(1983-11-19) 19 November 1983 (age 40) Addis Ababa, Ethiopia[1]
Height
155 cm (5 ft 1 in)[2]
Weight
42 kg (93 lb)[3]
Sport
Country
Ethiopia
Sport
Athletics
Event(s)
3000 metres, 5000 metres
Medal record
Event
1st
2nd
3rd
Olympic Games
2
1
0
World Championships
2
1
2
World Indoor Championships
4
1
1
African Championships
1
3
0
World Junior Championships
2
1
0
World Youth Championships
0
1
0
Total
11
8
3
Olympic Games
2004 Athens
5000 m
2012 London
5000 m
2008 Beijing
5000 m
World Championships
2007 Osaka
5000 m
2013 Moscow
5000 m
2005 Helsinki
5000 m
2009 Berlin
5000 m
2011 Daegu
5000 m
World Indoor Championships
2004 Budapest
3000 m
2006 Moskva
3000 m
2008 Valencia
3000 m
2010 Doha
3000 m
2012 Istanbul
3000 m
2016 Portland
3000 m
2003 Birmingham
3000 m
All-Africa Games
2003 Abuja
5000 m
2007 Algiers
5000 m
African Championships
2006 Bambous
5000 m
2000 Algiers
5000 m
2008 Addis Ababa
5000 m
2010 Nairobi
5000 m
World Junior Championships
2002 Kingston
3000 m
2002 Kingston
5000 m
2000 Santiago
5000 m
World Youth Championships
1999 Bydgoszcz
3000 m
Meseret Defar Tola (Amharic: መሠረት ደፋር; born 19 November 1983) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner who competes chiefly in the 3,000 metres and 5,000 metres events. She has won medals at top-tier international competitions including Olympic and World Championship gold medals over 5,000 metres. She broke the world record in the event in 2006, broke it again in 2007 and held it until 2008, when fellow Ethiopian Tirunesh Dibaba beat her time.
In 2007 on a track in Brussels Belgium, she became the only woman with a 2-mile run in less than 9 minutes (8:58.58). This was an improvement on the world record by 11 seconds.[4]
Defar has been successful in the 5,000 m at the Olympic Games, taking gold at the 2012 London Olympics and 2004 Athens Olympics and bronze at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. She has experienced similar success in the World Championships, taking silver in the 2005 Helsinki Championships and gold at the 2007 Osaka Championships.
Defar held the indoor records for the 5000 metres, 3,000 metres and two-mile run. She has dominated the 3,000 m indoor event, winning four consecutive gold medals at the IAAF World Indoor Championships from 2004 to 2010. She is also a two-time champion at the All-Africa Games, a four-time medalist at the African Championships and a two-time gold medalist at the World Junior Championships.
Defar took a break from competition in 2014 in order to start a family. She vowed to return by 2015 although she did not compete in the August World Championships in Beijing.[5]
^"Meseret Defar". iaaf.org. International Association of Athletics Federations. Retrieved 9 February 2014.
^"Meseret Defar". espn.go.com. ESPN Internet Ventures. Retrieved 9 February 2014.
^"Meseret Defar". Sports-reference.com. Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 9 February 2014.
^"Defar Sets World Record in Two-Mile Race". 14 September 2007.
^Eder, Larry (6 March 2014). "Meseret Defar is pregnant, will miss 2014, back in 2015, by EME News". RunBlogRun. Archived from the original on 10 September 2015. Retrieved 1 September 2015.
MeseretDefar Tola (Amharic: መሠረት ደፋር; born 19 November 1983) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner who competes chiefly in the 3,000 metres and 5,000...
Meseret (Amharic: መሰረት) is a female or male given name of Ethiopian origin that may refer to: MeseretDefar (born 1983), Ethiopian long-distance runner...
World Junior Championships in Kingston, Jamaica, 1.05 seconds behind MeseretDefar and just 0.05 seconds ahead of bronze medalist Vivian Cheruiyot. In...
the feat; Tirunesh Dibaba and MeseretDefar of Ethiopia and Vivian Cheruiyot and Hellen Obiri of Kenya. MeseretDefar's five medals - 2 gold, a silver...
June 2023 in Paris. The women's record is 8:58.58, set by Ethiopian MeseretDefar in Brussels, Belgium on 14 September 2007. Ingebrigtsen, along with...
Ethiopia a "running mecca"] Tirunesh Dibaba Ethiopian legend MeseretDefarMeseretDefar takes gold at the all africa games Legese Lamiso takes over steeplechase...
became the first with his back-to-back wins in 1972 and 1976, while MeseretDefar became the first woman to win two titles in 2012, having previously...
Prix; nine minutes and 0.48 seconds was her new record that shattered MeseretDefar previous best by six seconds. With these records, Genzebe is one of...
women's world record holder Tirunesh Dibaba (right) leading another former world record holder MeseretDefar (centre) at the 2012 Olympic 5000 m final...
3000 m behind MeseretDefar. Cheruiyot then headed the Kenyan 5000 m challenge at the African Championships in Athletics in Nairobi and beat Defar on this occasion...
7:51.35 3200m in his 2023 world best of 7:54.10 in the two mile run. MeseretDefar ran an equivalent of an 8:55.45 3200m in her 2007 world best of 8:58...
distance, behind compatriots Tirunesh Dibaba, the world record holder, and MeseretDefar. At the Beijing World Championships in August, she put on a stunning...
Guardian, 22 November 2009. Retrieved 25 October 2023. Bob Ramsak, "Gay and Defar named as IAAF athletes of the year", Reuters, 25 November 2007. Retrieved...
in the women's 10,000 metres event. Another middle-distance runner MeseretDefar became the second Ethiopian female athlete to regain her title in the...
bronze medal, finishing the race in less than a second behind the winner MeseretDefar and silver medalist Berhane Adere. 2003 USA Cross Country Championships...
(born 19 April 1985) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner. She defeated MeseretDefar to win the 5000 metres gold medal at the 2008 African Athletics Championships...
world record. On 3 June 2006 her record time was beaten by Ethiopian MeseretDefar, who ran in 14:24.53 in New York City. She ran at the inaugural World...
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