Addis Ababa, August 7, 2023 (FBC) – Ethiopian athletes continue preparations ahead of the 19th World Athletics Championship which will be held from August 19 to 27, 2023 in Budapest, capital of Hungary.
The Ethiopian Athletics Federation today announced that the athletes are expediting their preparations in Addis Ababa and Entoto hills, the northern suburb of the capital.
The athletics team representing Ethiopia at the 19th World Athletics Championship started preparations a few weeks ago as the gear up to maintain the previous glittering history in this competition.
In the previous world championships, Ethiopian athletes have amassed a whopping 101 medals in long and medium distances: 33 gold medals through 19 athletes, 34 silver medals through 28 athletes, and 28 bronze medals through 25 athletes.
Ethiopia has enjoyed a rich tradition of producing some of the world’s fastest distance runners over past decades. The country has had a healthy rivalry with East African neighbours Kenya and this has spurred each nation on to achieve quicker times on both and track and road.
Ethiopian long and middle distance runners are considered as the pioneer of athletics in Africa. From Abebe Bikila to Haile Gebre-Selassie, from Derartu Tulu to Trunesh Dibaba, from Miruts Yifter to Kenenisa Bekele, from Meseret Defar to Letesebet Gidey, so many long and middle distance Ethiopian athletes have graced different athletics events over the past decades across the world.
Abebe Bikila was the star of marathon running during the 1960s, winning gold at the 1960 and 1964 Olympics and setting a World Record at the latter Games (2:12:11), becoming the first black African to win an Olympic gold medal in the process.
Derartu Tulu is the first Ethiopian woman and the first African woman to win an Olympic gold medal, which she won in the 10,000 m event at the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games. She is considered to be the trailblazer of the current domination of female African runners, especially Ethiopian.
The 2023 World Athletics Championships, the nineteenth edition of the World Athletics Championships, are scheduled to be held from 19 to 27 August 2023 at the National Athletics Centre, in Budapest, Hungary.