Bizunesh Mohammed Urgesa (born 18 June 1989 in

Negele Arsi Negele Arsi or Arsi Negele, is a city in southeastern Ethiopia. Located in the West Arsi Zone of the Oromia Region on the paved highway north of Shashamane, this town has a longitude and latitude of and an elevation of 2,043 meters above sea le ...

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 ...

) 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 competes in 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 ...

. She started out as an

800 __NOTOC__ Year 800 ( DCCC) was a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar, the 800th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 800th year of the 1st millennium, the 100th and last year of the 8th century, a ...

and

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 ...

runner. She ran in the latter event at the

2005 World Youth Championships in Athletics The 2005 IAAF World Youth Championships in Athletics, World Youth Championships in Athletics were held in Marrakesh, Morocco on July 13–July 17. The host stadium was Stade Sidi Youssef Ben Ali. The boy's 400 metres hurdles event was initially w ...

and won the

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receives ...

, setting a personal best of 4:19.34 minutes. At the 2005

African Junior Athletics Championships The African Athletics U20 Championships, known formally as African Junior Athletics Championships is a biennial continental athletics event for junior athletes from African nations. Organized by the Confederation of African Athletics and first h ...

, she came fifth over 800 m and was the

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, ...

list in the 1500 m. She made her first international cross country appearance two years later, finishing in 14th place in the junior race at the

2007 IAAF World Cross Country Championships The 2007 IAAF World Cross Country Championships took place on March 24, 2007. The races were held at the Mombasa Golf Course in Mombasa, Kenya. Four races took place, one for men, women, junior men and junior women respectively. All races encom ...

, helping the Ethiopian girls team to a bronze medal alongside

Sule Utura Gedo Sule Utura (born 8 February 1990 in Bore, Ethiopia) is an Ethiopian middle distance and long distance runner. She won the 5000 metres at the 2008 World Junior Championships in Athletics and was third place in the 3000 metres at the ...

Genzebe Dibaba Genzebe Dibaba Keneni ( Oromo: ''Ganzabee Dibaabaa Qananii''; Amharic: ገንዘቤ ዲባባ ቀነኒ; born 8 February 1991) is an Ethiopian middle- and long-distance runner. A 1,500 metres 2016 Rio Olympics silver medalist, she won a gold ...

and Abebu Gelan. Turning to the track, she set a 1500 m best for third place at the CAA Grand Prix in

Brazzaville Brazzaville () is the capital (political), capital and largest city of the Republic of the Congo. Administratively, it is a Departments of the Republic of the Congo, department and a Communes of the Republic of the Congo, commune. Constituting t ...

in May, but began to focus on longer distances on the European

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

circuit in the following months. That July, she 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 15:14.90 in

Liège Liège ( ; ; ; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality of Wallonia, and the capital of the Liège Province, province of Liège, Belgium. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east o ...

before running a new

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 ...

best of 9:02.08 in

Zaragoza Zaragoza (), traditionally known in English as Saragossa ( ), is the capital city of the province of Zaragoza and of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributaries, the ...

two days later. A performance at the

Memorial van Damme The Memorial Van Damme is an annual athletics event at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels, Belgium, that takes place in late August or early September. Previously one of the IAAF Golden League events, it now serves as a final event of the D ...

preceded her appearance at the

2007 IAAF World Athletics Final The 5th IAAF World Athletics Final was held at the Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion in Stuttgart, Germany on September 22 and September 23, 2007. Results Men Women See also * 2007 in athletics (track and field) References ;Results2007 IAAF Wo ...

, where she came ninth in the 3000 m. In her final year of solely focusing on track performances, she improved her 3000 m best to 8:53.14 at the Rabat Meeting and went on to win the 3000 m silver medal at the

2008 World Junior Championships in Athletics The 2008 World Junior Championships in Athletics is the 2008 version of the World Junior Championships in Athletics. It was held in Bydgoszcz in Poland at the Zdzisław Krzyszkowiak Stadium between 8 and 13 July 2008. Previously Bydgoszcz hosted ...

, finishing just behind

Mercy Cherono Mercy Cherono Koech (born 7 May 1991) is a Kenyan professional long-distance runner. She was the silver medalist in the 5000 metres at the 2013 World Championships in Athletics. She is a two-time world junior champion in the 3000 metres (2008, ...

. She came third in 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 ...

at the Ethiopian championships in 2009, but began to make a transition to

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 ...

thereafter. She made her road debut at the

Dam tot Damloop Dam tot Damloop (; ) is an annual road running competition held in the province of North Holland in the Netherlands. The main event is a 10-mile race from Amsterdam to Zaandam. The race was an IAAF Road Race Silver Label Event from 2013 until ...

Zaandam Zaandam () is a city in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Holland, Netherlands. It is the main city of the municipality of Zaanstad and received City rights in the Netherlands, city rights in 1811. It is located on the river Zaan ...

that September and came sixth in the ten-mile race. Urgesa made her

debut a month later and defeated

Ashu Kasim Ashu Kasim Rabo (born 20 October 1984) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner who specialises in the half marathon and marathon events. Her personal bests are 68:56 minutes and 2:23:09 hours, respectively. She has won the Istanbul Marathon (2010) a ...

to take victory on her first attempt at the

Istanbul Marathon The Istanbul Marathon (, also known as Türkiye İş Bankası Istanbul Marathon for sponsorship reasons) is an international athletics event hosted in Istanbul, Turkey, in November, first held in 1979. It is the only marathon in the world who ...

. She improved her best for the distance to 2:31:09 with a second career win at the

Mumbai Marathon The Mumbai Marathon (known as the Tata Mumbai Marathon for sponsorship reasons by Tata Group), is an annual international marathon held in Mumbai, India, on the third Sunday of January every year. It is the largest marathon in Asia as well as th ...

in January 2010. She finished seventh at the

Paris Marathon The Paris Marathon () is an annual marathon (sport), marathon hosted by the city of Paris, France. It is the largest running event in France in terms of finishers and is typically among the five largest marathons in the world. The marathon begi ...

and came fourth on her return to the Istanbul race. A second outing at Mumbai also brought disappointment, as she failed to defend her title and ended the race in fifth place. The

Beirut Marathon The Beirut Marathon, is an annual event that takes place in Beirut, Lebanon, first held in 2003. It is a founding member of Asian Premier Marathons, and was accredited as a Silver Label Road Race by the IAAF. The marathons are managed by th ...

in November saw her run faster than the previous course record, although she finished runner-up to Seada Kedir.Course records fall in Beirut

IAAF World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation and International Association of Athletics Federations and formerly abbreviated as the IAAF, is the international sports governing body, governing body for the sport ...

(2011-11-27). Retrieved on 2011-11-27.

References

External links

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Profile
from Elite Sports Management International {{DEFAULTSORT:Urgesa, Bizunesh Living people 1989 births Ethiopian female long-distance runners Ethiopian female marathon runners Athletes from Oromia 20th-century Ethiopian women 21st-century Ethiopian sportswomen