Alemitu Heroye Banata (born 9 May 1995) 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 ...

. She was World Junior Champion over

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 ...

in 2014 and placed fourth at the 2015 World Cross Country Championships.

Career

Alemitu Heroye represented Ethiopia at the 2011 World Youth Championships ( 3000 m), 2012 African Championships (5000 m) and

2012 African Cross Country Championships The 2nd African Cross Country Championships was an international cross country running competition for African athletes which was held on 18 March 2012 in Cape Town's Keurboom Park in South Africa. Organised by the Confederation of African Athle ...

(junior race), placing in the top five every time but not winning medals. In 2013, she took bronze in the junior race at the World Cross Country Championships in

Bydgoszcz Bydgoszcz is a city in northern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Kuyavia. Straddling the confluence of the Vistula River and its bank (geography), left-bank tributary, the Brda (river), Brda, the strategic location of Byd ...

, losing to Kenya's

Faith Kipyegon Faith Chepngetich Kipyegon (born 10 January 1994) is a Kenyan Middle-distance running, middle and Long-distance running, long distance runner. Kipyegon is the current List of world records in athletics, world record holder for the 1500 metres, 1 ...

and Agnes Jebet Tirop by six seconds; she debuted in the

IAAF Diamond League The Diamond League is an annual series of elite track and field athletic competitions comprising fifteen invitational athletics meetings. The series sits in the top tier of the World Athletics one-day meet competitions. The inaugural season was ...

later that year, running the 5000 m in both

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

and

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. She placed second behind Tirop in the junior race at the 2014 African Cross Country Championships in

Kampala Kampala (, ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,875,834 (2024) and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kampala, Kawempe Division, Kawempe, Makindy ...

. During the 2014 track season, Alemitu set world junior leading times over 3000 m,

two miles The 2 mile (3,520 yards, 10,560 feet, or exactly 3,218.688 metres) is a historic running distance. Like the mile run, it is still contested at some invitational meets due its historical chronology in the United States and United Ki ...

and 5000 m; her two miles time (9:20.81 at the

British Grand Prix The British Grand Prix is a Grand Prix motor racing event organised in the United Kingdom by Motorsport UK. First held by the Royal Automobile Club (RAC) in 1926 British Grand Prix, 1926, the British Grand Prix has been held annually since 1948 ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

) was a new world junior best. She won the 5000 m at the 2014 World Junior Championships in Eugene, outkicking her Ethiopian teammate Alemitu Hawi in 15:10.08 and leaving Tirop (who was slightly injured) more than half a minute behind. At the 2015 World Cross Country Championships in

Guiyang Guiyang; Mandarin pronunciation: ; Chinese postal romanization, alternatively as Kweiyang is the capital of Guizhou, Guizhou province in China. It is centrally located within the province, on the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau, eastern part of the Yun ...

Alemitu ran in the senior race for the first time, placing fourth as Tirop won. Alemitu debuted in the 10 000 metres at the 2015 Ethiopian World Championships Trials in

Hengelo Hengelo (; Tweants dialect, Tweants: ) is a city in the eastern part of the Netherlands, in the Twente region, in the province of Overijssel. It is part of a larger urban area that also includes Enschede, Borne, Overijssel, Borne, Almelo and Ol ...

; she placed second behind Gelete Burka in 30:50.83, qualifying for the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Heroye, Alemitu 1995 births Living people Ethiopian female long-distance runners World Athletics Championships athletes for Ethiopia 21st-century Ethiopian sportswomen