Selemon Barega Shirtaga (born 20 January 2000) is an Ethiopian

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 in nature and requires stamina as well as mental strength. Within endurance running comes two d ...

. He won the gold medal in the

10,000 metres The 10,000 metres or the 10,000-metre run is a common long-distance track running event. The event is part of the athletics programme at the Olympic Games and the World Athletics Championships, and is common at championship level events. The ra ...

at the

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 List of Olympic Games h ...

, and a silver for 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 ...

at the 2019 World Championships in

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 ...

. Barega is a two-time

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 ...

World Indoor Championship medallist, taking a silver in

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, and a gold in

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. He won gold medals at the 2016 World U20 Championships (5000m), and 2017 World U18 Championships (3000m). Barega represented Ethiopia in the 5000m at the 2017 World Championships in London, finishing fifth in the final.

Career

Selemon was born in the

Gurage The Gurage (, Gurage: ጉራጌ) are a Semitic-speaking ethnic group inhabiting Ethiopia.G. W. E. Huntingford, "William A. Shack: The Gurage: a people of the ensete culture" They inhabit the Gurage Zone, a fertile, semi-mountainous region in ce ...

area 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 ...

. He began competing internationally in 2016. On 23 July, he won the IAAF World U20 Championships in

Bydgoszcz, Poland Bydgoszcz ( , , ; german: Bromberg) is a city in northern Poland, straddling the meeting of the River Vistula with its left-bank tributary, the Brda. With a city population of 339,053 as of December 2021 and an urban agglomeration with more ...

in 13:21.21.

2017–18

In 2017, Selemon competed in the U20 Race at the 2017 World Cross Country Championships; he placed 5th. Selemon won the African U20 Championships in

Tlemcen, Algeria Tlemcen (; ar, تلمسان, translit=Tilimsān) is the second-largest city in northwestern Algeria after Oran, and capital of the Tlemcen Province. The city has developed leather, carpet, and textile industries, which it exports through the por ...

over 5000m clocking 13:51.43 on 2 July. On 6 July, Selemon clocked his first sub-13 minute 5000m at the Lausanne

Diamond League The Diamond League is an annual series of elite track and field athletic competitions comprising fourteen of the best invitational athletics meetings. The series sits in the top tier of the World Athletics (formerly known as the IAAF) one-day mee ...

Meeting placing 2nd in 12:55.58. On 16 July, Selemon won the Nairobi IAAF World U18 Championships in the 3000m clocking 7:47.16. At the

2017 World Championships in Athletics 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'' (Japanes ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, Selemon placed 5th in the men's 5000m final in a time of 13:35.34, the race was won by compatriot Muktar Edris. In 2018, Selemon placed 2nd at the 3000m at the World Indoor Championships in

Birmingham, United Kingdom Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

clocking a time of 8:15.59 on 4 March. On 25 May, Selemon won the 2 Mile Race at the

Prefontaine Classic The Prefontaine Classic, an Oregon Track Club event, is one of the premier track and field meets in the United States, held in Eugene, Oregon. Every year it draws a world caliber field to compete at Hayward Field on the campus of the Univers ...

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast. As of the 2020 United States Census ...

. Selemon's next major championships was on 14 July at the IAAF World U20 Championships in

Tampere, Finland Tampere ( , , ; sv, Tammerfors, ) is a city in the Pirkanmaa region, located in the western part of Finland. Tampere is the most populous inland city in the Nordic countries. It has a population of 244,029; the urban area has a population o ...

where he placed 4th in 13:21.16. On 31 August, Selemon set a World U20 Record at 5000m at the Bruxelles

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 is now the final event of the Diamond ...

Meeting clocking a time of 12:43.02. This performance ranks him as the 5th fastest 5000m performer of all-time, behind

Joshua Cheptegei Joshua Kiprui Cheptegei (born 12 September 1996) is a Ugandan long-distance runner. He is the reigning Olympic champion in the 5000 metres and silver medalist for the 10,000 metres, a two-time 10,000 m World champion from 2019 and 2022, Wo ...

Kenenisa Bekele Kenenisa Bekele ( om, Qananiisaa baqqalaa; am, ቀነኒሳ በቀለ; born 13 June 1982) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner. He was the world record holder in both the 5000-metre and 10000-metre from 2004 (5,000m) and 2005 (10,000m) unti ...

