Elvan Abeylegesse (née Hewan Abeye (አልቫን አበይለገሠ, Amharic), also formerly Elvan Can (Turkish); born 11 September 1982) is an Ethiopian former middle and long-distance running athlete who represented Turkey. She competed over distances from 1500 metres up to the marathon, and also in cross country. She is a former world record-holder for the 5000 metres, at 14:24.68.
In August 2015, the Turkish Athletics Federation confirmed Abeylegesse had failed that an anti-doping test taken during the 2007 World Championships. She was stripped of her results from 2007 to 2009, including two Olympic medals and one World Championship medal, and banned from athletics for two years.IAAF March 2017 Newsletter
Early life and career Abeylegesse was born Hewan Abeye on 11 September 1982 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and raised with her seven brothers and sisters. She began her career running cross country. In 1999, she started for the Ethiopian junior team at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Belfast, Northern Ireland and finished ninth. There, she was invited to a meeting in Istanbul, Turkey. She decided to move to Turkey and became a Turkish citizen after marrying a Turkish national. She took the name Elvan Can. Later she divorced and took the name Elvan Abeylegesse.
Registered in the Enka Sports Club in Istanbul, she is coached by Ertan Hatipoglu, a former triple jumper of Turkish origin from Bulgaria.
Career highlights Abeylegesse's career in the international arena began at the age of 18 in Grosseto, Italy in 2001 by winning the European 3000 m and 5000 m titles, setting a national record for Turkey. She became a world leader with a time of 8:31:94 in the 3000 m in Brussels, Belgium in 2002 and with a time of 3:58.38 in the 1500 m in Moscow, Russia in 2004.
Abeylegesse has been a scholarship holder with the Olympic Solidarity program since August 2002.
At the Evergood Bergen Bislett Games in Norway on 11 June 2004, the sixth meeting of TDK Golden League, Abeylegesse broke the women's 5000 m world record, which had belonged to Chinese runner Jiang Bo since 1997 (14:28.09), improving the mark by over three seconds to 14:24.68. She became the first Turkish athlete ever to set a world record.
On 3 June 2006 her record time was beaten by Ethiopian Meseret Defar, who ran in 14:24.53 in New York City.
She ran at the inaugural World 10K Bangalore race in 2008 and finished in a dead heat with Grace Momanyi, with both runners eventually being declared joint victors.
She was the 2010 recipient of the Pierre de Coubertin World Fair Play Trophy, an annual award given by the International Fair Play Committee. She had lent a pair of running shoes to competitor Meselech Melkamu just moments before the beginning of the 10,000 metres final at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics. Having forgotten to bring her shoes to the track, Melkamu went on to take the silver.
Abeylegesse won the 2010 edition of the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon in a time of 1:07:07. This was the fastest ever time for a woman in the half marathon race and made her the sixth fastest woman overall. She played down suggestions of a permanent switch to longer road races, however, saying a marathon debut would have to wait until after the 2012 London Olympics.
At the 2010 European Athletics Championships, Abeylegesse won gold in the 10,000 m, finishing in 31 minutes, 10.23 seconds On 28 July 2010, and she won the silver medal in 5000m finishing in 14 minutes, 54.44 seconds on 1 August 2010. She narrowly missed out on a medal at the 2010 IAAF Continental Cup, finishing two seconds behind Molly Huddle in the 5000 m.
She returned to action in 2012 after her pregnancy and made her debut over 20 km, finishing as runner-up at the 20 Kilomètres de Paris. She was also runner-up in the 15K section of the Istanbul Eurasia Marathon. She won the Nice Half Marathon in April 2013.April 2013 Results . AIMS. Retrieved 6 May 2013. On 17 November 2013 she finished second at the Istanbul Marathon with a time of 2:29:30.
Doping ban In August 2015, the Turkish Athletics Federation confirmed that an anti-doping test taken during the 2007 World Championships in Athletics had been retested and found to be positive for a controlled substance, and that the athlete had been temporarily suspended pending retesting of her 'B-sample'. If confirmed, Abeylegesse stood to lose her 2007 medal, and possibly other awards from that date. On 29 March 2017, IAAF confirmed the positive test, expunged her results from 25 August 2007 until 25 August 2009 (thereby stripping her of the two silver medals she had won at the 2008 Olympic Games), and banned her from athletics for two years.
