Lamecha Girma (born 26 November 2000) is an Ethiopian

athlete An athlete is most commonly a person who competes in one or more sports involving physical strength, speed, power, or endurance. Sometimes, the word "athlete" is used to refer specifically to sport of athletics competitors, i.e. including track ...

who specialises in the 3,000 metres steeplechase. He is the 2020 Tokyo Olympic silver medallist in the event and won silver medals at the

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

and

2023 World Athletics Championships The 2023 World Athletics Championships (), the nineteenth edition of the World Athletics Championships, were held from 19 to 27 August 2023 at the National Athletics Centre (Budapest), National Athletics Centre, in Budapest, Hungary. The tourna ...

. Lamecha also won a silver in the 3,000 metres at the 2022 World Indoor Championships. He is the world indoor record holder for the 3,000 metres, which was set in February 2023. In June 2023 at the

Meeting de Paris Meeting de Paris (formerly known as the Meeting Areva and Meeting Gaz de France) is an annual track and field meeting at the Stade Sébastien Charléty in Paris, France. Previously one of the IAAF Golden League events, it is now part of the Di ...

of the

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, he broke the

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organizatio ...

for the men's 3,000 metres steeplechase.

Career

Early career

At age 18, Lamecha Girma earned the junior bronze medal in the 3,000 m steeplechase at the 2019 African Under-20 Championships. The same year, he set an Ethiopian national record in his specialist event during the

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

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with a time of 8:01.36. He finished second behind Olympic and world champion from Kenya

Conseslus Kipruto Conseslus Kipruto (born 8 December 1994) is a Kenyan Middle-distance running, middle-distance runner who specializes in the 3000 metres steeplechase. He was the Athletics at the 2016 Summer Olympics, 2016 Rio Olympic champion in the event. At t ...

who ran 8:01.35; Morocco's

Soufiane El Bakkali Soufiane El Bakkali (; born 7 January 1996) is a Moroccan middle-distance runner who specializes in the 3000 metres steeplechase. He is a two-time Olympic champion, having won gold in the event at both the 2020 Tokyo and 2024 Paris Olympics. H ...

came in third in 8:03.76.

Breakthrough and Olympic silver medal

At the delayed

2020 Tokyo Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

in 2021, Lamecha won the silver medal with a 8:10.38 clocking. This time El Bakkali finished first in 8:08.90 while third-placed Benjamin Kigen achieved 8:11.45. Girma became 2022 World Indoor Championship silver medallist at the 3,000 metres in

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

. He ran 7:41.63 while his compatriot

Selemon Barega Selemon Barega Shirtaga (born 20 January 2000) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner. He won the gold medal in the 10,000 metres at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, silver for the 5,000 metres at the 2019 World Championships in Doha and bronze in the ...

clocked 7:41.38 for gold, and

Marc Scott Marc Scott (born 21 December 1993) is a British long-distance runner. He took his first global medal with bronze in the 3000 metres at the 2022 World Indoor Championships. He is the European indoor record holder for the 5000 metres. Scott re ...

was third in 7:42.02. A few months later in July, at 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 ...

held in

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, Girma had to settle for silver once again in his signature event, finishing behind El Bakkali who ran 8:25.13 and ahead of Kipruto in third in 8:27.92.

World indoor and outdoor records

On 15 February 2023, he smashed the 25-year-old world indoor 3,000 m record at the

2023 Meeting Hauts-de-France Pas-de-Calais The 2023 Meeting Hauts-de-France Pas-de-Calais was the 29th edition of the annual indoor athletics meeting in Liévin, France. Held on 15 February, it was the fifth leg of the 2023 World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold series – the highest-level int ...

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with a time of 7:23.81, slicing 1.09 seconds off the previous mark held by

Daniel Komen Daniel Kipngetich Komen (born 17 May 1976) Komen is rumoured to be three years older than officially recognised. is a Kenyan middle- and long-distance runner. Remembered for his rivalry with Haile Gebrselassie, his most notable achievements ...

since 1998. Girma's record has since been broken by

Grant Fisher Grant Jackson Fisher (born April 22, 1997) is an American middle- and long-distance runner who is the world record holder in the short track 3000 m and 5000 m. Fisher also holds American records in the 3000 m, two mile, and 10,000 m events. ...

, who ran 7:22.91 in 2025. On 9 June 2023, Girma broke the world 3,000 m steeplechase record at the

of the

with a time of 7:52:11, which was 1.52 seconds faster than the 19-year-old previous world record of 7:53.63 set by

Saif Saaeed Shaheen Saif Saaeed Shaheen (), formerly Stephen Cherono (born 15 October 1982), is a retired steeplechase runner. He was born in Keiyo, Kenya but now he represents Qatar. He was, for 19 years, the world record holder for 3000 metre steeplechase. He ...

. He was clearly in the lead with two laps to go before speeding up around the final lap, which he ran in about 64 seconds, to cross the finish line with the new fastest time. After the race, he expressed his happiness and stated that he had planned to beat the world record that night.

Paris Olympics

At the

2024 Paris Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

, on 7 August, Girma was among the favorites to win gold in the

3000 m steeplechase The 3000 metres steeplechase or 3000-meter steeplechase (usually abbreviated as ) is the most common distance for the steeplechase in track and field. It is an obstacle race over the distance of the 3000 metres, which derives its name from the ...

final, along with Moroccan

. However, in the bell lap, on the back straightaway jump, Girma suffered a fall that knocked him unconscious. Girma was carried off the track in a stretcher, and was hospitalized for treatment. His coach indicated shortly after the race that the injury was not life threatening, but that Girma would need some time to recover.

