Yemane Tsegay

Rotterdam 2012

Yemane Adhane Tsegay (born 8 April 1985)[1] is an Ethiopian long distance runner who specialises in the marathon. He won the 2012 Rotterdam Marathon with a personal best time of 2:04:48 hours. He has also won marathons in Eindhoven, Gyeongju, Macau and Taipei.

He began competing in international races in 2008 and finished third at the Casablanca Marathon that year, posting a time of 2:13:29.[2] He had his first victory at the end of the year, winning the Macau Marathon in December.[3] He opened 2009 with a second place finish at the Marrakech Marathon in January.[4] Yemane made significant progress at the Paris International Marathon in April that year: although he finished in fourth place, he clocked a much improved personal best of 2:06:30.[5]

He qualified to represent Ethiopia at the World Championships in Athletics and put in a strong debut performance at the 2009 World Championship Marathon race with a time of 2:08:42, just seven seconds behind bronze medallist Tsegay Kebede.[6] Two months later he recorded his third consecutive sub-2:09 time, breaking the course record at the Gyeongju International Marathon in the process.[7][8]

In the 2010 season, he started by setting a new half marathon best of 1:01:50 at the Zayed International Half Marathon. He stepped back up to the full distance for the Lake Biwa Marathon and won in cold conditions, beating Tomoyuki Sato and Hendrick Ramaala to the finish.[9][10] He improved further at the Prague Half Marathon with a quick run of 1:01:37 for third place, in spite of poor conditions.[11] He was the race favourite for the Prague Marathon in May, but late entrant Eliud Kiptanui won the race instead, leaving Tsegay as runner-up with a time of 2:07:11. He was dissatisfied with the run, saying that he classified 2:05 as a good time for his ability.[12] He ran at the Berlin Marathon in September 2010 and finished in fourth place, running 2:07:52 in wet conditions.[13]

He was among the favourites for the 2011 Tokyo Marathon but never looked likely to win the race and ended up in ninth with a comparatively slow time of 2:11:49.[14] He was eighth at the Prague Marathon but performed well in east Asia near the end of the year, coming third at the JoongAng Seoul Marathon in a time of 2:10:47 hours in spite of poor weather,[15] then setting a race record of 2:10:24 hours to win the Taipei Marathon.[16]

Yemane improved his personal best by a second at the 2012 Dubai Marathon, but his time of 2:06:29 hours brought him only tenth place in the quick race, which saw him beaten by eight other Ethiopians.[17] He achieved a significantly faster time at the 2012 Rotterdam Marathon, winning the event in 2:04:48, just one second ahead of countryman Getu Feleke, and bringing himself up to eighth place on the all-time lists.[18]

The majority of his 2013 season was geared towards preparation for the 2013 World Championships Marathon, where ultimately he fell off the pace and finished in eighth with a time of 2:11:43 hours.[19] He made a successful return to the Dutch road racing circuit by winning the Eindhoven Marathon in a time of 2:09:11 hours.[20]

In May 2014, Tsegay won the Ottawa Marathon in 2:06:54, setting a new Canadian soil record as well as the course record.[21]

He is married to Abeba Aregawi.

Personal bests

Event Time (h:m:s) Venue Date
Half marathon 1:01:37 Prague, Czech Republic 27 March 2010
Marathon 2:04:48 Rotterdam, Netherlands 15 April 2012

References

  1. ↑ Yemane Tsegay. World Marathon Majors. Retrieved on 2010-10-17.
  2. ↑ Yemane Tsegay. World Marathon Majors. Retrieved on 2010-03-08.
  3. ↑ Ethiopian Yemane Tsegay Adhane wins 2008 Macau Marathon . Macau News (2008-12-07). Retrieved on 2010-03-08.
  4. ↑ Biography. Marathon Free. Retrieved on 2010-03-08.
  5. ↑ Vazel, Pierre-Jean (2009-04-05). 2:05:47 course record for Kipruto in Paris, five others under 2:07. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-03-08.
  6. ↑ Mulkeen, Jon (2009-08-22). Event Report - Men's Marathon - Final. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-03-08.
  7. ↑ Wins for Ethiopians in road weekend. Ethiopian Run (2009-10-19). Retrieved on 2010-03-08.
  8. ↑ Nakamura, Ken (2010-03-05). Course record in jeopardy at Lake Biwa Marathon? - Preview. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-03-08.
  9. ↑ Tsegay wins Lake Biwa Marathon. Japan Today (2010-03-07). Retrieved on 2010-03-08.
  10. ↑ Nakamura, Ken (2010-03-07). Tsegay takes Lake Biwa crown. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-03-08.
  11. ↑ Butcher, Pat (2010-03-27). Kenyan double in Prague… Kosgei defends her title. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-03-27.
  12. ↑ Butcher, Pat (2010-05-09). Massive breakthrough for Kiptanui - 2:05:39 in Prague. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-05-22.
  13. ↑ Butcher, Pat (2010-09-26). Makau and Kebede triumph in rainy Berlin. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-09-26.
  14. ↑ Nakamura, Ken (2011-02-27). Mekonnen triumphs in Tokyo in 2:07:35. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-02-27.
  15. ↑ Yelena Kurdyumova and Sergey Porada (2011-11-06). Kwambai beats the rain and chill in Seoul. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-11-07.
  16. ↑ African runners win Taipei marathon. The China Post (2011-12-19). Retrieved on 2011-12-23.
  17. ↑ Butcher, Pat (2012-01-27). Abshero stuns with 2:04:23 debut, Mergia clocks 2:19:31 in Dubai. IAAF. Retrieved on 2012-02-04.
  18. ↑ van Hemert, Wim (2012-04-15). Spectacular double Ethiopian success brings home 2:04 and 2:18 victories in Rotterdam. IAAF. Retrieved on 2012-04-22.
  19. ↑ Marathon - men. IAAF. Retrieved on 2013-10-15.
  20. ↑ Minshull, Phil (2013-10-13). Tsegay ends Kenya's 14-year winning streak at Marathon Eindhoven. IAAF. Retrieved on 2013-10-15.
  21. ↑ http://ottawacitizen.com/sports/local-sports/yemane-tsegay-wins-ottawa-marathon-results

External links