Samuel Tefera (born 23 October 1999) is an Ethiopian
middle distance runner who specialises 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 Athletic ...
. At the age of 18, he became the
2018 World indoor champion, and defended his title at the
2022 World Indoor Championships, setting the championship record in the process.
Tefera is the current
African record holder in the indoor event.
He held 1500m world indoor record for three years, with his mark currently being the second-fastest on the world indoor all-time list.
Career
Samuel Tefera made her first major appearance in 2017, when the then-17-year-old represented Ethiopia 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 Athletic ...
at the
World Championships in London, not advancing from the heats.
In March 2018, he won the gold medal in the event at the
World Indoor Championships held in Birmingham. He achieved
3:58.19 to beat
Marcin Lewandowski (3:58.39) and
Abdalaati Iguider (3:58.43).
In February 2019, still 19, Tefera set a world indoor record in his specialty distance at the
Birmingham Indoor Grand Prix with a time of three minutes 31.04 seconds. He broke by 0.14 s a 22-year-old mark of Moroccan
Hicham El Guerrouj. Tefera's record was bettered in 2022 by
Jakob Ingebrigtsen.
After suffering an injury he did not finish his semifinal run at the
2019 World Championships in
Doha.
Timothy Cheruiyot
Timothy Cheruiyot (born 20 November 1995) is a Kenyan middle-distance runner specialising in the 1500 metres. He is the 2020 Tokyo Olympic silver medallist in the event. At the World Athletics Championships, Cheruiyot won the silver medal in 20 ...
won the title.
Tefera represented Ethiopia at the delayed
2020 Tokyo Olympics
The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July.
Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...
, where he had an injury problem again and was eliminated in the heats of the
men's 1500 metres.
Ingebrigtsen became the event winner.
At the
2022 World Indoor Championships in
Belgrade
Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...
, Tefera defended his title in a time of
3m 32.77s, beating Ingebrigtsen who ran 3:33.02, and setting the championship record in the process.
Abel Kipsang
Abel Kipsang Bele (born 22 November 1996) is a Kenya, Kenyan middle-distance runner who specializes in the 1500 metres. He placed fourth in the event at the Athletics at the 2020 Summer Olympics, 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Kipsang won the bronze medal ...
finished third in 3:33.36.
Competition record
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tefera, Samuel
Living people
1999 births
Ethiopian male middle-distance runners
World record holders in athletics (track and field)
World Athletics Indoor Championships winners
Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics
Olympic athletes of Ethiopia
20th-century Ethiopian people
21st-century Ethiopian people