| Birth Date: | December 15, 1972 |
Fita Bayisa (Amharic: ፊጣ ባይሳ; born December 15, 1972, in Ambo, Oromia)[1] is an Ethiopian long-distance runner, best known for winning a bronze medal in the 5,000 metres event at the 1992 Summer Olympics. A year earlier, he had won a silver medal at the World Championships in Tokyo. Before the Olympic Games in Barcelona, Bayisa had emerged as the favourite for 10,000 metres, as he had defeated a world-class field at the Bislett Games in Oslo in a time of 27:14.26 min. However, he failed to make an impact on the 10,000 m final, which was won by Khalid Skah.
Among his other achievements, he was the winner of the 1999 Belgrade Race Through History. He beat Paul Tergat by a second in the unusual race across Belgrade's city fortress.[2]
Bayisa was the flag bearer for Ethiopia in the Atlanta 1996 opening ceremony.[3]
| Representing | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Plovdiv, Bulgaria | 1st | 5,000 m | 13:42.59 | ||
| 1991 | Tokyo, Japan | 2nd | 5,000 m | 13:16.64 | ||
| Cairo, Egypt | 1st | 5,000 m | 13:36.91 | |||
| 1992 | World Cross Country Championships | Boston, United States | 3rd | Cross (12.53 km) | 37:18 | |
| Summer Olympics | Barcelona, Spain | 3rd | 5,000 m | 13:13.03 | ||
| IAAF World Cup | Havana, Cuba | 1st | 5,000 m | 13:41.23 | ||
| 1993 | Stuttgart, Germany | 3rd | 5,000 m | 13:05.40 | ||
| Durban, South Africa | 3rd | 10,000 m | 27:26.90 | |||
| 1997 | Athens, Greece | 10th | 5,000 m | 13:25.98 | ||
| 2000 | Sydney, Australia | 4th | 5,000 m | 13:37.03 | ||