20 Facts About Gudaf Tsegay

Gudaf Tsegay Desta is an Ethiopian middle- and long-distance runner.

Gudaf Tsegay is the current women's world record holder for 5,000 m, set at the 2023 final Diamond League event, the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon.

At the World Athletics Championships, Gudaf won the gold medal for 10,000 metres in 2023; a bronze for the 1,500 metres in 2019, and silver in 2022.

Gudaf Tsegay is the 2020 Tokyo Olympic bronze medallist in the women's 5,000 metres.

Gudaf Tsegay comes from the Tigray Region in northern Ethiopia.

Gudaf Tsegay is married to Hiluf Yihdego, who is her coach.

In February 2014,16-year-old Gudaf Tsegay set the world's fastest under-18 mark in the indoor 1,500 metres with a time of 4:08.47 in Stockholm.

Two years later, Gudaf Tsegay broke the world U20 indoor record in this event with a time of 4:01.81 in Glasgow, beating previous best set by compatriot Kalkidan Gezahegne in 2010 by more than a second.

Gudaf Tsegay's record was bettered in 2020 by her another compatriot Lemlem Hailu.

Gudaf Tsegay fell after the first lap and was unable to recover, finishing about 13 seconds slower than the time she had run in the heats.

At the following World Championships in 2019 in Doha, Qatar, Gudaf Tsegay won the bronze medal in the event with a personal best time of 3:54.38.

Gudaf Tsegay took her first global title, setting a championship record of 3:57.19 and winning by more than five seconds.

Gudaf Tsegay led an Ethiopian medals sweep as Axumawit Embaye and Hirut Meshesha finished second and third, respectively.

Gudaf Tsegay got her 2023 campaign off to strong start in February, running the indoor mile in Torun, Poland.

Gudaf Tsegay missed the world record but her time of 4:16.16 was the second-fastest ever at the time.

On 25 May, at the Prefontaine Classic, Gudaf Tsegay made an attempt to break the 10,000 metres world record of 29:01.03 set by Letesenbet Gidey of Ethiopia in 2021.

However, Gudaf Tsegay was closely followed by Kenyan athlete Beatrice Chebet, who made a surge with three laps to go while Gudaf Tsegay fell behind.

Chebet ended up finishing in a new world record time of 28:54.14, while Gudaf Tsegay still finished in a personal best time of 29:05.92.

Gudaf Tsegay's performance was 0.83 seconds short of her world record.

In March, Gudaf Tsegay contested the 1500 metres at the 2025 World Athletics Indoor Championships in Nanjing, China, setting a new championship record of 3:54.86.