.jpg) Dibaba in the2014 Boston Marathon | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1989-10-20)20 October 1989 (age 36) |
| Height | 1.51 m (4 ft11+1⁄2 in) |
| Weight | 38 kg (84 lb) |
| Sport | |
| Country |  Ethiopia |
| Sport | Athletics |
Event | Marathon |
Mare Dibaba Hurrsa (born 20 October 1989) is an Ethiopianlong-distance runner. She won the2015 World Championships in Athletics in Beijing. Dibaba is not related to track Olympic champion, world record holder and compatriotTirunesh Dibaba.[1]
Her first high-profile outing came at the Ethiopian 20 km championships in 2007 and she took sixth place, running forOromia Police.[2] She made her international debut at the 2008Udine Half Marathon and the eighteen-year-old ran a personal best of 1:10:32 hours for second place behindAnikó Kálovics.[3] Her next run came in November at theNew Delhi Half Marathon, where she finished in eighth place but slightly improved her time to 1:10:28.[4]
Mare briefly transferred to compete for Azerbaijan in 2009, running under the nameMare Ibrahimova, but after she was revealed to be overage for theEuropean Athletics Junior Championships she returned to compete for her country of birth.[5][6][7] Among her competitions representing Azerbaijan was a sixth-place finish at the 2009 Delhi Half Marathon, at which she much improved her time for the distance by crossing the line in 1:08:45 (anAzerbaijani record).[8]
Having reverted to her Ethiopian citizenship, she further established herself at theRas Al Khaimah Half Marathon, coming in second place behindElvan Abeylegesse.[9] She had led the race at the 20 km mark and her time of 1:03:47 for that point was the fastest recorded by any woman in2010,[10] while her half marathon time of 1:07:13 was the second fastest of the year.[11] She made hermarathon debut in March with a quick 2:25:38 time for third at theRome Marathon.[12] She won theRabat Half Marathon in April and made her first appearances in the United States in August, winning theCrim 10-Miler andNews and Sentinel Half Marathon.[13] She was one of the leading names at theFrankfurt Marathon but, in spite of a personal best of 2:25:27, she managed only fifth place in the quick-paced race.[14]
Mare managed third place at the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon in February 2011.[15] Although she was the pre-race favourite at theLos Angeles Marathon in March, she was defeated by bothBezunesh Deba andAmy Hastings and came third with a comparatively slow time of 2:30:25 hours.[16] A month later she won theYangzhou Jianzhen International Half Marathon by a margin of one minute.[17] She was the runner-up at theBogota Half Marathon in August.[18] Although she was not selected for the world championships team that year, she was chosen to represent her country at the2011 All-Africa Games, where she won the half marathongold medal in aGames record time of 1:10:47 hours.[19] She improved her marathon best to 2:23:25 hours at theToronto Waterfront Marathon in October, finishing as runner-up behindKoren Yal.[20] A sixth-place finish followed at the Delhi Half Marathon.[21]
At the 2012Dubai Marathon she ran a personal best time of 2:19:52 hours for third place, making her the second fastest Ethiopian woman after the winnerAselefech Mergia.[22] As a result, she was selected for the marathon team at the2012 London Olympics, but she was somewhat slower in the Olympic marathon, running a time of 2:28:48 hours and finishing 23rd. Her last performance of the year was a runner-up finish at thePhiladelphia Half Marathon.[23]
In 2014, she won theBank of AmericaChicago Marathon with a time of 2:25:37 hours. The win was announced 30 January 2015, asRita Jeptoo was suspended retroactively for anEPO positive drug test to 25 September 2014, which would have made her ineligible for the Chicago Marathon that she finished first.
In 2015, she won the marathon at theWorld Championships in Beijing.
She was the heavy favourite for the Olympic marathon title but ended up winning bronze behindJemima Sumgong andEunice Kirwa, both Kenyan-born athletes.[24][25]
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