 Jamal at the 2010 Aviva Grand Prix | ||
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Women'sathletics | ||
Representing Bahrain | ||
| Olympic Games | ||
 | 2012 London | 1500 m |
| World Championships | ||
| 2007 Osaka | 1500 m |
| 2009 Berlin | 1500 m |
| World Indoor Championships | ||
 | 2008 Valencia | 1500 m |
 | 2014 Sopot | 3000 m |
| IAAF World Cup | ||
| 2006 Athens | 1500 m |
| Asian Games | ||
| 2006 Incheon | 800 m |
| 2006 Incheon | 1500 m |
| 2010 Guangzhou | 1500 m |
| 2014 Incheon | 1500 m |
| 2014 Incheon | 5000 m |
| Asian Indoor Championships | ||
| 2014 Hangzhou | 1500 m |
| 2014 Hangzhou | 3000 m |
| Asian Cross Country Championships | ||
| 2007 Amman | Senior race |
| 2009 Manama | Senior race |
Maryam Yusuf Jamal (Arabic:مريم يوسف جمال;Oromo:Maaryaam Yuusuf Jamaal) (bornZenebech Tola) (born 16 September 1984) is an Ethiopian-born Bahrainimiddle-distance runner. She is the first Bahraini athlete to win an Olympic medal, a gold (originally bronze, but later upgraded after two doping violations by other competitors) in the1,500m women's race, in the2012 Summer Olympics inLondon.[1] This was also the first Olympic medal won by a woman representing a Gulf state.[2]Born inEthiopia, 2005 was her first full season. She gained thenational record and ran the fastest3000 m of the year, with a time of 8:28.87 at a race inOslo. Jamal is a two-timeworld champion in the1,500 m, having won at the2007 and2009 World Championships in Athletics.
Sherepresented Bahrain at the2008 Summer Olympics inBeijing, finishing fifth in the 1,500 m final.[3] Jamal has also had much success at regional competitions: winning twogold medals at the2006 Asian Games in addition to theAsian Cross Country Championships in both 2007 and 2009.
Jamal was born in theArsi Zone in theOromia Region ofEthiopia, an area famous fordistance runners, includingHaile Gebrselassie,Kenenisa Bekele andTirunesh Dibaba. She is from a Christian family but it is not certain if she has converted to Islam.[4] She is ofOromo background.
Jamal later left Ethiopia with her husband, Tariq Yaqoob, due partially to political and economic problems. She had run a qualifying time for the2004 Summer Olympics, but was allegedly refused permission to represent her home country by theEthiopian Athletic Federation due to the competition in the country as well as politics.
In 2004, she and her husband sought political asylum inLausanne,Switzerland. She applied for multiple citizenship papers before Bahrain granted them to her that same year. First, she applied for citizenship in the US, Canada and France.[5] Bahrain, eager to gain a sporting image, granted this in exchange that she change her name to anArabic one and that she compete in theAsian Games inDoha,Qatar in 2006.
Based in Lausanne, Jamal often trains at altitude inSt. Moritz. She is trained by her husband Tariq Yaqoob (who was Mnashu Taye before being granted Bahraini citizenship with his wife).
She ran at the2005 World Championships in Athletics, but was obstructed in the final, which resulted in the disqualification of thesilver medallistYuliya Chizhenko. She beat the event winner,Tatyana Tomashova, soon afterwards to take the gold at the2005 IAAF World Athletics Final. After abronze medal performance at the2006 IAAF World Indoor Championships, Jamal beat Tomashova twice more at major events the following year, bringing Asia victory in the 1500 m at the2006 IAAF World Cup and winning at the2006 IAAF World Athletics Final. She closed the year with an 800/1500 m double at the2006 Asian Games.
She turned her skills tocross country running at the start of 2007: she took first place at theCinque Mulini and went on to win the individual and team gold medals at theAsian Cross Country Championships. At the2007 World Championships in Athletics inOsaka, Jamal passedYelena Soboleva in the last 200 metres to win the women's 1500 metres, winning the only gold medal for Bahrain. She made it a third consecutive World Final victory at the2007 IAAF World Athletics Final, finishing ahead of Soboleva (who was later disqualified for switching urine samples to avoid drug testing).
At the start of the next season, she competed at the2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships and ran a closeindoor 1500 m againstGelete Burka. Sobeleva set a world record for the victory but was later stripped of the title. Burka was elevated to gold while Jamal gained the silver medal, which she won in anAsian record time of 3:59.79. She did not build on her World Championship success with an Olympic medal as she finished fifth in the1500 metres at the2008 Beijing Olympics. Another win at the2008 IAAF World Athletics Final closed the year.
Jamal became the first female athlete to win twice at the Asian Cross Country Championships, taking her second gold and competing in Bahrain for the first time. She ran at the2009 IAAF World Cross Country Championships at finished ninth overall. Making up for her Olympic defeat, she defended her world title on the track with a win at the2009 World Championships in Athletics, just staying ahead ofLisa Dobriskey at the finish line. A fourth-place finish at the2009 IAAF World Athletics Final brought an end to a successful season.
In 2010, Jamal competed on the inauguralDiamond League circuit, including a second-place finish behindSentayehu Ejigu at theHerculis meeting. Later that season, she ran at the2010 Asian Games and managed to retain her title over 1500 m.[6] She later opened her 2011 with a win at theEurocross, following on from compatriotMimi Belete's win the previous year.[7]
In the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Jamal placed third in the 1500m race, finishing in 4:10:74, behind Asli Cakir Alptekin and Gamze Bulut, both ofTurkey. Alptekin was later given an eight-year ban for biological passport violations, a doping related offense, and stripped of her gold medal. Gamze Bulut was also later suspended for biological passport irregularities and was stripped of her silver medal on March 29, 2017. Four of the other finishers in the first nine finishers have also been linked to performance-enhancing drugs.[8]
In December 2021, Maryam Yusuf Jamal was upgraded to the gold medal after those ahead of her had been disqualified for doping violations in March of 2017.[9][10]
After winning the 3000 m inOslo on July 14, 2005, her image was published throughout the international sporting press. Her outfit of short shorts and a sleeveless, midriff-baring top caused a minor outrage inBahrain led by MPHamad Al-Muhannadi. In 2004, Bahraini championRuqaya Al Ghasra competed in theAthens Olympics fully covered. Bahrain Athletics Association vice-president Mohammed Jamal said the association was already planning to give new sportswear to Jamal, which covered her stomach and her legs down to the knee. However, comments by Mohammed Jamal show that to be unlikely to actually occur.[citation needed]
| Distance | Mark | Location | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 800 m | 1:59.69 | Geneva | June 11, 2005 |
| 1500 m | 3:56.79 | Rieti | June 14, 2005 |
| 3000 m | 8:28.87 | Oslo | July 29, 2005 |
| 5000 m | 14:51.68 | Hengelo | May 29, 2005 |
| Quarter marathon | 34:19 | Lausanne | October 24, 2004 |
| Half marathon | 1:11:43 | Uster | September 18, 2004 |
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Women's 3,000 m season's best 2005 | Succeeded by |
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