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Abeba Aregawi to compete in the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Japan after a nine-year absence from the sport.
“I aim to compete both at the upcoming EC and at the WC in Japan this summer,” she said in a press release.
On March 9 in Lisbon, POR, she broke the Swedish half marathon record by almost two minutes. The 34-year-old had previously broken the Swedish record but did not belong to a Swedish association at the time. She does now. Aregawi competed for Löparnas Vänner IF, clocking a 1:06:36 performance.
Really surprised to see that Abeba Aregawi is still competing… A third place finish in the Lisbon half marathon for Abeba today. https://t.co/bjpoIf7jVV pic.twitter.com/mQ29s5F0Ar
— Fisseha Tegegn (@Fisseha_Tegegn) March 9, 2025
Aregawi, previously running for Ethiopia, earned a silver medal at the 2012 London Olympic Games in the 1500 metre event, clocking a 4:11.03. A year later, she won gold in the same event at the Moscow World Athletics Championships. She has won eat least 14 Diamond League races during her career.
Aregawi was married to a naturalized Swede of Ethiopian descent and lived in Stockholm. She is now remarried and living in Addis Ababa.
Doping suspension
On February 29, 2016, the Swedish Athletics Federation stated that Aregawi had tested positive for the substance (meldonium) in January 2016. She was provisionally suspended from competing the same day. In July 2016, the Swedish Doping Commission lifted her suspension due to insufficient evidence on how long the drug, which was prohibited only in January 2016 takes to be excreted from the body.
Aregawi was officially struck from the list of active athletes by the Swedish Athletics Association on November 28, 2018.
Aregawi returned to race two road 10K races in 2024. She ran 31:05 in Langueux, France in June. In November, she clocked a 31:31 in Lille, France. By March 2025, Aregawi finished third at the Lisbon Half Marathon.
 and alleged former doper, Abeba Aregawi, to compete ending 9-year absence from the sport){kind=link}