Gelete Burka Bati (sometimes misspelled ''Burika'', Oromo: Galate Burqaa Baati,

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 ...

: ገለቴ ቡርቃ; born 23 January 1986) is an Ethiopian middle-distance and

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 born in Kofele in the

Arsi Zone Arsi () is a Zones of Ethiopia, zone in Oromia Region of Ethiopia, named after a clan of the Oromo people, Oromo, who inhabit in the area. Arsi is bordered on the south by Bale Zone, on the southwest by the West Arsi Zone, on the northwest by Ea ...

of the

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 district as double Olympic champion Haile Gebrselassie. Gelete was the short course champion at the 2006 IAAF World Cross Country Championships. She is a three-time medalist at the IAAF World Indoor Championships, her best performance being a gold medal win in the 1500 m in 2008. She is a four-time participant at the

World Championships in Athletics The World Athletics Championships, known as the IAAF World Championships in Athletics until 2019, are a biennial athletics competition organized by World Athletics, formerly International Association of Athletics Federations. Alongside Olympic ...

(2005 to 2011) and represented Ethiopia at the Olympics in both 2008 and 2012. She has also medalled on the regional stage, having been the runner-up at the 2010 African Championships in Athletics and the gold medallist at the

2007 All-Africa Games The 9th All-Africa Games (; ), also known as Algiers 2007 (), took place from 11 to 23 July 2007 in Algiers, the capital city of Algeria. Algiers became the first city to hold All-Africa Games for a second time. The 1978 All-Africa Games were a ...

. She was the African record holder for the

mile run The mile run (1,760 yards, 5,280 Foot (unit), feet, or exactly 1,609.344 metres) is a middle-distance running, middle-distance foot race. The history of the mile run event began in England, where it was used as a distance for gambling ...

and the indoor 1500 m.

Career

Burka's first significant achievement was at the

2003 IAAF World Cross Country Championships The 2003 IAAF World Cross Country Championships took place on March 29/30, 2003. The races were held at the L'Institut Équestre National d'Avenches, L'Institut Équestre National in Avenches near Lausanne, Switzerland. Reports of the event were ...

, where she won the

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...

in the junior race. She made her first impact in senior athletics later that year when, following the Ethiopian federation's refusal to allow Merima Denboba to compete, Burka took the women's race at the Lotto Cross Cup Brussels. She returned to Belgium the following year and repeated the feat. After becoming junior world champion in

cross country running Cross country running is a sport in which teams and individuals run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain such as dirt or grass. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and soil, earth, pass through woodlands and ope ...

at the 2005 World XC Championships, she competed at the

2005 World Championships in Athletics The 10th World Championships in Athletics (, ), under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), were held in the Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland (6 August 2005 – 14 August 2005), the site of the first ...

to finish eighth in the

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 ...

race. A month later she won the bronze medal in

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 ...

at the World Athletics Final. She closed the season with a win at the Spanish Cross Internacional de Venta de Baños. In April 2006 she won the short race at the World Cross Country Championships, as well as 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 b ...

in the team competition. She established herself as a force to be reckoned with on the cross country circuit, winning the Great Edinburgh International Cross Country three times consecutively from 2006 to 2008 and taking the Cross Internacional de Itálica title in 2007. Internationally, in 2007 she placed fourth at the World Cross Country Championships, was the 1500 m winner at the

All-Africa Games The African Games, formally known as the All-Africa Games or the Pan African Games, are a continental multi-sport event held every four years, organized by the African Union with the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa and the ...

and was tenth in the 5000 m 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 ...

. She had improved her 5000 m best to 14:31.20 minutes that year. She was sixth at the 2008 IAAF World Cross Country Championships. She represented her country at the

2008 Summer 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 ...

, but failed to make it out of the 1500 m heats. In September 2008 she set a new one mile African record of 4:18.23. The previous record (4:20.79) was held by Hassiba Boulmerka of

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

and was set in 1991. She was a finalist at the

2009 World Championships in Athletics The 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics () were held in Berlin, Germany from 15 to 23 August 2009. The majority of events took place in the Olympiastadion, while the marathon and racewalking events started and finished at the Brandenbu ...

, but finished last in tenth place. She attempted to defend her 1500 m title at the 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships, but was beaten by a younger Ethiopia ( Kalkidan Gezahegne) and took 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 ...

on this occasion. She claimed 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, ...

behind reigning Olympic champion Nancy Langat at the 2010 African Championships in Athletics in the outdoor season. During the 2011 IAAF Diamond League circuit, she won the 1500 m at the Prefontaine Classic, but did not manage to finish the distance during the semi-finals at the

2011 World Championships in Athletics The 13th IAAF World Championships in Athletics () was an international athletics competition that was held in Daegu, South Korea. It started on 27 August 2011 and finished on 4 September 2011. The United States topped the medal standings in the ...

. She came second to a returning

Tirunesh Dibaba Tirunesh Dibaba (, Amharic: ጥሩነሽ ዲባባ ቀነኒ; born 1 October 1985) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner athlete who competes in long-distance track events and international road races. She has won three Olympic track gold meda ...

at the 2011 San Silvestre Vallecana 10K race. Gelete reached the podium for the third time running at the

2012 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 2012 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics was the 14th edition of the global-level indoor track and field competition and was held between March 9–11, 2012 at the Ataköy Athletics Arena in Istanbul, Turkey. It was the first of fo ...

, finishing behind Hellen Obiri and Meseret Defar in the 3000 m. Newly focused on distances from 3000 m upwards, she came fourth in the 2012 IAAF Diamond League races in Doha, Rome, Lausanne and Brussels that year, and her best on the circuit was a third place at the Adidas Grand Prix in New York. She represented Ethiopia in the 5000 m for the first time at the London Olympics and came in fifth place. She made her debut over the 15K road distance at the

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 ...

, placing fifth, then ended the year with at the San Silvestre Vallecana with an Ethiopian record of 30:53 minutes for the 10K road distance. She began 2013 with a win at the Cross Internacional Juan Muguerza. Gelete Burka placed 8th in 30:26.66 at Athletics at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Women's 10,000 metres.

Personal bests

800 metres The 800 metres, or 800 meters (American and British English spelling differences#-re.2C -er, US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of a ...

outdoor - 2:02.89 (2010) *

outdoor - 3:58.79 (2009) * 1500 metres indoor - 3:59.75 (2008) *

Mile run The mile run (1,760 yards, 5,280 Foot (unit), feet, or exactly 1,609.344 metres) is a middle-distance running, middle-distance foot race. The history of the mile run event began in England, where it was used as a distance for gambling ...

outdoor - 4:18.23 (2008) * Mile run indoor - 4:23.53 (2010) *

outdoor - 8:25.92 (2006) * 3000 metres indoor - 8:31.94 (2008) *

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 ...

outdoor - 14:31.20 (2007) *

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 ...

track - 30:26.66 (2016) * 10K road - 32:01 (2014), (2017) *

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 ...

road - 1:09.32 (2016) *

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 ...

road - 2:26.03 (2014)

References

External links

*
IAAF Focus on Athletes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burka, Gelete 1986 births Living people Athletes from Oromia Ethiopian female middle-distance runners Ethiopian female long-distance runners Ethiopian female marathon runners Olympic athletes for Ethiopia Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics World Athletics Championships athletes for Ethiopia World Athletics Cross Country Championships winners World Athletics Championships medalists African Games gold medalists for Ethiopia African Games gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 2007 All-Africa Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2015 African Games World Athletics Indoor Championships winners Paris Marathon female winners Diamond League winners