Tariku Jufar

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Tariku Jufar at the 2009 Los Angeles Marathon conference

Tariku Jufar (born 18 July 1984) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner who competes in marathon races. He has won the Beijing, Beirut and Houston Marathons and has had top-three finishes in Istanbul, Mumbai, Los Angeles, Lake Biwa and Hamburg. His personal best for the distance is 2:06:51 hours (set in 2012).

In addition to marathon running, he also represented his country at the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships in 2003 and 2007.

Career

His rise as a professional athlete began at the 2003 Ethiopian half marathon championships, where he was runner-up behind Dereje Adere.[1] As a result he was chosen for the Ethiopian team at the 2003 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships, where he came 17th.[2] That year he was also third at the Paderborn Easter Run and second at the Reims Half Marathon.[3]

He did not build upon this success until 2006, when he returned to major half marathon running with a runner-up finish at the Nice Half Marathon and a fifth place at the Delhi Half Marathon.[4][5] His debut over the marathon distance came in January 2007 and he transitioned well, taking third place at the Mumbai Marathon in a time of 2:12:49 hours.[6] An appearance at the Paris Marathon followed, but he could only manage 11th at the higher profile race. He represented Ethiopia in the half marathon at the 2007 All-Africa Games, coming eighth, and he ran a personal best of 61:28 minutes for 18th place at the 2007 IAAF World Road Running Championships.[2] His final outing of the year came at the Istanbul Eurasia Marathon and his third place finish in 2:11:05 hours was the beginning of a marathon-focused period of his career.[7]

Tariku Jufar led for the early stages of the Mumbai Marathon in January 2008 and held on to take second place behind Kenya's John Kelai.[8] A career best time of 2:08:10 hours came at the Hamburg Marathon three months later (where he was third)[9] The Toronto Waterfront Marathon was promoted as a rematch between him and Kelai, but both had sub-standard races – the Ethiopian was 13th and his time of 2:18:47 hours was by far the slowest of his professional career.[10] His performance at December's Singapore Marathon was even slower, as he came tenth in 2:19:20 hours.[11]

While training in Addis Ababa in 2009 he was hit by a car and the resulting injuries left him unable to compete for nine months.[12] His sole marathon of 2009, the Los Angeles Marathon, saw him return to form and he completed the distance in 2:09:32 hours (his second sub-2:10 hour run) to take the runner-up spot behind Wesley Korir.[13] Tariku had mixed results in the 2010 season: he returned to Los Angeles and came seventh in a time of 2:11:49 hours, but was some six minutes slower at the Florence Marathon, where he came fifth.[11] The 2011 Mumbai Marathon was tightly contested and although Tariku was fourteen seconds behind the winner Girma Assefa, this left him in fourth place.[14] His second run of the year came in Istanbul and a late-stage duel against Vincent Kiplagat resulted in a runner-up finish for the Ethiopian.[15] Just over a month later, he took to the course at the Beirut Marathon and he ran a course record time of 2:11:14 hours, seeing off a challenge from Sammy Malakwen.[16]

The 2012 Houston Marathon saw Tariku reach a new career high: he won the race in a personal best time of 2:06:51, which was a state record for Texas.[12] He managed only tenth at the Paris Marathon but returned to the top of the podium at the Beijing Marathon which he won in 2:09:39 hours.[17] [18]

He was a close second to Vincent Kipruto at the Lake Biwa Marathon in February 2013.[19] In May he became the first Ethiopian winner at the Ottawa Marathon in a course record time of 2:08:05 hours.[20]

References

  1. ↑ Negash, Elshadai (2003-09-22). Olympic bronze medallist Tola to guide young Ethiopian team to Vilamoura. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-11-27.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Jufar Tariku. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-11-27.
  3. ↑ 2003 Half Marathon. IAAF (2004-05-22). Retrieved on 2011-11-27.
  4. ↑ Krishnan, Ram. Murali (2006-10-15). Kibiwott, Chepkirui the winners at Delhi Half-Marathon. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-11-27.
  5. ↑ 2006 Half Marathon. IAAF (2006). Retrieved on 2011-11-27.
  6. ↑ Krishnan, Ram. Murali (2007-01-27). Unheralded Yang, Kenyan Kelai the winners in Mumbai. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-11-27.
  7. ↑ Jufar Tariku. MarathonInfo. Retrieved on 2011-11-27.
  8. ↑ Krishnan, Ram. Murali (2008-01-20). Kelai, Seboka take Mumbai Marathon titles. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-11-27.
  9. ↑ Wenig, Jorg (2008-04-27). Mandago, Timofeyeva impress at Hamburg Marathon. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-11-27.
  10. ↑ Gains, Paul (2008-09-28). Seboka Breaks Course Record at Toronto Marathon. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-11-27.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Tariku Jifar. Tilastopaja. Retrieved on 2011-11-27.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Jufar sizzles 2:06:51 as records tumble at Houston Marathon. IAAF (2012-01-16). Retrieved on 2012-01-16.
  13. ↑ ‘One sandwich’ Korir takes LA title in 2:08:24. IAAF (2009-05-26). Retrieved on 2011-11-27.
  14. ↑ Krishnan, Ram. Murali (2011-01-16). Assefa and Yal take down course records in Mumbai. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-11-27.
  15. ↑ Yelena Kurdyumova and Sergey Porada (2011-10-17). Kiplagat defends in cold and rainy Istanbul. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-11-27.
  16. ↑ Course records fall in Beirut. IAAF (2011-11-27). Retrieved on 2011-11-27.
  17. ↑ Jalava, Mirko (2012-11-25). Jufar and Jia Chaofeng triumph in Beijing. IAAF. Retrieved on 2013-02-14.
  18. ↑ Jalava, Mirko (2012-11-25). Jufar and Jia Chaofeng triumph in Beijing. IAAF. Retrieved on 2013-03-04.
  19. ↑ Nakamura, Ken (2013-03-03). Kipruto out-sprints Jufar to win Lake Biwa Marathon. IAAF. Retrieved on 2013-03-04.
  20. ↑ Gains, Paul (2013-05-26). Jufar and Esayias make Ethiopia's day at the Ottawa Marathon. IAAF. Retrieved on 2013-06-01.

External links

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