Dejene Berhanu

Dejene Berhanu
Personal information
Born December 12, 1980(1980-12-12)
Addis Alem, Oromia, Ethiopia
Died August 29, 2010(2010-08-29) (aged 29)
Ethiopia
Height 1.84 metres (6 ft 0 in)
Weight 64 kilograms (140 lb)
Sport
Country Ethiopia
Sport Running
Event(s) 5000 metres
Turned pro 2004
Achievements and titles
Olympic finals 2004 Summer Olympics: 5000 m – 5th

Dejene Berhanu (December 12, 1980 – August 29, 2010[1]), was a male Ethiopian runner, who specialized in the 5000 metres.

Berhanu finished 11th in the short race at the 2004 World Cross Country Championships and 5th in the 5000 at the Athens Olympics. He followed that up with a pair of strong finishes at the World Cross Country Championships the next year. Berhanu was 7th in the short race and 6th in the long race. He ran in the 5000 again at the World Championships at Helsinki, finishing 8th.

In 2006, Berhanu turned to focus on the marathon. He eschewed cross country for the Rotterdam Marathon, where he finished fourth in a time of 2:08:46. He ran the Chicago Marathon in the fall as a last-minute replacement for favourite Felix Limo. Running with the leaders through the halfway mark in a blistering 63:15, Berhanu faded after 30 km and finished 9th in a time of 2:12:27.

Contents

Death

Berhanu died August 29, 2010 in Ethiopia, at age 29. The cause of death was suicide. He is survived by his wife and their daughter, born 2007.[2]

Achievements

Year Competition Venue Position Event Notes
Representing  Ethiopia
2000 African Championships Algiers, Algeria 2nd 10,000 m
2003 All-Africa Games Abuja, Nigeria 3rd 10,000 m
World Athletics Final Monte Carlo, Monaco 6th 5000 m
2004 World Cross Country Championships Brussels, Belgium 11th Short race
Olympic Games Athens, Greece 5th 5000 m
World Athletics Final Monte Carlo, Monaco 2nd 5000 m
2005 World Cross Country Championships Saint-Galmier, France 7th Short race
World Cross Country Championships Saint-Galmier, France 6th Long race
World Championships Helsinki, Finland 8th 5000 m
2007 World Championships Osaka, Japan 31st Marathon 2:27:50

Personal bests

References

Sporting positions
Preceded by
Hendrick Ramaala
Men's Half Marathon Best Year Performance
2004
Succeeded by
Zersenay Tadese