© Copyright – 2013 – Athletics Illustrated
David Monti and Let’s Run (.com) came up with a good article about the lack of recognition being shown towards Tirunesh Dibaba, the Ethiopian 10000m gold medallist from the 2013 IAAF World Track and Field Championships. She won the 10000m event August 11th by blazing the final 500 metres, to run away from the field. In the race she demonstrated that she hasn’t lost a step from a recent spate of injuries. But why hasn’t she received the recognition?
In a Worlds preview I wrote that Dibaba will be “difficult to beat” and “she seems unbeatable”. She is. In fact, she is as noteworthy as several athletes that she should be sharing the limelight with, for example Mo Farah, Usain Bolt, and Ashton Eaton amongst others.
Dibaba is the real deal and should receive as much recognition as the aforementioned athletes. She has not lost an international 10,000 metre race, in fact as Monti and company wrote, “perfect 11 for 11, included in those 11 victories are three World Championships and two Olympic titles, but this was her first World 10,000 title since 2007 as she missed the 2009 and 2011 Worlds due to injury.”
Yes, she missed two world championships due to injury, yet she just won her sixth gold medal at the world championships. She is also a star in cross-country, for example, she has won five IAAF World Cross Country Championships gold medals as well as three silver medals, dating back to 2007. Her personal best times indicate strength across a broad spectrum of distances. She is planning a marathon soon and is likely to run sub-2:20 and who knows, perhaps as fast as sub-2:18; in her first effort at the distance. Perhaps then she will get the recognition that she deserves, but really? It has to take a marathon to accomplish it?
Personal best times:
3,000 m – 8:29.55
5 km – 14:51
5,000 m – 14:11.15 (WR)
10,000 m- 29:54.66
10 km (road) – 30:49
15 km (road) – 46:28 (WR)
Half Marathon – 1:07:35
Olympic Games
Gold    2008 Beijing    10000 m
Gold    2008 Beijing    5000 m
Gold    2012 London    10000 m
Bronze 2004 Athens    5000 m
Bronze 2012 London    5000 m
World Championships
Gold    2003 Paris    5000 m
Gold    2005 Helsinki    5000 m
Gold    2005 Helsinki    10000 m
Gold    2007 Osaka    10000 m
Gold    2013 Moscow    10000 m
World Cross Country Championships
Gold    2003 Lausanne    Junior race
Gold    2005 Saint-Galmier    Short race
Gold    2005 Saint-Galmier    Long race
Gold    2006 Fukuoka       Long race
Gold    2008 Edinburgh    Senior race
Silver    2002 Dublin       Junior race
Silver    2004 Bruxelles    Short race
Silver    2007 Mombasa    Senior race
African Championships
Gold    2008 Addis Ababa 10000 m
Gold    2010 Nairobi         10000 m
Silver    2006 Bambous    5000 m
World Junior Championships
Silver    2002 Kingston    5000 m
