1. Lelisa Desisa engaged Wilson Kiprop in a sprint finish at the Paris Half Marathon two months later, ending up in second place.
20 Facts About Lelisa Desisa
1. 2.
Lelisa Desisa took to the United States road circuit and was sixth at the Crescent City Classic before taking the runner-up spot at the Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Run behind Stephen Tum.
3.
Lelisa Desisa received his first senior international call-up for the 2010 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships.
4.
Lelisa Desisa came seventh overall, recording a time of 1:01:28 alongside his compatriot Birhanu Bekele to secure the team bronze medal for the Ethiopians.
5.
Lelisa Desisa came close to a personal best at the World's Best 10K in February 2011, taking third place in a time of 28:02 minutes.
6.
Lelisa Desisa was not selected for the World Championships that year but instead won the half marathon at the 2011 All-Africa Games held that same month.
7.
Lelisa Desisa was selected as an Olympic squad reserve as a result.
8.
Lelisa Desisa tried to defend his title at the Delhi Half Marathon but managed only seventh place.
9.
Lelisa Desisa was surprised by the quick time and said he would like to make a world record attempt in the future.
10.
Lelisa Desisa was not hurt in the Boston Marathon bombing that occurred after his victory because the bombing took place nearly 3 hours after he passed through the finish line.
11.
Lelisa Desisa won the 2015 Boston Marathon on 20 April 2015 with a time of 2:09:17.
12.
Lelisa Desisa came in second in 2016 to fellow Ethiopian Lemi Berhanu Hayle.
13.
On 6 May 2017, Lelisa Desisa participated in Nike's Breaking2 attempt to run a sub-2-hour marathon.
14.
Lelisa Desisa continued until around kilometer 18, when he began to slow and fell off the projected sub-2-hour pace.
15.
Eliud Kipchoge won the race in 2:00:25, Tadese was second in 2:06:51, and Lelisa Desisa was third with a time of 2:14:10.
16.
Lelisa Desisa won the 2018 New York City Marathon on 4 November 2018 with a time of 2:05:59.
17.
On 5 October 2019, Lelisa Desisa became the World champion in men's marathon by running a season's best of 2:10:40 at the 2019 World Athletics Championships in Doha.
18.
Less than a month later on 3 November 2019 Lelisa Desisa tried to defend his New York City marathon title.
19.
Lelisa Desisa had one marathon race in 2020, where he finished 35th at the Valencia Marathon in a time of 2:10:44 in December.
20.
In 2021 Lelisa Desisa took part in the Ethiopian Olympic Marathon Trials in Sebeta, Ethiopia, he finished 2nd in a close race between winner Shura Kitata, and 3rd place finished Sisay Lemma.