20 Facts About Deriba Merga

Deriba Merga Ejigu is an Ethiopian professional long-distance runner.

Deriba Merga finished fourth in that event at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and went on to win the Boston Marathon the following year.

Deriba Merga competes in half marathon races and his time of 59:14 minutes in 2008 was the fastest that year.

Deriba Merga won the 2006 Paris Half Marathon and took the gold medal at the 2007 All-Africa Games a year later.

Deriba Merga was born in the Welega Province west of Addis Ababa and he headed to the capital in 2005 to pursue a running career after winning some regional races.

Deriba Merga took the half marathon gold medal at the 2007 All-Africa Games but just missed out on a medal at the 2007 IAAF World Road Running Championships, finishing in fourth place.

Deriba Merga made his marathon debut at the Fukuoka Marathon in December 2007, finishing second to Sammy Wanjiru.

Deriba Merga opened 2008 with a win at the World's Best 10K in Puerto Rico.

Deriba Merga won the Chevron Houston Marathon in 2:07:52, setting a course record in the process.

Deriba Merga was disappointed having wanted to run a 2:05, a time bettered by only a handful of runners.

Three months later, Deriba Merga won the 113th Boston Marathon on April 20,2009, with a time of 2:08:42.

Deriba Merga endured a very fast start and made a solo break for the finish, winning firmly by almost a minute.

Deriba Merga set his sights on defending his title at the 2010 Boston Marathon and upped the race tempo around the 18-mile mark.

Deriba Merga moved away from the pack but was followed by Robert Kiprono Cheruiyot and Tekeste Kebede.

Deriba Merga faded in the final stages and ended up in third place.

Deriba Merga took his second win of the year over half that distance at the Yangzhou Jianzhen International Half Marathon.

Deriba Merga attempted to defend his Bogota Half Marathon title but was beaten by some distance by Geoffrey Mutai.

Deriba Merga finished second at the 2012 New York City Half Marathon, being overtaken by Peter Kirui in the final stages.

Deriba Merga came third at the Bay to Breakers but had a very slow outing at the Shanghai Marathon where he held on to finish tenth in a time of 2:21:14 hours.

Deriba Merga's fortunes reversed at the Houston Half Marathon in 2013 as he was runner-up behind Feyisa Lilesa.