Sentayehu Ejigu
 Sentayehu Ejigu (on the left) at the 2009 Boston Indoor Games |
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| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Women's athletics | ||
Representing  Ethiopia
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| IAAF World Indoor Championships | ||
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2010 Doha | 3000 m |
| African Championships | ||
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2010 Nairobi | 5000 m |
| Continental Cup | ||
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2010 Split | 5000 m |
Sentayehu Ejigu Tamerat (born 21 June 1985 in Debre Markos, Amhara Region) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner, who specializes in the 3000 and 5000 metres. She represented Ethiopia at the 2004 Summer Olympics.
After narrowly missing out on medals at the 2006 IAAF World Indoor Championships and 2009 World Championships, she made her breakthrough in 2010, winning bronze medals at the African Championships in Athletics and World Indoors. She was the silver medallist at the 2010 IAAF Continental Cup.
She is the third fastest of all-time over 3000 m indoors with her best of 8:25.27 minutes. She also ranks among the top eight fastest women ever over 5000 m both outdoors and indoors.
As a child, her quick feet made her the natural messenger-girl for the family errands and she soon took up running at school. She began entering competitions and her immediate success led to a move to Addis Ababa to train with the Banks Running Club. Despite her talent, she often was runner-up to her club mate Meseret Defar – who went on to win Olympic gold in the 5000 metres.
Sentayehu made her international championship debut at the 2001 World Youth Championships in Athletics and took the bronze medal in the 1500 metres. She soon changed her focus to longer distances and competed on the 2002 IAAF Golden League circuit, recording a 3000 metres best of 8:48.30 minutes at the Weltklasse Zurich at the age of seventeen. She gained a place at the 2002 IAAF Grand Prix Final and came seventh in the event. A sixth-place finish in the junior race at the 2003 IAAF World Cross Country Championships helped the Ethiopian women to the team title, while fellow Ethiopian Tirunesh Dibaba won the race. She improved her 3000 m track best to 8:46.51 that year but an appearance at the 2003 IAAF World Athletics Final resulted in another seventh-place finish.
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