1. Almaz Ayana Eba is an Ethiopian long-distance runner.
18 Facts About Almaz Ayana
1. 2.
Almaz Ayana won the gold medal in the 10,000 metres and bronze in the 5,000 metres at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
3.
Almaz Ayana broke the 10,000 metres world record, set in 1993, while winning the gold medal at the Rio Olympics and held it until 2021.
4.
At the 2017 World Championships in London, Almaz Ayana won the title in the 10,000m, finishing 46 seconds ahead of the runner-up.
5.
Almaz Ayana finished third in both the 5,000m and 10,000m on the respective world all-time lists.
6.
Almaz Ayana set the fastest ever women's marathon debut at the 2022 Amsterdam Marathon.
7.
Almaz Ayana is married to her childhood friend and longtime partner, Soressa Fida.
8.
At age 21, Almaz Ayana won a bronze medal in the 5000 metres at the 2013 World Championships in Athletics held in Moscow, Russia.
9.
Almaz Ayana's win was named the Performance of the Championships by World Athletics.
10.
Almaz Ayana posted the fastest ever debut time of 30:07.00, defeating Tirunesh Dibaba and moving up to eighth on the world all-time list.
11.
At the 2016 Summer Olympics held in August in Rio de Janeiro, Almaz Ayana set a world record of 29:17.45 in the 10,000 metres, topping Chinese athlete Wang Junxia's 23-year-old world record by 14 seconds.
12.
The 10,000 metres was already an extremely fast race when Almaz Ayana broke away with 12 laps to go.
13.
The lax drug testing regime in Ethiopia and the doping scandals that embroiled athletics before the Rio Olympics caused some to question whether Almaz Ayana had been doping.
14.
Almaz Ayana went on to add a silver for the 5,000 metres eight days later, having ran a time of 14:40.35 to finish behind Kenya's Hellen Obiri.
15.
Almaz Ayana made her debut over the half marathon at the New Delhi Half Marathon winning in a time of 1:07:12.
16.
Almaz Ayana beat the course record by almost 40 seconds, setting a Dutch all-comers' record and putting her seventh on the world all-time list at the time.
17.
In 2023, Almaz Ayana opened her season by winning the Lisbon Half Marathon in a course record of 1:05:30.
18.
Almaz Ayana set a new personal best for the marathon of 2:16:20 in finishing second behind Worknesh Degefa at the Valencia Marathon.