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.

[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 He is no longer active in international competition.

[edit] See also

• Marathon world best progression

Preceded by Abebe Mekonnen	Rotterdam Marathon Winner 1987–1989	Succeeded by Hiromi Taniguchi
Preceded by Martín Fiz	Rotterdam Marathon Winner 1996	Succeeded by Dionisio Castro