Meraf Bahta Ogbagaber (born 24 June 1989) is an Eritrean

middle-distance runner Middle-distance running events are track races longer than sprints, up to 3000 metres. The standard middle distances are the 800 metres, 1500 metres and mile run, although the 3000 metres may also be classified as a middle-distance event. The 1 ...

. She represents Sweden in international competitions and specializes in the

1500 metres The 1500 metres or 1,500-metre run (typically pronounced 'fifteen-hundred metres') 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 Athle ...

and

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 3000m shoul ...

Biography

She was born in Dekishahay,

Eritrea Eritrea ( ; ti, ኤርትራ, Ertra, ; ar, إرتريا, ʾIritriyā), officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of Eastern Africa, with its capital and largest city at Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia ...

(at the time still part of

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the Er ...

). As a junior, she competed in the junior races at the

IAAF World Cross Country Championships World Athletics Cross Country Championships is the most important competition in international cross country running. Formerly held annually and organised by World Athletics (formerly the IAAF), it was inaugurated in 1973, when it replaced the Int ...

, finishing twelfth in 2006 and sixth in

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto ...

. Together with her teammates she won the silver medal in the team event at the 2007 championships. She finished fifth in the 1500 metres at the 2006 World Junior Championships. At the

2007 All-Africa Games The 9th All-Africa Games took place between 11 and 23 July 2007 in Algiers, the capital city of Algeria. Algiers is the first city to hold All-Africa Games for a second time. The 1978 All-Africa Games were held there. Besides Algeria, only Nig ...

she finished seventh in the 5000 metres. She competed in her first senior cross-country race at the

2008 World Cross Country Championships The 2008 IAAF World Cross Country Championships took place on March 30, 2008. The races were held at the Holyrood Park in Edinburgh, United Kingdom. Four races took place, one for men, women, junior men and junior women respectively. All races ...

, but only finished 43rd. Her personal best times are 4:05.11 minutes in the 1500 metres, achieved in July 2013 in

Heusden-Zolder Heusden-Zolder (; li, Heuze-Zolder ) is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Limburg near Hasselt. On 1 January 2006 Heusden-Zolder had a total population of 30,769. The total area is 53.23 km² which gives a population density ...

; and 14:59.49 minutes in the 5000 metres, achieved in July 2014 in

Palo Alto Palo Alto (; Spanish for "tall stick") is a charter city in the northwestern corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. The city was es ...

, USA. The 5000 personal best also marked a Swedish record (former was from 1995 held by Sara Wedlund). With the sub-15 race Meraf made her big international breakthrough and immediately became one of the best long distance runners on European soil and a medal contender for future European Championships. She moved from Eritrea to Sweden in 2008. In Sweden she has continued her running career, getting support from Ulf Friberg, the trainer of

Mustafa Mohamed Mustafa Hassan Mohamed ( so, Mustafa Xasan Maxamed, ar, مصطفى حسن محمد) (born 1 March 1979) is a Swedish long-distance runner who mainly competes in the 3000 meter steeplechase. Personal life Mohamed was born in 1979 in Mogadishu, ...

. Bahta got her permanent residency permit in 2012 and has applied for Swedish citizenship. In December she got her citizenship and since 2014 she has been eligible to compete for Sweden in international championships. She represented Sweden at the 2016 Summer Olympics finishing 6th in the

1500 m The 1500 metres or 1,500-metre run (typically pronounced 'fifteen-hundred metres') 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 Athle ...

. In 2014, she also won

Tjejmilen Tjejmilen is a girls-women only, cross-country running event in Stockholm, Sweden. Hosted by Hässelby SK and Spårvägen FK, it is run across a 10 kilometers long course on Djurgården. Being annual, the first event was held on 19 August 1984 ...

. She finished 9th in the 1500m at the

2017 World Athletics Championships Seventeen or 17 may refer to: * 17 (number), the natural number following 16 and preceding 18 * one of the years 17 BC, AD 17, 1917, 2017 Literature Magazines * ''Seventeen'' (American magazine), an American magazine * ''Seventeen'' (Japanese ...

Doping suspension

On 26 July 2018, Swedish newspaper ''

Aftonbladet ''Aftonbladet'' (, lit. "The evening paper") is a Swedish daily newspaper published in Stockholm, Sweden. It is one of the largest daily newspapers in the Nordic countries. History and profile The newspaper was founded by Lars Johan Hi ...

'' reported that she was suspected of doping violations. On 24 June 2019, it was announced that she had been suspended for

doping Doping may refer to: * Doping, adding a dopant to something * Doping (semiconductor), intentionally introducing impurities into an extremely pure semiconductor to change its electrical properties * Aircraft dope, a lacquer that is applied to fabr ...

. The suspension period is partly retroactive, lasting from 1 September 2018 to 1 September 2019.

Achievements

Personal bests

;Outdoor * 1500 metres – 4:00.49 (

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

; 1 September 2017) * Mile – 4:25.26 (

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

; 9 June 2016) * 3000 metres – 8:37.50 (

Doha Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the c ...

; 21 July 2016) NR * 5000 metres – 14:49.95 ( Rabat; 22 May 2016) NR * 10,000 metres – 31:13.06 (

; 5 May 2017) NR ;Indoor * 1500 metres – 4:04.89 (

Toruń )'' , image_skyline = , image_caption = , image_flag = POL Toruń flag.svg , image_shield = POL Toruń COA.svg , nickname = City of Angels, Gingerbread city, Copernicus Town , pushpin_map = Kuyavian-Pom ...

; 15 February 2018) * 3000 metres – 8:42.46 (

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), an ...

; 8 February 2018) NR

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bahta, Meraf 1989 births Living people Eritrean female long-distance runners Swedish female long-distance runners Eritrean female middle-distance runners Swedish female middle-distance runners European Athletics Championships medalists Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Sweden Swedish people of Eritrean descent Swedish Athletics Championships winners World Athletics Championships athletes for Sweden Athletes (track and field) at the 2007 All-Africa Games African Games competitors for Eritrea Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics European Athletics Championships winners Doping cases in athletics