Sembo Almayew Welteji (born 24 January 2005) is an Ethiopian track and field athlete. She was a silver medalist at the

2022 World Athletics U20 Championships The 2022 World Athletics U20 Championships, also known colloquially by its former official title, the World Junior Championships, was an international athletics competition for athletes qualifying as juniors (born no earlier than 1 January 2003 ...

in the women's 3000 metres steeplechase.

Career

2022

Almayew set new world under-18 best times for the

3000m steeplechase The 3000 metres steeplechase or 3000-meter steeplechase (usually abbreviated as ) is the most common distance for the steeplechase in track and field. It is an obstacle race over the distance of the 3000 metres, which derives its name from the ...

in 2022. She beat the previous U18 best of 9:24.73, set by Kenya's Celliphine Chespol in 2016, when she clocked a 9:18.98 at the FBK Games, a World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting, in

Hengelo Hengelo (; Tweants dialect, Tweants: ) is a city in the eastern part of the Netherlands, in the Twente region, in the province of Overijssel. It is part of a larger urban area that also includes Enschede, Borne, Overijssel, Borne, Almelo and Ol ...

. Almayew then ran 9:09.19 to finish second at the

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 Paris in June 2022 in the 3000m steeplechase to lower her personal best and the world under-18 best time. Competing at the

2022 World Athletics Championships The 2022 World Athletics Championships was the eighteenth edition of the World Athletics Championships. It was held at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, United States, from July 15–24, 2022, with the country hosting that competition for the ...

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lane County, Oregon, United States. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie River (Oregon), McKenzie and Willamette River, Willamette rivers, ...

she ran 9:21.10 to finish fifth in her heat. She was a silver medalist behind

Faith Cherotich Faith Cherotich (born 13 July 2004) is a Kenyan athlete who specializes in the 3000 metres steeplechase. At the age of 17, she won the bronze medal at the 2021 World Athletics Under-20 Championships held in Nairobi. Cherotich upgraded her bronze ...

at the

in the Women's 3000 metres steeplechase.

2023

Almayew ran 9:05.83 to set a new personal best and national under-20 record at the

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 ...

meeting of the Diamond League in May 2023, finishing second behind Kenyan

Beatrice Chepkoech Beatrice Chepkoech Sitonik (born 6 July 1991) is a Kenyan Long-distance running, long-distance runner who specialises in the 3000 metres steeplechase. She won gold medals at the 2019 World Athletics Championships, 2019 World Championships and 20 ...

. The following month, Almayew set a new personal best and meeting record time of 9:00.71 to win the 3000 m steeplechase at the Diamond League meeting in

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

on 2 June 2023. Competing in the 3000m steeplechase at the

2023 World Athletics Championships The 2023 World Athletics Championships (), the nineteenth edition of the World Athletics Championships, were held from 19 to 27 August 2023 at the National Athletics Centre (Budapest), National Athletics Centre, in Budapest, Hungary. The tourna ...

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

, she qualified for the final, finishing second in her heat. In the final, she finished in thirteenth place.

2024

She finished in fifth place at the

2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

in the Women's 3000 metres steeplechase. In August 2024, she won gold at the

2024 World Athletics U20 Championships The 2024 World Athletics U20 Championships, also known colloquially by its former official title, the World Junior Championships, is an international athletics competition for athletes qualifying as juniors (born no earlier than 1 January 2005) ...

in the 3000 metres steeplechase, setting a new championship record time of 9:12.71. She was named Women’s Rising Star at the World Athletics Awards in December 2024.

2025

She finished third in the 3000m steeplechase in May 2025 at the

2025 Doha Diamond League The 2025 Doha Diamond League was the 27th edition of the annual outdoor track and field meeting in Doha, Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the nor ...

. In June 2025, she ran a time of 9:01.22 to finish third at the 2025 Meeting de Paris. She ran a personal best 8:59.90 at the

2025 Prefontaine Classic The 2025 Prefontaine Classic was the 50th edition of the annual outdoor track and field meeting in Eugene, Oregon, United States. It was held on 5 July May at Hayward Field, it was the 9th leg of the 2025 Diamond League – the highest-level int ...

on 5 July.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Almayew, Sembo 2005 births Living people Ethiopian female middle-distance runners Ethiopian female steeplechase runners Place of birth missing (living people) World Athletics Championships athletes for Ethiopia African Games athletes for Ethiopia Athletes (track and field) at the 2023 African Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2024 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Ethiopia 21st-century Ethiopian sportswomen