Personal life Abeylegesse married her longtime partner Semeneh Debelie in February 2011 and decided to take the season off due to pregnancy. In July 2011, she gave birth to a girl named Arsema.
International competitions Representing 1999World Cross Country ChampionshipsBelfast, Northern Ireland9thJunior race22:03World Youth ChampionshipsBydgoszcz, Poland5th3000 metres9:08.29European Junior ChampionshipsRiga, Latvia2nd5000 metres16:06.402000World Cross Country ChampionshipsVilamoura, Portugal90thShort race14:30World Junior ChampionshipsSantiago, Chile6th3000m9:28.206th5000m16:33.772001World Cross Country ChampionshipsOstend, Netherlands22ndJunior race23:30European Junior ChampionshipsGrosseto, Italy1st3000 metres8:53.421st5000 metres15:21.12World ChampionshipsEdmonton, Canada8th (heats)5000 metres15:22.89Mediterranean GamesTunis, Tunisia3rd10,000 metres32:29.20European Cross Country ChampionshipsThun, Switzerland1stJunior race10:352002European ChampionshipsMunich, Germany7th5000 metres 15:24.41IAAF Grand Prix FinalParis, France8th3000 metres9:01.50European Cross Country ChampionshipsMedulin, Croatia3rdJunior race20:192003European U23 ChampionshipsBydgoszcz, Poland1st5000m15:16.79World ChampionshipsParis, France5th5000 metres14:53.56IAAF World Athletics FinalMonaco1st5000m14:56.252004European Champion Clubs' CupMoscow, Russia1st1500 metres3:58.28European CupIstanbul, Turkey 1st3000 metres8:49.14Olympic GamesAthens, Greece8th1500 metres4:00.6712th5000 metres15:12.64IAAF World Athletics FinalMonaco1st5000m14:59.192006European ChampionshipsGothenburg, Sweden3rd5000 metres14:59.292007World ChampionshipsOsaka, JapanDSQ10,000 metres31:59.402008Olympic GamesBeijing, ChinaDSQ5000 metres15:42.74 DSQ10,000 metres29:56.342009Mediterranean GamesPescara, ItalyDSQ10,000 metres31:51.982010European ChampionshipsBarcelona, Spain1st5000 metres14:54.441st10,000 metres31:10.232013Mediterranean GamesMersin, Turkey2nd10,000 meters32:59.302019World ChampionshipsDoha, QatarDNFMarathonN/A
Marathons Istanbul Marathon: 2013, 2nd, 2:29:30
World records 11 June 2004, Bergen Bislett Games (Golden League), Bergen, Norway (5000 m) (14:24:68) WR
Personal bests DisciplinePerformancePlaceDate1500 m3:58:28Moscow, Russia30 May 20042000 m5:33:83İstanbul, Turkey7 June 20033000 m8:31:94Brussels, Belgium30 August 20025000 m14:24:68Bergen, Norway11 June 200410,000 m29:56:34Beijing, China15 August 2008
Performance progression DisciplineSeasonPerformancePlaceDate1500 m20043:58:28Moscow, Russia30 May 20041500 m20034:07:25Beograd, Serbia25 May 20031500 m20024:11:00İzmir, Turkey11 May 20021500 m20014:11:31Istanbul, Turkey28 July 20012000 m20035:33:83Istanbul, Turkey7 June 20033000 m20048:35:83Doha, Qatar14 May 20043000 m20038:42:29İzmir, Turkey11 May 20033000 m20028:31:94Brussels, Belgium30 August 20023000 m20018:53:42Grosseto, Italy21 July 20013000 m20009:08:07İzmir, Turkey21 May 20003000 m19999:08:29Bydgoszcz, Poland17 July 19995000 m200414:24:68Bergen, Norway11 June 20045000 m200314:53:56Paris, France30 August 20035000 m200215:00:49Hengelo, Netherlands2 June 20025000 m200115:21:12Grosseto, Italy20 July 20015000 m200016:33:77Santiago de Chile, Chile17 October 20005000 m199916:06:20Riga, Latvia7 August 199910000 m200829:56.34Beijing, China15 August 200810000 m200630:21.67Antalya, Turkey15 April 200610000m200132:29:20Tunis, Tunisia12 September 2001
See also Turkish women in sports
References
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