Merima Mohammed

Merima Mohammed Hasen (born 10 June 1992) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner who competes in road running events, including the marathon. Her personal best of 2:23:06 hours for the distance makes her the second fastest teenager ever over the 42.195 km distance. She has won marathons in Düsseldorf, Nice and Ottawa. She represented Ethiopia at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in 2011.

Her talent for running was identified at an early age and, having gained representation with Elite Sports Management International, she began to compete on the European road race circuit at the age of sixteen. She was runner-up over 1500 metres at the 2009 Ethiopian Middle Distance Championships in January. She was selected to represent her country over that distance at the 2009 World Youth Championships in Athletics in July, but a trip in the final lap saw her go from the front of the pack to a twelfth-place finish. She took on significantly longer distances soon after, winning a French 10K race and then coming fifth in the Lille Half Marathon in September. She made her debut over the marathon distance in November that year and won on her first attempt, being the first runner home at the Marathon des Alpes-Maritimes in a time of 2:33:56 hours.

Merima was chosen for the junior race at the 2010 IAAF World Cross Country Championships and came twelfth, one place behind fellow Ethiopian teenager Genzebe Dibaba. She ran at the Ethiopian Championships in May and set a personal best of 34:10.19 minutes for the 10,000 metres, coming in sixth place. Her second marathon win came soon after, as she defeated all opposition at the Ottawa Marathon. She spent four months resting and preparing for another outing in Canada. At the Toronto Waterfront Marathon she finished in third place in a time of 2:23:06 hours – this was faster than the previous Canadian all-comers mark and made her the second fastest teenager ever over the distance, behind China's Zhang Yingying. Representing the Federal Prisons team, she participated in the Ethiopian 30K Championships in November and outran Mamitu Daska to claim the national title. At the Delhi Half Marathon that month she led throughout to the race, but was beaten at the line by Aselefech Mergia in a tactical sprint finish. Nevertheless, she left the competition with a significant personal best of 1:08:36 hours for the distance.

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