Belayneh Densamo

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Belayneh Densamo (born June 28, 1965 in Diramo Afarrara, Sidamo) is a long distance track and road running athlete from Ethiopia. He held the world record in the marathon for 10 years (1988-1998). This was the third longest span without the record being broken since the event was first organized at the 1896 Olympics. The record was set when he ran 2:06:50 at the 1988 Rotterdam Marathon in the Netherlands. The record was eventually broken by Ronaldo da Costa at the Berlin Marathon in 1998

Belayneh Densamo (r.) with Jim Rhoades, both members of Athletics East

[edit] List of Races Won and Other Notable Perfomances

Marathon second place - Tokyo Marathon 1986
Marathon winner - Moscow Marathon 1986
Marathon winner - Rotterdam Marathon 1987
Marathon winner - All-Africa Games 1987
Marathon winner and world record holder - Rotterdam 1988
Marathon winner - Rotterdam 1989
Marathon winner - Rotterdam 1996
Marathon winner - Fukuoka Marathon 1990

[edit] Current Status

For a man who held the world marathon record for so long and held it until relatively recently, Densamo lives an unheralded, modest existence in the Cambridge, MA area. He occasionally competes in local road races and runs with a local track team, Athletics East. He is no longer active in international competition.