Meraf Bahta Ogbagaber (born 24 June 1989) is a Swedish

middle-distance runner Middle-distance running events are track races longer than sprints, ranging from 500 metres up to . The standard middle distances are the 800 metres, 1500 metres and mile run, although the 3000 metres may also be classified as a middle-distanc ...

. She represents Sweden in international competitions and specializes 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 ...

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 3000 m sho ...

Biography

She was born in Dekishahay (at the time still part of

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

). 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 In ...

, finishing twelfth in

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

and sixth in

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

. 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 (; ), 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 finished seventh in the 5000 metres. She competed in her first senior cross-country race at the 2008 World Cross Country Championships, 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 (; ) is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality located in the Belgium, Belgian Limburg (Belgium), province of Limburg near Hasselt. On 1 January 2006 Heusden-Zolder had a total population of 30,769. The total area is 53.23 ...

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

Palo Alto Palo Alto ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for ) is a charter city in northwestern Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a Sequoia sempervirens, coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. Th ...

, 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 (, ; born 1 March 1979) is a Swedish long-distance runner who mainly competes in the steeplechase (athletics), 3000 meter steeplechase. Personal life Mohamed was born in 1979 in Mogadishu, Somalia. He later moved to Swede ...

. 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 The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

finishing 6th in the

1500 m 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 kilometer ...

. In 2014, she also won Tjejmilen. She finished 9th in the 1500m at the

2017 World Athletics Championships The 2017 IAAF World Championships, the sixteenth edition of the IAAF World Championships, were held from 4 to 13 August at London Stadium in London, United Kingdom. London was officially awarded the championships on 11 November 2011. Bidding p ...

Doping suspension

On 26 July 2018, Swedish newspaper ''

Aftonbladet (, lit. "The evening paper") is a Swedish language, Swedish daily tabloid 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 Lar ...

'' reported that she was suspected of doping violations. On 24 June 2019, it was announced that she had been suspended for doping. 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, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

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

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) 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 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

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

Doha Doha ( ) 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 (city), Al Khor and Lusail, it is home to most of the country's population. It ...

; 21 July 2016) NR * 5000 metres – 14:49.95 (

Rabat Rabat (, also , ; ) is the Capital (political), capital city of Morocco and the List of cities in Morocco, country's seventh-largest city with an urban population of approximately 580,000 (2014) and a metropolitan population of over 1.2 million. ...

; 22 May 2016) NR * 10,000 metres – 31:13.06 (

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

Toruń Toruń is a city on the Vistula River in north-central Poland and a World Heritage Sites of Poland, UNESCO World Heritage Site. Its population was 196,935 as of December 2021. Previously, it was the capital of the Toruń Voivodeship (1975–199 ...

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

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

; 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 21st-century Swedish sportswomen