Fatuma Roba ( am, ፋጡማ ሮባ; born 18 December 1973) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner, best known for being the first African woman to win a

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 bee ...

in the women's Olympic marathon race at the Atlanta 1996 Summer Olympics and for winning three successive

Boston Marathon The Boston Marathon is an annual marathon race hosted by several 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 i ...

Early life

Fatuma Roba was born on 18 December 1973 in Bekoji, Ethiopia. As Fatuma grew up, there were no female role models in long distance running within Ethiopia, only Abebe Bikila. While Fatuma was at school, she was not encouraged to run but decided to continue regardless. She was coached by Sentayehu Eshetu, who had previously worked with athletes such as Derartu Tulu.

Running career

She made her first national team in 1988, in the half marathon. That year she was in the top ten in the world championships, by 1992 she had improved to sixth. After coming first in the juniors and seventh overall in the New York Mini Marathon, she decided to try a full length

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , 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 are also wheelchair div ...

. So in 1994, she took part in the

Paris Marathon The Paris Marathon (french: Marathon de Paris) is an annual marathon hosted by the city of Paris, France. It is the marathon with the second-most finishers in the world, behind the New York City Marathon. The marathon begins along the Cham ...

, finishing 19th, later saying "when I finished I said, ;Never again, never again will I do this distance, it is too long!' I drank too much water, had stomach troubles, and after 14km I was finished." She gave up the longer distance for the following year, but with 25 days to go until the

1995 World Championships in Athletics The 5th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held at the Ullevi Stadium, Gothenburg, Sweden on 5–13 August 1995. This edition featured 1804 athletes from 191 nat ...

, it was suggested that she should compete since Ethiopia was not sending anyone else. So she competed, and ran well up until the mark, but then felt dizzy and collapsed several times. She finished 19th, with a time of 2:39:27, but her performance put her in hospital afterwards. But Fatuma decided to continue training at that distance. She won her first marathon at

Marrakech Marrakesh or Marrakech ( or ; ar, مراكش, murrākuš, ; ber, ⵎⵕⵕⴰⴽⵛ, translit=mṛṛakc}) is the fourth largest city in the Kingdom of Morocco. It is one of the four Imperial cities of Morocco and is the capital of the Marrakes ...

in early 1996, before winning the Rome Marathon two months later. Between the two runs, she improved her personal best time by a minute. After the victory in Rome, she was selected for the Ethiopian team at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

, in Atlanta, United States, and intensified her training. She later said that by the point in the women's marathon at the Atlanta Games, she was certain she had won the race because her fellow runners were tiring although she was finding the pace comfortable. With her victory and the gold medal, Fatuma became the first woman from an African nation to win the women's marathon at an Olympic Games. Fatuma also won three straight

s from 1997–1999. The three-time Boston champion narrowly missed a fourth straight title in 2000, coming in third in the closest finish in race history. She later said "Well, for me the greatest of all marathons is of course the Olympic Marathon, but second place is Boston."

Personal bests

10000m 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 race ...

– 32:25 (2000) * Half-marathon – 1:09:01 (2001) *

Marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , 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 are also wheelchair div ...

– 2:23:21 (1998)

Achievements

References

External links

Female Athletes: Fatuma Roba
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fatuma Roba 1973 births Living people Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics Ethiopian female long-distance runners Ethiopian female marathon runners Olympic athletes of Ethiopia Olympic gold medalists for Ethiopia Boston Marathon female winners Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) 20th-century Ethiopian women 21st-century Ethiopian women