Letesenbet Gidey, born 20 March 1998, is an Ethiopian long-distance runner. She is the 2015 and 2017 U20 Cross Country World Champion, the fourth woman to win back-to-back titles. At the 2019 World Championships in Doha, Gidey won the silver medalist in the 10,000m.
Early life
Gidey won a 3000 m + 2000 m steeplechase run at the Ethiopian School Championships in 2012.
Career
2014
Letesenbet Gidey ran the 5000 m at the Ethiopian Championships on 14. June. Almaz Ayana won in a time of 16:11.40 ahead of Kidsan Alema in 16:13.48 and Gidey went for third place in 16:19.30.
2015
Letesenbet Gidey won the Jan Meda Cross Country Junior race on a 6 km course. Her winning time was 20:30, with Dagmawit Kbru 20:31 as the runner up. Gidey went to the 2015 IAAF World Cross Country Championship in Guiyang, China on 28 March. She won the U20 World title on the 6030 m course in a time of 19:48 in addition to the team title. At the age of 17, she became the youngest junior women's winner in 15 years. Fellow Ethiopians Dera Dida finished second and Etagegne Woldu third, in 19:49 and 19:53 respectively. Gidey won a 5000 m run in Bottrop on 21. June 2015 in a time of 15:39.83. The runner up was Jana Groß-Hardt in 17:06.33. Originally Gidey was disqualified because she stepped on a marking on the track. Groß-Hardt went to the top of the podium during the winner ceremony. Gidey objected to this decision reasoning that this mistepp didn't gave her an unfair advantage, as a result of that her win was reinstated. On 15. July Gidey ran the 3000 m girls at the World Athletics U18 Championships in Cali, Colombia. Shuru Bulo won in a time of 9:01.12 and Emily Chebet Kipchumba second place in 9:02.92. Sheila Chelangat went for third place with 9:04.54 and Gidey came in fourth in 9:04.64.
2016
Letensenbet Gidey ran the 5000 meters in Hengelo, Netherlands on 22 May. She won in a time of 14:58.44 on a 6 km course. Zeyneba Yimer finished second in 21:37 and Hawi Feyisa placed third with a time of 21:44. About a month later on 30 June she ran the 5000m at the Mitin Internacional Ciutat de Barcelona which she won in 14:45.63 defeating Genzebe Dibaba who dropped out after 3600m
2017
Gidey won the women's junior run at the Ethiopian Cross Country championships on 13. February in Addis Ababa. On 26 March 2017, Gidey ran in the U20 IAAF World Cross Country Championship's women's race. She finished first on the 6 km course in Kampala, Uganda. Hawi Feysa finished in second place with Celliphine Chespol ranked third. She competed in the women's 5000 metres at the 2017 World Championships in Athletics. She advanced to the finals and finished 11th out of 14 starters. The final was won by Hellen Obiri in a time of 14:34.86, the Silver medal went to Almaz Ayana with 14:40.35 and Bronze to Sifan Hassan with 14:42.74.
2018
Gidey won the sixth race of the IAAF Cross Country Permit runs in San Vittore Olona, Italy. Her winning time was 18:14 on a 6 km course, Daisy Jepkemei finished second place in 18:18. She ran the 5000 meters in Eugene, USA on 26 May. Gidey placed second in a time of 14:30.29. Genzebe Dibaba won in 14:26.89 and Hellen Obiri placed third in 14:35.03.
2019
On 10. February 2019 Gidey ran the Jan Meda Cross Country run in Addis Adaba. The women's 10 km race saw Dera Dida as the winner in 35:50 and Gidey placed second in 35:55. In the 2019 edition of the IAAF World Cross Country Championship, Gidey participated in the women's senior race. The 5000 m world champion Hellen Obiri won on the 10.2 km course in Aarhus, Denmark. Obiri's winning time was 36:14, with Dera Dida as the runner up and Gidey taking the Bronze medal. Letesenbet Gidey raced the 10000 m at the Ethiopian National championships in Addis Abeba on 8. May. She won in a time of 32:10.2 and Tsehay Gemechu finished second with 32:17.2. On 19 May, Gidey ran the 10k Bengaluru. She placed second, with Agnes Tirop as the winner and Senbere Teferi finished third place all 3 women with the same time of 33:55. At the 30. June Diamond League meet in Stanford Gidey went for third place in a 3000 m race. The winner was by Sifan Hassan in 8:18.49 a European record and Konstanze Klosterhalfen of Germany as the runner up in 8:20.07 and Gidey with 8:20.27. 7 of the top 15 runners ran a personal best. She won the women's 10000 m Ethiopian trials on 17 July. Her winning time on the track in Hengelo, Netherlands was 30:37.89 and World half marathon champion Netsanet Gudeta was the runner up in 30:40.85. At the 2019 Diamond League final in Brussels, Gidey finished second in the 5000 m. She crossed the finish line in 14:29.54 after the winner Sifan Hassan in 14:26.26. Konstanze Klosterhalfen the German record holder placed third in 14:29.89 and the Kenyan World champion Hellen Obiri in 14:33.90. On 28. Sep, Gidey became the silver medalist in the 10000m at the 2019 World Championship in Doha. The run was won by Sifan Hassan in a time of 30:17.33, a new Dutch national record. Gidey finished in 30:21.23, with Agnes Tirop coming in third placed in 30:25.50. On 17. Nov, Gidey set a new world best over 15km in 44:20 at the Zevenheuvelenlooproad race in Nijmegen, improving the previous world record of Joyciline Jepkosgei by over a minute and becoming the first woman to run 15km under 45 minutes. Tirunesh Dibaba set the 15 km world record at the Zevenheuvelenloop with 46:28 in 2009 by improving on the former world record by 27 seconds. Gidey improves on Dibaba's course record by more than 2 minutes. For this world best, Gidey received 50000 €,During the run, she wear Nike Vaporfly running shoes.
