IAAF World Athletics Final and represented Ethiopia at the

2007 World Championships in Athletics The 11th World Championships in Athletics, () under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), were held at Nagai Stadium in Osaka, Japan from 24 August to 2 September 2007. 200 of the IAAF's 212 member feder ...

. He won his first major senior medal (a bronze) at the

2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics were held at the Luis Puig Palace in Valencia, Spain, March 7–9, 2008. Bid Valencia was announced the winning bidder by the IAAF on November 13, 2005 at an IAAF Council meeting in Moscow, Rus ...

. He became world junior champion in 2008 and also made his Olympic debut, finishing fifth at the 2008 Beijing Games. After a year out in 2009, he made his

debut in 2010 at the

Amsterdam Marathon The Amsterdam Marathon, currently branded as TCS Amsterdam Marathon, is an annual marathon (42.195 km) in Amsterdam in the Netherlands since 1975. The road running, road race has a IAAF Road Race Label Events, Platinum Label from World Athle ...

, setting a best of 2:07:29.

Career

Abreham Cherkos was born in Asella in Ethiopia's

Oromia Region Oromia (, ) is a Regions of Ethiopia, regional state in Ethiopia and the homeland of the Oromo people. Under Article 49 of 1995 Constitution of Ethiopia, Ethiopian Constitution, the capital of Oromia is Addis Ababa, also called Finfinne. The ...

– the same town as multiple-gold medallist Haile Gebrselassie. Abreham made his international debut at the World Youth Championships in 2005, where he won the world youth title ahead of another great Ethiopian Prospect Ibrahim Jailan. In the

3000 metres The 3000 metres or 3000-metre run is a track running event, also commonly known as the "3K" or "3K run", where 7.5 laps are run around an outdoor 400 m track, or 15 laps around a 200 m indoor track. It is debated whether the 3000 m sho ...

race held in

Marrakech Marrakesh or Marrakech (; , ) is the fourth-largest city in Morocco. It is one of the four imperial cities of Morocco and is the capital of the Marrakesh–Safi Regions of Morocco, region. The city lies west of the foothills of the Atlas Mounta ...

, he covered the last km in 2:27, indicating his speed in distance events. He set a world youth best of 7:32.37 for the 3000 m in

Lausanne Lausanne ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, city of the Swiss French-speaking Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway bet ...

that year. In 2006 Abreham began his international year by beating veteran runner Abraham Chebii of

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

at the Carlsbad 5000, completing the 5 km road race in 13:14. Later in the year, Abreham, in one of the most famous athletics stadiums –

Bislett Stadion Bislett Stadium () is a sports stadium in Oslo, Norway. Bislett is Norway's most well known sports arena internationally, with 15 speed skating world records and more than 50 track and field world records having been set here. The original stadi ...

– he ran 12:59 in only his second

5000 metres The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to or . It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics, run over laps of a sta ...

race, finishing fifth behind a group of experienced runners including

Kenenisa Bekele Kenenisa Bekele Beyecha (; ; born 13 June 1982) is an Ethiopian Long-distance running, long-distance runner. He was the world record holder in both the 5000 metres, 5,000-metre and 10000 metres, 10,000-metre from 2004 until 2020. He won the go ...

of Ethiopia and Isaac Kiprono Songok of Kenya. He followed his sub-13 minute performance with a 12:54.19 in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

later on in the season. At sixteen years of age Abreham was running under the world record 12 years earlier. He completed the 2006 season with a

in the 2006 World Junior Championships behind his older countryman Tariku Bekele. At the last meet of the year he beat Tariku at the

IAAF World Athletics Final The IAAF World Athletics Final was an annual track and field competition organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). It was inaugurated in 2003 to replace the IAAF Grand Prix Final. The competition was part of the ...

. As a junior with one year of competition under his belt Abreham was able to finish third against the top athletes at the discipline at the

. He finished fifth at the

2008 Beijing Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

in the 5000 m later that year. He competed at the 2010 Giro di Castelbuono in July and finished second, behind Zersenay Tadese but ahead of Samuel Wanjiru and former winner Vincent Kipruto. This race proved to be good preparation for the

in October as he took fourth place in a quick race, clocking a time of 2:07:29 on his debut to finish six seconds behind compatriot Chala Dechase. He began 2011 with a run at the Roma-Ostia Half Marathon and he finished fourth in 61:42 minutes. He was invited to the 2011 Boston Marathon and ended the race in fifth place with a time of 2:06:13 (a personal best, but on a wind-assisted course). His sole outing the following year came at the 2012 London Marathon, but he was much slower and his time of 2:12:46 hours left him in 15th place and out of touch with the top runners. He missed the entire 2013, but returned in 2014 in good form, running a legal-course best of 2:07:08 hours to take fifth at the

Seoul International Marathon The Seoul International Marathon (), also known as The Dong-A Ilbo Seoul Marathon or Seoul Marathon, is an annual marathon race that takes place in Seoul, South Korea. It is hosted by the newspaper ''The Dong-A Ilbo''. It is one of two annual ra ...

Achievements

Competition record

Personal bests

1500 metres The 1500 metres or 1500-metre run is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletics since 1983. It is equivalent to 1.5 kilomet ...

- 3:42.91 min (2005) *

- 7:31.81 min (2009) *

- 12:54.19 min (2006) * 10K run – 28:14 min (2010) *

Half marathon A half marathon is a road running event of —half the distance of a marathon. It is common for a half marathon event to be held concurrently with a marathon or a 5K race, using almost the same course with a late start, an early finish, or shortcu ...

– 61:42 min (2011) *

Marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of kilometres ( 26 mi 385 yd), usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There ...

– 2:06:13 hrs / 2:07:08 hrs (former time on assisted Boston Marathon course)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cherkos, Abreham Cherkos 1989 births Living people Ethiopian male long-distance runners Ethiopian male marathon runners Olympic athletes for Ethiopia Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Athletes from Oromia 20th-century Ethiopian people 21st-century Ethiopian sportsmen