Tejitu Daba Chalchissa (born 20 August 1991) 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

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 competes mainly in cross country and

track running Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

events. She won 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 ...

over

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

2011 Asian Athletics Championships The 19th Asian Athletics Championships were held in Kobe, Japan between July 7–10, 2011 at the Kobe Universiade Memorial Stadium. The tournament had 507 athletes from forty Asian nations competing in the 42 track and field events over the four- ...

. Tejitu began running for Bahrain in 2009 and her first outing for her adopted country came 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 was second in the junior ranks behind

Shitaye Eshete Shitaye Eshete Habtegebrel (born 21 May 1990) is an Ethiopian-born long-distance runner who competes internationally for Bahrain. Debut She first began competing for the oil-rich Gulf state in 2009, making her debut at the Asian Cross Country ...

(another Ethiopian-turned-Bahraini). She then ran in the junior race of 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 ...

, placing 23rd overall. Turning to track events, she completed a

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 ...

double at the

Arab Athletics Championships The Arab Athletics Championships () is an event organized by the Arab Athletics Federation. It traditionally occurred every two years. It was not held in 1985 due to the schedule clash with the Pan Arab Games. However, due to the erratic scheduli ...

.Tejitu Daba
Tilastopaja. Retrieved on 2011-07-09. In October she won the

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 ...

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 ...

She looked set to top the podium again at the

2009 Asian Athletics Championships The 18th Asian Athletics Championships were held in Guangzhou, People's Republic of China, China in 2009. Results Men Track Field Women Track Field Medal table Participating nations * (12) * (1) * (1) * (77) * (22) * ...

, but she slowed too early at the line and allowed Xue Fei to pip her at the line. Tejitu also represented Bahrain in the 10,000 m at the competition and was fourth overall. 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 ...

, she reached the top ten in the junior race and was the only runner in the top twelve who did not compete for Kenya or Ethiopia. She ran a national junior record over 3000 m at the Arab Junior Championships, taking a 3000/5000 m double. She went on to take the 5000 m gold at the

2010 Asian Junior Athletics Championships The 2010 Asian Junior Athletics Championships was the 14th edition of the international athletics competition for Asian under-20 athletes, organised by the Asian Athletics Association. It took place from 1 to 4 July 2010 at the Mỹ Đình Nationa ...

, although she managed only fourth over 3000 m. Later that month she attended the

2010 World Junior Championships in Athletics 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to s ...

and delivered a 3000 m best of 9:01.22 minutes and 5000 m best of 15:29.78 minutes, reaching the top five in both disciplines. She represented Asia/Pacific 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 sixth in the 3000 m. She was chosen to compete for Bahrain 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 ...

and gave her third personal best performance of the year in the 10,000 m, where her time of 32:21.29 minutes brought her seventh place. She moved up to the senior level in 2011 and helped the Bahraini women to fourth in the team rankings at the

2011 IAAF World Cross Country Championships The 2011 IAAF World Cross Country Championships took place on March 20, 2011. The races were held at the Polideportivo Antonio Gil Hernández in Punta Umbría, Spain. Reports of the event were given for the IAAF. Preparation The Uni ...

. Tejitu won her first major senior title later that year, winning the 5000 m at the

while two other former Ethiopians ( Genzebe Shami and Shitaye Eshete) made it a distance running sweep for Bahrain from

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 ...

to 10,000 m. She placed second behind Shitaye Eshete in the 5000 m at the

2011 Military World Games The 2011 Military World Games (), officially known as the 5th CISM Military World Games (), was hosted from July 15–24, 2011 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The 5th Military World Games was the largest military sports event ever held in Brazil, wit ...

, and went on to set a personal best of 15:14.62 minutes to finish ninth at the

2011 World Championships in Athletics The 13th IAAF World Championships in Athletics () was an international athletics competition that was held in Daegu, South Korea. It started on 27 August 2011 and finished on 4 September 2011. The United States topped the medal standings in the ...

. She ended the year with a 10,000 m win at the

2011 Pan Arab Games The 2011 Arab Games also known as the 12th Arab Games took place in Doha, Qatar from 6 to 23 December 2011. This was the first time that the country had hosted the multi-sport event. Khalifa International Stadium was the main venue for the comp ...

. She won the bronze over

at the

2012 Asian Indoor Athletics Championships The 2012 Asian Indoor Athletics Championships was the fifth edition of the international indoor athletics (sport), athletics event between Asian nations. It took place at the Vocational and Technical College Athletics Hall in Hangzhou, China, betw ...

, but failed to make it past the heats at the

2012 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 2012 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics was the 14th edition of the global-level indoor track and field competition and was held between March 9–11, 2012 at the Ataköy Athletics Arena in Istanbul, Turkey. It was the first of fo ...

. She was runner-up in a Bahraini podium sweep at the 2012

alongside Shitaye Eshete and Genzebe Shami.Krishnan, Ram. Murali (2012-03-25)
Bahrain dominates at Asian XC champs
IAAF. Retrieved on 2012-03-26.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Daba, Tejitu 1991 births Living people Ethiopian female long-distance runners Bahraini female long-distance runners Ethiopian female cross country runners Bahraini female cross country runners Olympic athletes for Bahrain Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Asian Games athletes for Bahrain Athletes (track and field) at the 2010 Asian Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2014 Asian Games World Athletics Championships athletes for Bahrain Asian Athletics Championships winners Asian Athletics Championships medalists Asian Cross Country Championships winners Ethiopian emigrants to Bahrain Naturalized citizens of Bahrain Arab Games gold medalists Arab Athletics Championships winners West Asian Athletics Championships winners

See also

References

External links