Worku Bikila (born 6 May 1968) is a retired

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 ...

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 specialized mainly in 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 ...

. His

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 ...

time of 27:06.44 minutes in 1995 was the second-fastest time that year, behind

Haile Gebrselassie Haile Gebrselassie (; born 18 April 1973) is an Ethiopian former Long-distance running, long-distance track running, track, road running athlete, and businessman. He won two Olympic gold medals and four World Athletics Championships, World Cha ...

. He represented Ethiopia at the

World Championships in Athletics The World Athletics Championships, known as the IAAF World Championships in Athletics until 2019, are a biennial athletics competition organized by World Athletics, formerly International Association of Athletics Federations. Alongside Olympic ...

on three occasions (1993, 1995 and 1997). He was a two-time winner at the

Zevenheuvelenloop The Zevenheuvelenloop (; English: Seven Hills Run) is an annual Road running, road race of 15K_run, 15 kilometres held in and around Nijmegen, Netherlands. It was first organised in 1984 and has grown to be one of the largest road races in th ...

15,000 metres, from 1997 to 1998. Since retiring, Bikila has put his energies into forming two companies that have brought much-needed revenue to his local community in Dukam, Ethiopia: Worku Bikila Water Well Drilling Limited performs water well monitoring, exploration, observation, and abandonment services, while Worku Bikila Hotel is a hotel for international travellers.

International Competitions

Personal bests

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 ...

– 7:42.44 min (1997) *

– 12:57.23 min (1995) *

– 27:06.44 min (1995) *

Half marathon A half marathon is a road running event of —half the distance of a marathon. It is common for a half marathon event to be held concurrently with a marathon or a 5K race, using almost the same course with a late start, an early finish, or shortcu ...

– 1:02:15 hrs (2002) *

Marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of kilometres ( 26 mi 385 yd), usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There ...

– 2:11:48 hrs (2001)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bikila, Worku 1968 births Living people Ethiopian male long-distance runners Ethiopian male marathon runners Athletes (track and field) at the 1992 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Ethiopia World Athletics Championships athletes for Ethiopia 20th-century Ethiopian sportsmen