Birhanu Legese Explained

Birhanu Legese
Birth Name:Birhanu Legese Gurmesa
Birth Date:11 September 1994
Birth Place:Woliso, Oromia, Ethiopia[1]
Country:Ethiopia
Sport:Athletics
Event:Long-distance running
Team:NN Running Team
Coach:Jos Hermens
Pb:Marathon

2:02:48 (Berlin 2019)

Birhanu Legese Gurmesa (born 11 September 1994)[2] is an Ethiopian long-distance runner. He won the 2019 and 2020 Tokyo Marathon and finished second at the 2019 Berlin Marathon.

Legese is currently part of the NN Running Team, which is managed by Global Sports Communication.[3]

Career

Born and raised in Woliso, around 100 km south west of Addis Ababa, Birhanu Legese started out as a talented sprinter, winning area 100 metres and 200 m titles.

In 2012, he ran 10 kilometres races, finishing second at the Great Ethiopian Run and, in his international debut, winning the Corrida de Houilles in France.

In 2013, the then 18-year-old finished second in the 10 km in Taroudant, Morocco with a time of 27:34, the third-fastest 10 km road time in the world for 2013.[4]

In 2015, Legese claimed victory at the Berlin Half Marathon (59:45) before winning Delhi Half Marathon in a time of 59:20, the joint third-fastest time in the world that year.[5]

Further half marathon victories followed at the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon in the United Arab Emirates in 2016 (1:00:40) and New Delhi once again in 2017 (59:46).[6]

In January 2018, Legese made his marathon debut at the Dubai Marathon, finishing sixth with a time of 2:04:15.

In March 2019, the 24-year-old claimed his biggest victory up to that point by winning his first World Marathon Major at the Tokyo Marathon by a two-minute margin, clocking 2:04:48 despite cold and rainy conditions.[7] In September that year, Legese finished second at the Berlin Marathon with a time of 2:02:48 to move to third on the world all-time list behind only Eliud Kipchoge and Kenenisa Bekele.[8]

He successfully defended his title at the 2020 Tokyo Marathon by winning the race with a time of 2:04:15. He ran 2:03:16 for third at the Valencia Marathon in December that year.

Legese placed fifth at the 2021 London Marathon, and sixth at the 2022 London Marathon.

Marathon performances

Personal bests

Birhanu Legese's personal bests are:

Distance Time Place Date
1500 Metres 3:44.07 Luanda, Angola 2 January 2014
3000 Metres 7:51.09 Hengelo, Netherlands 8 June 2014
5000 Metres 13:08.88 Shanghai, China 18 May 2014
10 Kilometres 27:34 Taroudant, Morocco 10 March 2013
10 Miles Road 45:38 Amsterdam, Netherlands 17 September 2017
Half Marathon 59:20 New Delhi, India 29 November 2015
25 Kilometres 1:12:54 Kolkata, India 18 December 2022
Marathon 2:02:48 Berlin, Germany 29 September 2019

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Birhanu Legese profile . 5 January 2023 . . en.
  2. Web site: Birhanu LEGESE – Athlete Profile . . 5 January 2023.
  3. Web site: NN Running Team / Team . 5 January 2023 . . en.
  4. Web site: Season Top Lists – Men's 10 km road race – World 2013 . 5 January 2023. World Athletics.
  5. Web site: Season Top Lists – Men's Half marathon – World 2015 . 5 January 2023. World Athletics.
  6. Web site: Claus . Liz . 12 February 2016 . Ethiopia's Birhanu Legese and Kenya's Cynthia Limo win RAK Half Marathon – in pictures . 5 January 2023 . . en.
  7. Web site: Nagatsuka . Kaz . 3 March 2019 . Birhanu Legese overcomes wet conditions to win Tokyo Marathon . 5 January 2023 . The Japan Times.
  8. Web site: All time Top lists – Men's Marathon – World until 29 September 2019 . 5 January 2023. World Athletics.