Gudaf Tsegay

Gudaf Tsegay Desta (born 23 January 1997)[1] is an Ethiopian middle- and long-distance runner.[2] She is the 2020 Tokyo Olympic bronze medalist in the women's 5000 metres, and earned also bronze over the 1500 metres at the 2019 World Championships. Tsegay is a two-time 1500m World Indoor Championship medallist, winning gold in 2022 and bronze in 2016. She is the current world record holder in the indoor 1500m, the event in which she also set world under-18 (current) and U20 records.

Gudaf Tsegay
Tsegay in 2016
Personal information
Full nameGudaf Tsegay Desta
NationalityEthiopian
Born (1997-01-23) 23 January 1997
Height163 cm (5 ft 4 in)
Weight50 kg (110 lb)
Sport
CountryEthiopia
SportTrack and field
Event(s)Middle-, Long-distance running
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)
Medal record
Women's athletics
Representing  Ethiopia
Olympic Games
2020 Tokyo5000 m
World Championships
2019 Doha1500 m
World Indoor Championships
2022 Belgrade1500 m
2016 Portland1500 m
World Junior Championships
2014 Eugene1500 m

At age 17, she was the 2014 World Junior Championship 1500m silver medalist. She represented her country over the distance at the 2014 World Indoor Championships. Tsegay is a versatile runner. As of February 2022, she held the world's 10th fastest time in the indoor 800 metres, and 6th for the 10,000 metres.[3]

Career

In February 2014, 17-year-old Gudaf Tsegay set the world's fastest under-18 mark for the indoor 1500 metres with a time of 4m 8.47s in Stockholm.[3] In July, she became the World Junior Championship silver medallist in Eugene with a time of 4:10.83, behind her compatriot Dawit Seyaum in 4:09.86.

Two years later, Tsegay broke world under-20 record at this indoor event in a time of 4m 1.81s in Glasgow, beating previous best set by her compatriot Kalkidan Gezahegne in 2010 by more than a second.[4] Tsegay's record was bettered in 2020 by her another compatriot Lemlem Hailu.[3] At the World Indoor Championships in Portland, she won the bronze medal in 4:05.71 behind only Sifan Hassan representing the Netherlands (4:04.96) and Dawit (4:05.30). The then 19-year-old represented Ethiopia in the 800 metres at the 2016 Rio Olympics, where she eliminated in the heat 3, clocking 2:00.13.

In 2017, she competed at the World Championships in London and went out of the 1500m event in the semi-finals. She fell after the first lap and posted the slowest time, slower by about 13 seconds than that ran in the heats.[5]

At the following World Championships in 2019 in Doha, Tsegay won the bronze medal in the event with a personal best time of 3:54.38. Hassan was first in 3:51.95 and Kenya's Faith Kipyegon finished second in 3:54.22.[6]

The next year, she earned her first overall 1500m World Indoor Tour victory.

2021: indoor 1500 metres world record

In February, Tsegay broke the women’s indoor 1500m world record at the Meeting Hauts-de-France Pas-de-Calais in Liévin.[7] The former mark of 3:55.17 set by her compatriot Genzebe Dibaba in 2014 was lowered by Tsegay to 3 minutes 53.09 seconds.[8]

In June, she posted best time of the year for the 5000 metres with her mark of 14m 13.32s to take a bronze at the event in 14:38.87 at the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Hassan came first in 14:36.79, and Kenya's Hellen Obiri was second clocking 14:38.36.[9]

2022

In February 2022, she contested the mile in Liévin, possibly with Dibaba's world record of 4:13.31 in her sights. Having fallen on the first lap Tsegay finished in 4:21.72, breaking, however, a 20-year-old meeting record.[10] When chasing her own world indoor record over 1500m at the Copernicus Cup in Toruń a few days later, she was only 1.68 seconds behind to secure also the second mark on the indoor all-time list.[11] She took comfortable her second overall World Indoor Tour 1500 metres victory eight days later at the Villa de Madrid Indoor Meeting, producing another record-breaking 3:57.38, the fifth-fastest result in turn in the world all-time indoor ranking.[12]

Also in March, Tsegay continued her record-breaking form, dominating in her specialist event at the World Indoor Championships in Belgrade. She took her first global title, setting a championship record of 3m 57.19s, and winning by more than five seconds (~30 m). She led an Ethiopian medals sweep as Axumawit Embaye and Hirut Meshesha finished second and third, respectively. It was the first time one country swept the medals in any discipline, and the seventh sucessive Ethiopian women's victory in the event, at the World Athletics Indoor Championships.[13]

Achievements

International competitions
Representing  Ethiopia
YearCompetitionVenuePositionEventTime
2014 World Indoor Championships Sopot, Poland 9th (h) 1500 m i 4:11.83
World Junior Championships Eugene, United States 2nd 1500 m 4:10.83
2016 World Indoor Championships Portland, United States 3rd 1500 m i 4:05.71
Olympic Games Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 19th (h) 800 m 2:00.13
2017 World Championships London, United Kingdom 24th (sf) 1500 m 4:22.01
2019 World Championships Doha, Qatar 3rd 1500 m 3:54.38
2021 Olympic Games Tokyo, Japan 3rd 5000 m 14:38.87
2022 World Indoor Championships Belgrade, Serbia 1st 1500 m i 3:57.19 CR

Circuit wins, and National championships

Personal bests

References
  1. "Gudaf TSEGAY – Athlete profile". World Athletics. Retrieved 1 January 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  2. "Fast 10,000m for Gudaf Tsegay and huge throw for Maria Andrejczyk - weekly round-up". 10 May 2021.
  3. "All time Top lists – 10,000 m Women – World | until 2022-02-23". World Athletics. Retrieved 23 February 2022. Use filters for details{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  4. Mills, Steven (20 February 2016). "1500m world lead for Iguider in Glasgow, world U20 indoor record for Tsegay". World Athletics. Retrieved 22 February 2022.
  5. "WCH 17 | London 2017 – 1500 metres Women | Timetable". World Athletics. 5 August 2017. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
  6. "WCH 19 | Doha 2019 – 1500 metres Women | Final". World Athletics. 5 October 2019. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
  7. "Laura Muir six seconds back as Gudaf Tsegay smashes 1500m world record". The Guardian. 9 February 2021. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  8. "1500 Metres - women - senior - indoor". www.worldathletics.org. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  9. "The XXXII Olympic Games | Tokyo 2020 – 5000 metres Women | Final". World Athletics. 2 August 2021. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
  10. Mulkeen, Jon (17 February 2022). "Ingebrigtsen breaks world indoor 1500m record in Lievin". World Athletics. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
  11. Rowbottom, Mike (22 February 2022). "Home sprinter Swoboda beats double Olympic champion Thompson-Herah over 60m in Toruń". Inside the Games. Retrieved 22 February 2022.
  12. Smythe, Steve (8 March 2022). "Weekly Round-up - Records in US 10,000m and fast women's times at Trafford 10km". AW. Retrieved 8 March 2022.
  13. Turnbull, Simon (19 March 2022). "World record-holder Tsegay leads Ethiopian 1500m medal sweep in Belgrade". World Athletics. Retrieved 19 March 2022.
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