Mimi Belete Gebregeiorges (born 9 June 1988) is an

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 ...

n-born

middle Middle or The Middle may refer to: * Centre (geometry), the point equally distant from the outer limits. Places * Middle (sheading), a subdivision of the Isle of Man * Middle Bay (disambiguation) * Middle Brook (disambiguation) * Middle Creek ...

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 ...

who competes internationally for

Bahrain Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in West Asia. Situated on the Persian Gulf, it comprises a small archipelago of 50 natural islands and an additional 33 artificial islands, centered on Bahrain Island, which mak ...

. She won the

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 ...

title at the

2010 Asian Games The 2010 Asian Games (), officially known as the XVI Asian Games () and also known as Guangzhou 2010 (), were a regional multi-sport event held from November 12 to 27, 2010 in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China (although several events commenced ear ...

. She moved to

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

as a

political refugee The right of asylum, sometimes called right of political asylum (''asylum'' ), is a juridical concept, under which people persecuted by their own rulers might be protected by another sovereign authority, such as a second country or another enti ...

along with her younger sister, Almensh Belete, who is also a runner. It was in Belgium that she began competing: she ran at the 2007

Memorial van Damme The Memorial Van Damme is an annual athletics event at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels, Belgium, that takes place in late August or early September. Previously one of the IAAF Golden League events, it now serves as a final event of the D ...

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 ...

and was the 2009 winner of the

Eurocross Eurocross is an annual international cross country running competition which takes place in Diekirch, Luxembourg in February. It is one of the IAAF permit meetings which serve as qualifying events for the IAAF World Cross Country Championships. I ...

competition. She chose to transfer allegiance to

in early 2009 and her first outing for her newly adopted country was at the

Asian Cross Country Championships The Asian Cross Country Championships is a biennial regional cross country running competition for athletes from Asia. It is organised by the Asian Athletics Association and was first held in 1991 in Fukuoka, Japan. The competition has been held ...

, where she took 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 fellow convert

Maryam Yusuf Jamal Maryam Yusuf Jamal (; ) (born Zenebech Tola) (born 16 September 1984) is an Ethiopian-born Bahraini middle-distance runner. She is the first Bahraini athlete to win an Olympic medal, a gold (originally bronze, but later upgraded after two doping ...

. She ran at the

2009 IAAF World Cross Country Championships The 2009 IAAF World Cross Country Championships took place on March 28, 2009. The races were held at the Al Bisharat Golf Course in Amman, Jordan. Four races took place, one for men, women, junior men and junior women respectively. All races ...

in March and finished in 28th place. She also qualified for 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 ...

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 ...

and reached the semi-finals of the event.Belete Mimi

IAAF World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation and International Association of Athletics Federations and formerly abbreviated as the IAAF, is the international sports governing body, governing body for the sport ...

. Retrieved on 2010-11-28. At the end of the year she set indoor bests at the

2009 Asian Indoor Games The 2009 Asian Indoor Games (), officially the 3rd Asian Indoor Games () and also known as Vietnam 2009, were a pancontinential indoor multi-sport event held in Vietnam from 30 October till 8 November 2009. This was the last edition of the event ...

, taking fourth place in the

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 ...

and taking the runner-up spot in the

behind Liu Qing. She started her 2010 with a defence of her title at the Eurocross before going on to take 16th place at the

2010 IAAF World Cross Country Championships The 2010 IAAF World Cross Country Championships were held at Myślęcinek Park in Bydgoszcz, Poland on 28 March 2010. It was the first time in over twenty years that Poland hosted the annual championships, having previously held them in Warsaw in ...

Bydgoszcz Bydgoszcz is a city in northern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Kuyavia. Straddling the confluence of the Vistula River and its bank (geography), left-bank tributary, the Brda (river), Brda, the strategic location of Byd ...

. She improved her

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 ...

best with a fourth-place finish in 8:32.18 at the

Herculis The Herculis is an annual track and field meet at Stade Louis II in Fontvieille, Monaco. Previously one of the five IAAF Super Grand Prix events. Herculis is now part of the Diamond League. Editions World records Over the course of its histo ...

IAAF Diamond League The Diamond League is an annual series of elite track and field athletic competitions comprising fifteen invitational athletics meetings. The series sits in the top tier of the World Athletics one-day meet competitions. The inaugural season was ...

meeting in July, and a month later she ran a personal best of 4:00.25 for the 1500 m, taking second place behind Jamal at the Rieti Meeting. She was selected to represent the Asia-Pacific team at the

2010 IAAF Continental Cup The 1st IAAF Continental Cup was an international track and field sporting event held under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations. Originally scheduled as the 11th IAAF World Cup in Athletics, it was renamed in 200 ...

and came in fourth place in the 1500 m. Belete won two medals at the

in November. She made a team effort with Jamal in the 1500 m and ended up with 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 ...

as Truong Thanh Hang edged her near the finish. Running in the 5000 m, she managed to fend off an Indian challenge in the form of Preeja Sreedharan and Kavita Raut to secure the

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 a personal best of 15:15.59 minutes, completing her first major title win.Bahrain takes two distance running golds - Asian Games, Day 6

(2010-11-27). Retrieved on 2010-11-28. On October 12, 2018, she won the

Toronto Waterfront Marathon The Toronto Waterfront Marathon is a road-running race held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, every year in the second or third Sunday of October. Aside from the actual marathon, the race also includes a half-marathon. The Toronto Waterfront Marathon ...

, with a course record time and personal best of 2:22:28.

Competition record

Other notable races

Key:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Belete, Mimi 1988 births Living people Bahraini female middle-distance runners Ethiopian female middle-distance runners Bahraini female long-distance runners Ethiopian female long-distance runners Olympic athletes for Bahrain Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2010 Asian Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2014 Asian Games World Athletics Championships athletes for Bahrain Bahraini people of Ethiopian descent Ethiopian emigrants to Bahrain Naturalized citizens of Bahrain Asian Games gold medalists for Bahrain Asian Games athletes for Bahrain Asian Games silver medalists for Bahrain Asian Games bronze medalists for Bahrain Medalists at the 2010 Asian Games Medalists at the 2014 Asian Games Islamic Solidarity Games competitors for Bahrain Arab Athletics Championships winners West Asian Athletics Championships winners Asian Athletics Championships medalists Asian Games gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Asian Games silver medalists in athletics (track and field)