Elvan Abeylegesse

Personal information

Nationality

Turkey

Born

11 September 1982 (age 34)
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Residence

İstanbul, Turkey

Height

1.59 m (5.2 ft)

Weight

40 kg (88 lb)

Sport

Running

Event(s)

5000 metres, 10,000 metres

Club

Enkaspor Athletics Team

Coached by

Carol Santa

Achievements and titles

Personal best(s)

5000m: 14:24.68

10000m: 29:56.34

Medal record

Representing Turkey
Women's athletics
Olympic Games
	2008 Beijing	5000 m
	2008 Beijing	10,000 m
World Championships
	2007 Osaka	10,000 m
European Championships
	2010 Barcelona	10,000 m
	2010 Barcelona	5000 m
	2006 Gothenburg	5000 m
Mediterranean Games
	2009 Pescara	10,000 m
	2013 Mersin	10,000 m

5000m: 14:24.68

Elvan Abeylegesse, (also formerly: Hewan Abeye (አልቫን አበይለገሠ, Amharic) and Elvan Can (Turkish); born September 11, 1982) is an Ethiopian-born Turkish middle and long-distance running athlete who competes over distances from 1500 metres up to the marathon, and also in cross country. She is the former world record-holder for the 5000 metres, at 14:24.68 minutes.

In August 2015, the Turkish Athletics Federation confirmed that an anti-doping test taken during the 2007 World Championships in Athletics had been retested and found to be positive for a controlled substance, and that the athlete had been temporarily suspended pending retesting of her 'B-sample'. If confirmed, Abeylegesse stands to lose her 2007 medal, and possibly other awards from that date.

Abeylegesse was born Hewan Abeye on September 11, 1982 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and raised with her seven brothers and sisters. She began her career running cross country. In 1999, she started for the Ethiopian junior team at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Belfast, Northern Ireland and finished ninth. There, she was invited to a meeting in Istanbul, Turkey. Coming to Istanbul, she said that she liked it there very much. "I didn't get enough support from my federation in Ethiopia," she said. "My track club in Turkey gave me all the support I needed. So I decided to move to Turkey. The support was much better in Istanbul. I thought it would be easier to reach my goals in Turkey.” To get Turkish citizenship, she married and took the name Elvan Can. She has since divorced and is now called Elvan Abeylegesse.

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Wikipedia