Haile Gebrselassie Haile Gebrselassie ( am, ኀይሌ ገብረ ሥላሴ, ''haylē gebre silassē''; born 18 April 1973) is an Ethiopian retired long-distance track, road running athlete, and businessman. He won two Olympic gold medals and four World Champion ...

, and

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, Komen's most notable achievemen ...

2019–20

Selemon competed at the World Cross Country Championships in Aarhus, Denmark in the Senior Men's Race. Selemon placed 4th and was the first Ethiopian to finish in a race won by Uganda's

. Selemon placed second at the Diamond League Meetings in Shanghai on 18 May and the

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

on 6 June. On 13 June, Selemon won the 3000m at the

Bislett Games The Bislett Games is an annual track and field meeting at the Bislett Stadium in Oslo, Norway. Previously one of the IAAF Golden League events, it is now part of the Diamond League. History The first international athletics meeting at Bisl ...

Oslo, Norway 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 ...

clocking 7:32.17. On 30 June, Selemon placed 3rd at the

over 2 miles in a time of 8:08.69. On 5 July, Selemon was 2nd at the Lausanne Diamond League Meeting clocking 13:01.99 in the 5000m. On 17 July, Selemon was second at the Ethiopian Trials in Hengelo, Netherlands in a personal best time of 26:49.46 finishing behind

Hagos Gebrhiwet Hagos Gebrhiwet Berhe ( ti, ሓጎስ ገብረሂወት, born 11 May 1994) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner and the former World Junior Record holder in the 5000 meters (12:47:53). Early life Born in the Tigray Region, he took up runni ...

. On 29 August, Selemon was 5th at the 5000m at the Zurich Diamond League. On 27 September, Selemon won his heat of the men's 5000m at the

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

Doha, Qatar 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 cou ...

, and on 30 September, he finished 2nd in the final in 12:59.70, outsprinted by compatriot Muktar Edris. In February 2020, Selemon competed at several indoor track races in Europe. Selemon's next race was on 8 September at the

Golden Spike Ostrava Golden Spike ( cz, Zlatá tretra) is an annual athletics event at the Městský Stadion in Ostrava- Vítkovice, Czech Republic as part of the IAAF World Challenge Meetings. It was first organized in 1961. The history of the meeting was interru ...

where he contested the 5000m, placing 2nd in 12:49.08. Despite attempting to sprint pass

Jacob Kiplimo Jacob Kiplimo (born 14 November 2000) is a Ugandan long-distance runner. He is 2020 Tokyo Olympic 10,000 metres bronze medallist and also won bronze in the event at the 2022 World Athletics Championships. Kiplimo earned gold medals in the 5000 m ...

in the final 100m, the Ugandan held on to win in a time of 12:48.63. Selemon next raced a 1500m at the Gala dei Castelli in Switzerland placing 3rd 3:36.07 on 15 September. At the

Meeting on 25 September Selemon raced 1500m in 3:32.97, placing 2nd. Selemon headed back to

where on 26 December he raced 1500m at the Ethiopian Clubs Competition in

Addis Abeba Addis Ababa (; am, አዲስ አበባ, , new flower ; also known as , lit. "natural spring" in Oromo), is the capital and largest city of Ethiopia. It is also served as major administrative center of the Oromia Region. In the 2007 census, t ...

winning in 3:38.1.

2021

In 2021, Selemon won the Olympic candidate trial competition in

recording a time of 27:58.5. Selemon competed at several indoor track races in January at February including a 7:26.10 Indoor 3000m clocking him placing second behind compatriot

Getnet Wale Getnet Wale Bayabl (born 16 July 2000) is an Ethiopian runner specialising in the 3000 metres steeplechase. He finished fourth at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics as well as at the 2019 and 2022 World Athletics Championships. Wale won the silver medal at ...

. Selemon became the 3rd fastest performer in history over the 3000m Indoor with his performance, behind Kenya's

who clocked 7:24.90 on 6 February 1998 and compatriot

who won the race ahead of Selemon in 7:24.98. Selemon next raced two Indoor 1500m races on the

World Athletics Indoor Tour The World Athletics Indoor Tour, formerly the IAAF World Indoor Tour, is an annual series of indoor track and field meetings, held since 2016. It was designed to create a Diamond League-style circuit for indoor track and field events, to raise th ...

winning both, first at the Copernicus Cup in Torun, Poland he clocked a 3:32.97 on 17 February, and then on 24 February, a 3:35.42 performance in

Madrid, Spain 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), and ...

