| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Women'sathletics | ||
Representing Ethiopia | ||
| IAAF World Cross Country Championships | ||
 | 2002 Dublin | Team short race |
Amane Gobena Gemeda[nb] (born 11 September 1982)[1] is an Ethiopianlong-distance runner who competes primarily inroad running events. She has amarathon best of 2:23:50 hours.
She began her international career incross country running and was part of the Ethiopian team which won thegold medal in the short race at the2002 IAAF World Cross Country Championships. After modest performances on thetrack, she found success by switching to road races in 2007.
The 2009 season saw marked improvement as she won theCooper River Bridge Run andMonument Avenue 10K races. She then went on to take her firstmarathon win at theToronto Waterfront Marathon, breaking the course record in only her third outing over the distance. She enjoyed success in East Asia at the start of 2010, winning both theOsaka Ladies Marathon andSeoul International Marathon. Amane also gained her first major wins over other distances that year by taking first place at theGöteborgsvarvethalf marathon and winning her first national title in the10,000 metres.
Her first top level performances came incross country and she finished eighth in the short race at the2002 IAAF World Cross Country Championships inDublin, a placing which helped the women's Ethiopian team (includingWerknesh Kidane,Abebech Negussie andGenet Gebregiorgis) to thegold medal in the team competition.[2] She competed intrack races in Europe in the 2003–2004 and among her performances was a5000 metres personal best of 15:19.50, set at theGrand Prix Regione Lombardia in 2004 where she finished fourth.[3] That year she also represented her country at the World Cross Country Championships for a second time, although her eleventh-place finish left her out of the top four Ethiopians who took the team gold.[4]
She made her debut in the 10K in 2005 and took second place in a race inRatingen, finishing behindTeyba Erkesso.[5] She also ran at theGolden Spike Ostrava meeting in June and placed fifth over 5000 m.[6] After taking time out fromathletics in 2006, she returned to focus on road races and enjoyed podium finishes in theUnited States. She was runner-up at thePeachtree 10K andBolder Boulder races,[1] as well as theCooper River Bridge Run, where she was beaten by her compatriotRehima Kedir but set a personal best of 32:12 for the 10K.[7] She also won the six-mileNacht von Borgholzhausen race inGermany in June that year.[8]
In 2008, she took wins on the global road circuit at theAbu Dhabi 7K and theWharf to Wharf 6-miler.[9] Other performances included runner-up spots at theFreihofer's Run for Women 5K and Bolder Boulder.[10] She stepped up to thehalf marathon that year and ran the distance twice in France: she won theLe Lion Half Marathon inMontbéliard (setting a best of 1:12:16) and also won another race in Vemux.[1]
Amane made her debut in themarathon in January 2009 at theHouston Marathon and she managed to finish in fifth place.[11] At theRas Al Khaimah Half Marathon the following month she set a personal best of 1:08:16 to take sixth place in the women's race.[12] Her next outing came at theLos Angeles Marathon in March and she headed to the front of the pack, but was overtaken byTatyana Petrova in the latter stages of the race. Still, her time of 2:26:53 for second place marked a successful transition to the longer distance.[13] She competed extensively in the United States that summer, starting with wins at the Cooper River Bridge Run andMonument Avenue 10K. A fifth place at the Peachtree Road Race was followed up by a third-place finish at theBoilermaker Road Race. Amane ran her third marathon of the year at theToronto Waterfront Marathon. She duelled againstMulu Seboka, another Ethiopian runner and the defending champion, in the earlier stages but then pulled away around the 40 km to earn her first win over the distance, breaking the course record with a run of 2:28:30 in the process.[14] She brought a busy year to a close with two runs in September, taking eighth at theDelhi Half Marathon before securing the runner-up position behindKoreni Jelila at theGreat Ethiopian Run 10K.[15][16]
She soon returned to the starting line in 2010 and improved her best mark en route to winning theOsaka Ladies Marathon in January, becoming the first Ethiopian ever to do so in almost thirty years of competition.[17] An appearance at theZayed International Half Marathon came later in the month, but she was some way off winnerMary Keitany and finished in fifth.[18] She continued her Asian tour at theSeoul International Marathon and took her second victory of the year, outpacingZhou Chunxiu and setting a career best of 2:24:13 for the distance.[19] Amane won her first national title at theEthiopian Athletics Championships with a10,000 metres track win overGenet Getaneh.[20]
She gained her first high-profile win in the half marathon at theGöteborgsvarvet that May.[21] She then returned to the United States for the summer circuit, running at the Freihofer's Run for Women (eighth) and the Bolder Boulder, where she completed an Ethiopian 1–2 behindMamitu Daska.[1][22] She was third at theIstanbul Eurasia Marathon as her national rivalAshu Kasim won in a course record time.[23] She won theXiamen Marathon in January 2011 in her first race of the year.[24] She attempted to defend her title in Seoul, but was unsuccessful as she ended the race in tenth place.[25]
Amane missed 18 months of competition and return in November 2012 with a runner-up finish at theIstanbul Marathon.[26] The following January she ran a personal best at the 2013Dubai Marathon, taking third with her run of 2:23:50 hours. She placed seventh at theParis Marathon and came third at theBogotá Half Marathon.[27]
She won the2014 Istanbul Marathon in 2:28:47 in front of her countrywomanSalomie Getnet.[28]
| Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | World Cross Country Championships | Dublin, Ireland | 8th | Short race |
| 1st | Team race | |||
| 2004 | World Cross Country Championships | Brussels, Belgium | 11th | Short race |
