Tsegay Kebede

Tsegaye Kebede

Kebede at the 2007 Amsterdam Marathon
Personal information
Nationality	Ethiopian
Born	(1987-01-15) 15 January 1987 (age 30)
Height	5 ft 2 in (1.57 m)
Weight	110 lb (50 kg)
Sport
Sport	Running
Event(s)	Long distances
Medal record Men's athletics Representing  Ethiopia Olympic Games 2008 Beijing Marathon World Championships in Athletics 2009 Berlin Marathon

Tsegaye Kebede Wordofa (Amharic: ፀጋየ ከበደ ዎርዶፋ; born 15 January 1987) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner who competes in road running events, including marathons. He quickly rose to become a prominent distance runner after his international debut at the Amsterdam Marathon in 2007. In his second year of professional running, he won the Paris Marathon, the Fukuoka Marathon and won the marathon bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

In the 2009 season he established himself as one of Ethiopia's top athletes: he came second in the London Marathon and at his first World Championships in Athletics he took the bronze medal in the marathon. He retained his Fukuoka Marathon title at the end of 2009, running the fastest ever marathon race in Japan. He won the 2010 London Marathon – his first World Marathon Major – and the 2013 London Marathon.

Tsegaye Kebede was brought up as part of a large family, the fifth child of thirteen, and his early years were marked by poverty. Living in Gerar Ber, a town some 40 km north of Addis Ababa, he collected firewood to sell and herded livestock to supplement his father's earnings, paying for his own education and the rest of his family. He ate one meal a day and had to work every day to earn around 2.50 Ethiopian birr (US$0.30).

He began running for pleasure as an 8-year old and, after competing at a half marathon in Addis Ababa in 2006, an athletics coach (Getaneh Tessema) offered him the chance to train with his group. He attended a 10 km time trial session with the group in the following days, and he beat all runners with the exception of Deriba Merga, who went on to win the Great Ethiopian Run that year. He won the Abebe Bikila International Marathon a few months later, effectively resolving the visa problems he had encountered while trying to race overseas. His first marathon race abroad was the 2007 Amsterdam Marathon and he finished eighth with a new personal best of 2:08:16. This time and finish established him among Ethiopia's top marathon runners—Haile Gebrselassie and Deriba Merga were the only Ethiopians to run faster times that year.