1. Kenenisa Bekele Beyecha is an Ethiopian long-distance runner.
53 Facts About Kenenisa Bekele
1. 2.
Kenenisa Bekele was the world record holder in both the 5,000-metre and 10,000-metre from 2004 until 2020.
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Kenenisa Bekele won the gold medal in both the 5,000 m and 10,000 m events at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
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Kenenisa Bekele is the most successful runner in the history of the IAAF World Cross Country Championships, with six long course and five short course titles.
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Kenenisa Bekele won the 3000 metres title at the 2006 World Indoor Championships.
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On 25 September 2016, Kenenisa Bekele won the Berlin Marathon in a time of 2:03:03, a new personal best, then the third-fastest marathon of all time.
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Kenenisa Bekele was born in 1982 in Bekoji in the Arsi Zone of Oromia Region, the same town as several other prominent long-distance runners, including the Dibaba's Daughters and their cousin Derartu Tulu.
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Kenenisa Bekele was born the second child to parents who made a living as barley farmers, along with three brothers and two sisters.
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Kenenisa Bekele initially aspired to a career in medicine, education, or the civil service.
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Kenenisa Bekele began to train seriously in running with the encouragement of a physical education teacher, while drawing inspiration from the success of Derartu Tulu and Haile Gebrselassie.
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Kenenisa Bekele achieved his first medals at an international competition with second place finishes in both the 3000 metres of the 1999 World Youth Championships and the 5000 metres of the 2000 World Junior Championships.
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Kenenisa Bekele won his first gold medal in the junior race of the 2001 World Cross Country Championships.
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In December 2000 and 2001 Kenenisa Bekele won the 15k roadrace Montferland Run in the Netherlands.
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Kenenisa Bekele became known for his ability to accelerate very quickly at the end of a long-distance race; in Oslo in June 2003, he chased after Kenyan Abraham Chebii and won the race in 12:52.26.
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Kenenisa Bekele has faced fellow Ethiopian, Haile Gebrselassie, twice in road competition, once in cross country, and six times on the track.
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Kenenisa Bekele won the short and long course world cross country titles, leading Ethiopia to the senior men's team title.
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Kenenisa Bekele won a gold medal in the men's 10,000 metres and a silver medal in the men's 5000 metres in the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens.
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Kenenisa Bekele was the 2003 World Youth Champion in the 1500 metres and in excellent physical condition.
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In March, Kenenisa Bekele lined up to defend his long and short course titles at the 2005 IAAF World Cross Country Championships.
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Kenenisa Bekele won on the short course despite a fast pace set by Qatari Saif Saaeed Shaheen, and followed that win with a long course victory the next day over Eritrean Zersenay Tadese and Kenyan rival Eliud Kipchoge.
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On 8 August 2005, Kenenisa Bekele won the gold medal in the 10,000 m at the 2005 World Championships in Helsinki with a last 200 m spurt.
22.
On 26 August 2005, Kenenisa Bekele set the 10,000 m world record 26:17.53 at the 29th Memorial Van Damme meeting in Brussels, slicing nearly three seconds off his previous world record 26:20.31, and running with 5000 m splits of 13:09 and 13:08 minutes.
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When Kenenisa Bekele won the 3000 m at the 2006 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Moscow, he became the first athlete in history to be Olympic champion, world outdoor track champion, world indoor track champion, and world cross country champion.
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Kenenisa Bekele recovered from that rare failure to take the 10,000-metre title at the 2007 IAAF World Championships in Osaka, besting his compatriot Sileshi Sihine.
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Kenenisa Bekele has won 6 long course individual gold medals, 5 short course gold medals, 1 junior championship, and 4 team gold medals for a sum total of 16 gold medals.
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On 17 August 2008 Kenenisa Bekele won gold in the 10,000m finals with a time of 27:01.17, setting a new Olympic Record in the process.
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On 23 August 2008 Kenenisa Bekele bested his competitors and won the 5000-metre finals, shattering Said Aouita's Olympic Record by almost eight seconds with a time of 12:57.82.
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Kenenisa Bekele won two gold medals at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics, held in Berlin.
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In spite of his unrivalled success in athletics, Kenenisa Bekele did not experience the mainstream appeal that others such as Haile Gebrselassie did.
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Fellow world record holder Usain Bolt stated that Kenenisa Bekele's achievements had not received the recognition that they deserved.
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Kenenisa Bekele spent the entirety of the indoor and outdoor seasons out with a ruptured calf muscle.
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Kenenisa Bekele finally returned to training after a knee injury in March 2011.
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Kenenisa Bekele dropped out of the 10,000m with 10 laps remaining.
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Kenenisa Bekele decided not to run the 5000 m and returned to the Diamond League at the Ivo Van Damme Memorial in Brussels where he set the fastest time in the world for the 10,000 metres in 2011.
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Kenenisa Bekele's 2012 season did not start well, as he was a lowly eleventh place at the Edinburgh Cross Country.
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Kenenisa Bekele then won the Great North Run half marathon in a time of 60:09, beating Mo Farah by just one second after making a move that Farah couldn't match with just less than 12 miles gone.
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Kenenisa Bekele started his marathon career in the 2014 Paris Marathon on 6 April 2014.
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Kenenisa Bekele then went on to compete in the 2014 Chicago Marathon on 12 October 2014.
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Kenenisa Bekele finished fourth in 2:05:51,1min 40s behind Kenya's Eliud Kipchoge.
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Kenenisa Bekele was planned to compete in the 2015 London Marathon but had to withdraw due to a persistent injury to his right Achilles tendon.
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Kenenisa Bekele finished in 3rd place behind winner Eliud Kipchoge and runner-up Stanley Biwott in a time of 2:06:36.
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Kenenisa Bekele was hampered in the race by missing his drinks at 5 separate stations, due to them being used by the designated pacemakers.
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On 19 January 2017, attempting to break the world record, Kenenisa Bekele dropped out of the Dubai Marathon after the half way mark due to a fall at the beginning of the race.
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On 23 April 2017, Kenenisa Bekele finished second in the London Marathon, finishing in 2:05:57,9 seconds behind winner Daniel Wanjiru.
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Kenenisa Bekele ran the 2018 London Marathon in April and came in sixth place with a time of 2:08:53.
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Kenenisa Bekele won the 2019 Berlin Marathon in September in 2:01:41, the second fastest time ever at the time and just two seconds off of the world record set by Eliud Kipchoge on the same course the previous year.
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Kenenisa Bekele won the London half marathon on 1 March 2020 in 60:22.
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Kenenisa Bekele improved on the course record set by Mo Farah in 2019 by 1:18.
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The next month, Kenenisa Bekele competed in the 2022 London Marathon, finishing fifth in 2:05:53 to set a masters world record in age 40 group.
50.
The 41-year-old Kenenisa Bekele competed in the London Marathon on 21 April 2024, where he finished second behind Alexander Munyao breaking his own Masters record by 4 seconds running 2:04:15.
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Kenenisa Bekele was selected to represent Ethiopia in the marathon at the 2024 Summer Olympics.
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Kenenisa Bekele ended up finishing in 39th place with a time of 2:12:24.
53.
On 18 November 2007, Kenenisa Bekele married Ethiopian film actress Danawit Gebregziabher in Addis Ababa.