| Olympic medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Competitor for Ethiopia | ||
| Men's athletics | ||
| All-Africa Games | ||
| Gold | 2011 Maputo | Half marathon |
Lelisa Desisa Benti (born 14 January 1990) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner who specialises in road running competitions. He gained his first international medal at the 2009 African Junior Athletics Championships, where he took the 10,000 metres gold medal.[1]
Desisa made his breakthrough on to the senior international scene at road races in 2010, beginning with a sub-60 minute run for third place at the Zayed International Half Marathon in January.[2] He engaged Wilson Kiprop in a sprint finish at the Paris Half Marathon two months later, ending up in second place.[3] He took to the United States road circuit and was sixth at the Crescent City Classic before taking the runner-up spot at the Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Run behind Stephen Tum.[4][5] He won the Ottawa 10K in May and led an Ethiopian podium sweep with a win at the Bolder Boulder two days later.[6][7] That July, he came third in a sprint for the line at the Peachtree Road Race and won the Boilermaker Road Race in Utica in a course record time.[8] He received his first senior international call-up for the 2010 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships. He came seventh overall, recording a time of 1:01:28 alongside his compatriot Birhanu Bekele to secure the team bronze medal for the Ethiopians.[9] He set a new half marathon best (59:39 minutes) in November at the Delhi Half Marathon and finished one second behind winner Geoffrey Mutai.[10]
He came close to a personal best at the World's Best 10K in February 2011, taking third place in a time of 28:02 minutes.[11] This served as preparation for the City-Pier-City Loop in March, where he came out on top in a five-man sprint finish to record a personal best of 59:37 minutes for the half marathon.[12] In a two-day period he won the Cooper River Bridge Run and then broke the course record at the Cherry Blossom 10-Miler, improving upon a mark which had stood for 16 years.[13] That June he reached the podium at the World 10K Bangalore, coming third behind Kenyan opposition.[14] He was not selected for the World Championships that year, but instead won the half marathon at the 2011 All-Africa Games held that same month. In November he returned to Delhi and ran a best of 59:30 minutes to win the half marathon race, beating Geoffrey Kipsang by a second.[15]
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