Personal life and family

Born in Bekoji to countryside farmers, Lamecha lives in Sululta with several of his family members. He has seven brothers and two sisters. Two of his brothers, Diriba Girma and Kuma Girma, are professional runnershis oldest brother Fikadu Girma serves as their coach. By virtue of his steeplechase performance, he was selected to join the Tirunesh Academy starting in 2017. Following the

2019 World Athletics Championships The 2019 IAAF World Athletics Championships () was the seventeenth edition of the biennial, global sport of athletics, athletics competition organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), since renamed World Athleti ...

, Girma moved to

Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; ,) is the capital city of Ethiopia, as well as the regional state of Oromia. With an estimated population of 2,739,551 inhabitants as of the 2007 census, it is the largest city in the country and the List of cities in Africa b ...

and had to learn

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 ...

for the first time, only having known

Oromo language Oromo, historically also called Galla, is an Afroasiatic language belonging to the Cushitic branch, primarily spoken by the Oromo people, native to the Ethiopian state of Oromia; and northern Kenya. It is used as a lingua franca in Oromia an ...

up to this point. He trains in a group of five, including himself and his two running brothers.

Kuma Girma

Kuma Girma (born 24 November 2005) is a middle- and long-distance runner who is Lamecha's youngest running brother. After placing 3rd at the Ethiopian U20 Championships 3000 m in 2022, he was a member of the silver-medal-winning Ethiopian team at the 2023 World Cross Country Championships U20 race, finishing 13th individually. He followed that up by placing 3rd in

Jakob Ingebrigtsen Jakob Asserson Ingebrigtsen (born 19 September 2000) is a Norwegian Middle-distance running, middle- and Long-distance running, long-distance runner who is the world record holder in the short track 1500 metres, short track Mile run, mile, 2000 ...

's two-mile world record race at the

2023 Meeting de Paris The 2023 Meeting de Paris was the 28th edition of the annual outdoor track and field meeting in Paris, France. Held on 9 June at the Stade Sébastien Charléty, it was the fourth leg of the 2023 Diamond League – the highest level internationa ...

in a time of 8:10.34. He set his 5000 m personal best of 13:03.37 at the

2023 Athletissima The 2023 Athletissima was the 47th edition of the annual outdoor athletics meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland. Held on 30 June at the Stade olympique de la Pontaise, it was the 6th leg of the 2023 Diamond Leaguethe highest level international tra ...

to finish 7th.

Diriba Girma

Diriba Girma (born 29 January 2003) has focused primarily on

middle-distance running Middle-distance running events are Track and field#Running, track races longer than Sprint (running), sprints, ranging from 500 metres up to . The standard middle distances are the 800 metres, 1500 metres and mile run, although the 3000 metres m ...

and is the middle sibling of the family. After finishing 4th at the 2021

Ethiopian Athletics Championships The Ethiopian Athletics Championships is an annual outdoor track and field competition organised by the Ethiopian Athletics Federation, which serves as the national championship for the sport in Ethiopia. The competition was first held in 1971.

and 11th at the national 1500 m Olympic trials, he did not qualify for the Ethiopian team at the 2021 Games. Diriba ran his 3000 m personal best of 7:38.79 at the 2022

Meeting Hauts-de-France Pas-de-Calais The Meeting Hauts-de-France Pas-de-Calais (formerly Meeting Pas de Calais) also called Meeting International de Liévin (''International Meeting of Liévin'') is an annual indoor track and field competition which takes place in February at Arena ...

. That time made him the top seed heading in to the 3000 m at the 2022 World U20 Championships, at which he finished 4th in the finals.

Achievements

Personal bests

1,500 metres The 1500 metres or 1500-metre run is the foremost middle distance track event in Sport of athletics, athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletics since 1983. It is equivalen ...

– 3:29.51 (

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2023) NR ** 1,500 metres indoor – 3:35.60 (

Val-de-Reuil Val-de-Reuil () is a commune in the Eure department in Normandy in north-western France. It is located south of Rouen in a loop of the Seine. Created as the new town of Le Vaudreuil in 1972, its name was changed to Val-de-Reuil in 1984 to avoi ...

2021) * 2,000 metres – 4:57.87 (

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2020) * 3,000 metres – 7:26.18 (

2023) ** 3,000 metres indoor – 7:23.81 (

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

) Area record * 3,000 metres steeplechase – 7:52.11 (

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 ...

2023)

World record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organizatio ...

International competitions

¹Did not finish in the final

Circuit wins

:: 3000 metres steeplechase wins, other events specified in parentheses :*

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

: Monaco Herculis :*

: Rome Golden Gala :*

Doha Diamond League The Doha Diamond League is an annual one-day track and field meeting held at the Suheim bin Hamad Stadium in Doha, Qatar. It is part of the Diamond League – the top level international circuit for the sport. It is typically held in May as the ...

(3000 m, ) :*

: Paris Diamond League

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Girma, Lamecha Ethiopian male steeplechase runners 2000 births Living people Athletes from Oromia World Athletics Championships athletes for Ethiopia World Athletics Championships medalists Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for Ethiopia Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field) Olympic athletes for Ethiopia World Athletics Indoor Championships medalists 21st-century Ethiopian sportsmen Athletes (track and field) at the 2024 Summer Olympics Diamond League winners