Letesenbet Gidey was reluctant to run during her school days, she is the hottest property in women's distance running these days

By Navneet Singh

Modified Mar 13, 2024 11:31 GMT

Letesenbet Gidey with the bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics 2020

At 13 she was reluctant to take up physical education classes during her formative years in school, but a decade later Ethiopia’s Letesenbet Gidey smashed the women’s world half-marathon record during last Sunday's race in Spain.

The 23-year-old world and Olympic 10,000m medalist clocked 1:02:52 at the 2021 Valencia Half Marathon on October 24 to become the first athlete to break 63 minutes for a half marathon (21km).

Letsenbet is also the second athlete in the history of distance running to hold women’s world record for 5,000m (14:06:62) and 10,000m (29:01:03) track races and the half marathon (1:02:52). Norway’s Ingrid Kristiansen was the first distance runner to achieve the feat in the late 1980s.

During the weekend's 2021 Valencia half marathon in Spain, the Ethiopian set a blistering pace. Covering the opening 5km in 15 minutes, Letesenbet was quicker over the next 5km. She covered 10km in 29:45 seconds.

The Ethiopian continued to run at a scorching pace reaching the 15km in 44:29 seconds. At the 20km mark she was on course for a world record. She crossed the finish line in 1:02:52.

To prepare for the Valencia 21km run, she covered 30km's in training sessions at Addis Ababa's high altitude.

“I knew I could run this kind of time as my training sessions in the altitude of Addis Ababa have gone well. I ran the first half of the Valencia half marathon race very hard. I had trained for that,” Letesenbet told the World Athletics during the post world record run interaction.

Letesenbet took off nearly 70 seconds of the previous world best of 1:04:02 set by Kenya’s Ruth Chepngetich earlier this year in Istanbul.

Letesenbet Gidey: From humble beginnings to world records and Olympic podium finishes

Letesenbet, the daughter of a small-time farmer from Endameskel in the Tigray region of Ethiopia, was more interested in academics than running during her school days.

As a teenager, Letesenbet was expelled from school for refusing to run during physical education classes, reports World Athletics.

“I really did not like racing. I was expelled from school for refusing to run in physical education classes. My parents had to come to school to meet the headmaster to reinstate me. The headmaster agreed to take me back only if I ran for the school. I had to agree to get back to school,” Letesenbet recalls during an interaction with World Athletics.

But a podium finish in 2011 in a regional race changed her fate. She came second in a 3km race during a district meet.

Letesenbet struggled during her formative years of running as she finished a distant 44th in her first junior-level cross-country race in 2012.

But the local club's scouting team were impressed when she won 2000m and 3000m steeplechase races during the regional Ethiopian school championships at the end of the 2012 season.

She moved to Mekelle, the Capital of Tigray and joined the Trans Sports Club.

In 2015, Letesenbet was impressive at 2015 World U18 championships finishing fourth in 3000m race. She also competed in the U20 World Cross Country event.

In 2018, she graduated to the senior level. That year she posted an excellent time of 8:30.96 for 3000m and 14:23.14 for 5000m. It was her personal best for the distance.

A year later at the 2019 world cross country championships she won a bronze medal in the senior group. She also won silver in the women’s 10,000m at the 2019 Doha World Athletics Championships. At the end of the 2019 season, the Ethiopian also ran 44:20 for 15km in the Netherlands.

Pandemics and conflicts in the Tigray region restricted her from traveling outside Ethiopia in 2020. In her first race of 2020, she ran 14:26:57 for 5,000m in the Monaco Diamond League. Two months later she ran a stunning 14:06.62 for 5,000m, a world record in Valencia.

Letesenbet opened her 2021 season with a second place in the women’s 5,000m track race in April during the Ethiopian championships in Addis Ababa.

In June she broke the world 10,000m track race record by clocking 29:01.03 in Hengelo.

On her debut at the Tokyo Olympic Games in Japan, Letesenbet took home the bronze medal in the women’s 10,000m with a time of 30:01.72. But two weeks later she clocked an impressive 9:06.74 for two miles at the Eugene Diamond League.

After track racing, she moved to the road racing circuit, particularly the half marathon. Her future goal is to compete in a marathon race, after establishing the half-marathon world record at Valencia.