. Selemon's performance in Torun made him the 8th fastest performer of all time in the 3000m Indoor. Selemon's first outdoor track 5000m race of the year came in

Bergamo, Italy Bergamo (; lmo, Bèrghem ; from the proto- Germanic elements *''berg +*heim'', the "mountain home") is a city in the alpine Lombardy region of northern Italy, approximately northeast of Milan, and about from Switzerland, the alpine lakes Co ...

on 12 May, where he clocked 13:02.47, he was beaten by Kenya's Mark Owon Lomuket. Selemon next raced at the Ethiopian Trials in Hengelo, Netherlands, where he won the 10000m in a time of 26:49.51 holding off

Yomif Kejelcha Yomif Kejelcha Atomsa (born 1 August 1997) is an Ethiopian distance runner. He won a silver medal in the men’s 10,000 metres at the 2019 World Athletics Championships in Doha, Qatar. On 3 March 2019, Kejelcha broke the indoor mile world recor ...

who was second,

Berihu Aregawi Berihu Aregawi (born 28 February 2001) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner. He placed fourth in the 10,000 metres at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Aregawi currently holds world record in the 5 kilometres road race. Career Berihu Aregawi was the br ...

placed 3rd. The race was tactical with Selemon putting in surges and then slowing down before it came down to a last lap sprint finish. On 30 July 2021, at the age of 21, Selemon won the

10,000 m The 10,000 metres or the 10,000-metre run is a common long-distance track running event. The event is part of the athletics programme at the Olympic Games and the World Athletics Championships, and is common at championship level events. The ra ...

at the

, outsprinting world record holder

and World Half Marathon champion

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The south ...

to win in 27:43.22. Brutal humidity meant that the winning time of 27:43.22 was the slowest in an Olympic final since 1992, but Barega's close was sublime as he ripped the last kilometer in 2:24.9 and last lap in 53.94. This win made him the fourth

Ethiopian Ethiopians are the native inhabitants of Ethiopia, as well as the global diaspora of Ethiopia. Ethiopians constitute several component ethnic groups, many of which are closely related to ethnic groups in neighboring Eritrea and other parts of ...

to win the

10,000m The 10,000 metres or the 10,000-metre run is a common long-distance track running event. The event is part of the athletics programme at the Olympic Games and the World Athletics Championships, and is common at championship level events. The rac ...

title at the Olympics, the other three being

(

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing ...

(

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 800, causing the plane to crash and killing everyone on b ...

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

), and Miruts Yifter (

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Syst ...

International competitions

Circuit wins

champion (5000m):

– Eugene Prefontaine Classic (two miles), Stockholm Bauhaus-Galan (5000m), Brussels Memorial Van Damme (5000m) **

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

– Stockholm Bauhaus-Galan (3000m)

Personal bests

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 ...

– 3:32.97 (

2020) ** 1500 metres indoor – 3:32.97 ( Torun 2021) *

– 7:32.17 (

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 ...

2019) ** 3000 metres indoor – 7:26.10 (

Liévin Liévin (; pcd, Lévin; ) is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in northern France. The inhabitants are called ''Liévinois''. Overview The town of Liévin is an old mining area of Pas-de-Calais. Near Lens, this town is of modest size bu ...

2021) *

Two miles The 2 mile (10,560 feet or 3,218.688 metres) is a historic running distance. Like the mile run, it is still contested at some invitational meets due its historical chronology in the United States and United Kingdom. It has been lar ...

– 8:08.69 (

Stanford, CA Stanford is a census-designated place (CDP) in the northwest corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States. It is the home of Stanford University. The population was 21,150 at the United States Census, 2020, 2020 census. Stanford is ...

2019) World under-20 best *

– 12:43.02 (

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 ...

2018) World under-20 record * 10000 metres - 26:44.73 (

Hengelo Hengelo (; Tweants: ) is a city in the eastern part of the Netherlands, in the province of Overijssel. The city lies along the motorways A1/E30 and A35 and it has a station for the international Amsterdam – Hannover – Berlin service. Pop ...

2022)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Barega, Selemon 2000 births Living people Ethiopian male long-distance runners World Athletics Championships athletes for Ethiopia World Athletics Championships medalists Diamond League winners World Youth Championships in Athletics winners Ethiopian Athletics Championships winners Olympic gold medalists for Ethiopia Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) People from Gurage Zone Sportspeople from Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region Olympic athletes of Ethiopia World Athletics Indoor Championships winners 21st-century Ethiopian people