20 Facts About Abeba Aregawi

Abeba Aregawi Gebretsadik is an Ethiopian-born Swedish middle-distance runner who specialised in the 1,500 metres.

Abeba Aregawi won the silver medal in the 1,500 m at the 2012 Summer Olympics and a gold medal at the World Championships in 2013.

Abeba Aregawi represented Ethiopia internationally until December 2012, and afterwards represented Sweden.

Abeba Aregawi was born in Adigrat, Ethiopia in the Tigray Region.

Abeba Aregawi represented Ethiopia internationally until December 2012, after she became a naturalized Swedish citizen.

Abeba Aregawi represented the Stockholm-based club Hammarby IF to January 2016.

Abeba Aregawi is remarried to Yemane Tsegay and lives in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Abeba Aregawi emerged as an 800 metres runner in 2009 by winning the Ethiopian title in the event ahead of three-time champion Mestawet Tadesse.

Abeba Aregawi competed at a number of European meets after this then set a personal best of 2:01.98 minutes in Tangiers.

Abeba Aregawi switched to the 1500 metres in the 2010 season and enjoyed success with wins at the Sollentuna Grand Prix and KBC Night of Athletics meetings, setting a personal best of 4:01.96 minutes at the latter race.

Abeba Aregawi ran on the 2010 Diamond League circuit for the first time, coming fourth at the DN Galan and seventh at the Weltklasse Zurich.

Abeba Aregawi had a strong indoor season in 2011, with four straight wins in Dusseldorf, Gent, Birmingham and Stockholm, including a personal best run of 4:01.47 minutes.

Abeba Aregawi contested her first race representing Sweden at international level during the European Indoor Championships in front of her home crowd in Gothenburg, where she won the gold medal.

Abeba Aregawi won the first five Diamond League events and secured the overall title with two races left.

At the World Championships in Moscow Abeba Aregawi won the gold medal at 1500 metres, Sweden's eighth gold medal since the first championships in 1983.

On February 29,2016, the Swedish Athletics Federation stated that Abeba Aregawi had tested positive for the substance in January 2016.

Abeba Aregawi was provisionally suspended from competing the same day.

Abeba Aregawi was officially struck from the list of active athletes by the Swedish Athletics Association on 28 November 2018.

In March 2025, Abeba Aregawi finished 3rd at the Lisbon Half Marathon in a time of 1:06:36 to break the Swedish half marathon record.

Abeba Aregawi stated in a press release after, "I plan to compete in both the upcoming European Championships and the World Championships in Japan".