Ayele Abshero Biza (, born 28 December 1990) is an Ethiopian

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 ...

who mainly competes in cross country and road races. He came to prominence with a 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, ...

at the 2008 IAAF World Cross Country Championships before taking the junior title in 2009. He won the 2008

Zevenheuvelenloop The Zevenheuvelenloop (; English: Seven Hills Run) is an annual Road running, road race of 15K_run, 15 kilometres held in and around Nijmegen, Netherlands. It was first organised in 1984 and has grown to be one of the largest road races in th ...

and 2011 Egmond Half Marathon races. He made the fastest-ever marathon debut in history at the 2012 Dubai Marathon, winning in a time of 2:04:23 hours, which was the fourth-fastest ever.

Career

He began to take running seriously in order to follow in the footsteps of his older brother, Tessema Abshero, who is an accomplished marathon runner. He also was inspired by the longevity and success of fellow Ethiopian runner Haile Gebrselassie. Ayele ran at the 2007 Great Ethiopian Run, and just missed the podium with a fourth-place finish behind

Feyisa Lilesa Feyisa Lilesa ( Afaan Oromo: Fayyisaa Leellisaa; born 1 February 1990) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner. He became the youngest man to run under 2:06 when he ran 2:05:23 in the men's marathon at the 2010 Rotterdam Marathon. He set his perso ...

. His first opportunity to represent Ethiopia at a major competition came at the 2008 IAAF World Cross Country Championships. He competed in the junior men's race and remained near the front in the later stages, eventually taking second place behind teammate

Ibrahim Jeilan Ibrahim Jeilan Gashu (Amharic: ዒብራሂም ጅእላን ጋሹ; born 12 June 1989) is an Ethiopian professional long-distance runner who specialises in the 5000 metres and 10,000 metres on the track, as well as cross country running. He is ...

. This performance earned him two

s, individually and with the Ethiopian team. Later that year he took part in the

road race in

Nijmegen Nijmegen ( , ; Nijmeegs: ) is the largest city in the Dutch province of Gelderland and the ninth largest of the Netherlands as a whole. Located on the Waal River close to the German border, Nijmegen is one of the oldest cities in the ...

. He won the race in a personal best time of 45:15 minutes, defeating Olympic champion

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 ...

and his brother Tariku Bekele. This performance ranked him third-fastest over the distance that year. Ayele began the following season with a win at the Cross Internacional Juan Muguerza race and won by a margin of thirteen seconds, finishing far ahead of senior cross country medallists

Moses Mosop Moses Cheruiyot Mosop (born 7 July 1985) is a Kenyan middle and long distance athlete. He competed for Kenya at the 2004 Olympic Games and went on to take 10,000 metres bronze at the 2005 World Championships in Athletics. He has also been succ ...

and Leonard Komon. After a top-five finish at the Cross Internacional de Itálica, he returned to lead the Ethiopian junior team at the 2009 IAAF World Cross Country Championships. He was the favourite to win the race and fulfilled the predictions, taking the junior

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

ahead of the persevering Kenyan Titus Mbishei who had pushed the race tempo throughout. He ran on the track in Europe that summer and set a

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 ...

best of 13:11.38 minutes and 27:54.29 for the

10,000 metres The 10,000 metres or the 10,000-metre run is a common long-distance track running event. The event is part of the athletics programme at the Olympic Games and the World Athletics Championships, and is common at championship-level events. The ...

in July. The following month, he ran for Ethiopia at the

2009 African Junior Athletics Championships The 2009 African Junior Athletics Championships were held in Bambous, Mauritius from 30 July to 2 August. There were 40 events in total, of which 20 were contested by male athletes and 20 by female athletes. Multiple gold medallists Caster Semeny ...

and came fourth in the 5000 m. At the end of the year he again entered a Dutch 15K race, this time the Montferland Run, where he finished third some distance behind the winner Nicholas Manza Kamakya. With many of Ethiopia's main runners absent, he gained a place on the men's senior team for the 2010 IAAF World Cross Country Championships with a runner-up performance at the Jan Meda Cross Country. He finished the race in 24th position and, as the fifth finisher among the Ethiopians, his score did not count towards the team competition. He took to the European road circuit in August, winning the Omloop race in

Hem A hem in sewing is a garment finishing method, where the edge of a piece of cloth is folded and sewn to prevent unravelling of the fabric and to adjust the length of the piece in garments, such as at the end of the sleeve or the bottom of the ga ...

with a 10K best of 28:11 minutes. In September, he was third at the 10K race held at the Tilburg Ten Miles and took third again at the Dam tot Damloop. He secured victory at the Egmond Half Marathon with half a minute to spare at the start of 2011, recording a time of 1:02:23 for his debut over the distance. He improved upon this soon after at the City-Pier-City Loop, where he recorded 59:42 minutes for fourth in a tightly contested race. Ayele made his debut over the marathon distance, on a record-eligible course, at the 2012 Dubai Marathon in January. On a new course, he made the fastest-ever marathon debut with a course record time of 2:04:23 hours.

ran a debut marathon of 2:03:06 at the 2011

Boston Marathon The Boston Marathon is an annual marathon race hosted by eight cities and towns in greater Boston in eastern Massachusetts, United States. It is traditionally held on Patriots' Day, the third Monday of April. Begun in 1897, the event was ins ...

, but the course was not record-eligible. His time was 30 seconds faster than the course record set by Haile Gebrselassie in 2008 and made him the fourth-fastest marathoner ever. He won April's Yangzhou Jianzhen International Half Marathon and was one second off

Deriba Merga Deriba Merga Ejigu (; born 26 October 1980) is an Ethiopian professional long-distance runner. He mainly competes in the marathon. He finished fourth in that event at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and went on to win the Boston Marathon the followin ...

's course record. He was chosen for the Ethiopian Olympic marathon team in May and set a 10K best of 27:56 minutes for third place at the Great Manchester Run later that week.

Competition record

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1990 births Ethiopian male long-distance runners Ethiopian male marathon runners Olympic athletes for Ethiopia Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Living people