Alemayehu Bezabeh
Encyclopedia
Alemayehu Bezabeh Desta (Amharic: አለማየሁ በዛበህ ደስታ; born c. 1986) is an Ethiopian
-born athlete who represents Spain
internationally. He competes in middle- and long-distance running on the track, and also in cross country
. His brother, Sisay Bezabeh, is also a professional runner and represents Australia
internationally.
In December 2010 Alemayehu Bezabeh was arrested as part of Operation Galgo, an investigation by the Spanish Guardia Civil into an alleged doping ring among athletes in Spain, having been caught red-handed carrying a bag of his own blood for a blood transfusion.
, Alemayehu Bezabeh arrived in Spain in 2004 via plane and stayed in the country as an illegal immigrant, sleeping outdoors and dreaming of becoming a professional runner. He began living off the winnings of the races he would take part in every week. Following a calf injury, doctors at a hospital in the Community of Madrid discovered that he had no papers and he did not know his date of birth.
X-ray
wrist tests revealed him to be over 18 and after some estimations of his age he was given a nominal birthday of 1 January 1986. The test involved examination of the proportions of the individual bones of a wrist; it provides an estimate of biological age of a growing body, but is not informative for an age above 18 (male) when the bone growth saturates. As a result of his strong running skills, Bezabeh was given naturalised citizen status in 2008 to allow him to compete internationally for Spain.
, he also performed well at the 2008 European Cross Country Championships
, finishing in seventh and leading the Spanish team to the gold with the help of Ayad Lamdassem
. At the end of the year he won the Cross Internacional de Venta de Baños
, finishing ahead of Lamdassem and Kidane Tadese.
The following year he won the Spanish cross country championships and ran in the 2009 IAAF World Cross Country Championships
, finishing just outside the top thirty. He also competed at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics
but he failed to make the 5000 m final
. Despite this setback, the year turned out to be his breakthrough season as he won the men's senior 10 km race at the 2009 European Cross Country Championships
. He fought off former champions Serhiy Lebid and Mo Farah, and went on to become the first Spanish champion in the history of the competition.
At the 2010 IAAF World Cross Country Championships
he was fourteenth overall. A 5000 m silver medal at the 2010 European Team Championships
boded well for the 2010 European Athletics Championships in Barcelona
, but he was ten seconds off his compatriot Jesús España
, who took silver. He was fourth at the Atapuerca race which began the 2010/11 cross country season. He was set to defend his title at the 2010 European Cross Country Championships
in December but abruptly withdrew after he was arrested.
and the Spanish running star Marta Dominguez
, who was arrested on suspicion of trafficking in drugs. He confessed to his involvement in the alleged doping ring after having been surprised by the Guardia Civil in the company of the top Spanish coach Manuel Pascua Piqueras and the retired competitive mountain-biker Alberto León, when he was caught red-handed carrying a bag of his own blood which he was intending to use for an illegal autotransfusion
to improve his athletic performance. The Real Federación Española de Atletismo immediately withdrew Bezabeh from the Spanish team that was due to compete on 12 December 2010 in the European Cross Country Championships
in Portugal, where he would have been the defending champion.
However, he was eventually cleared by the national federation of charges for attempted doping, as its committee declared that there was not sufficient evidence against him. The federation president, José María Odriozola, accepted Bezabeh's version of events – that he believed León was a medic who was analysing his blood for a liver problem.
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
-born athlete who represents Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
internationally. He competes in middle- and long-distance running on the track, and also in cross country
Cross country running
Cross country running is a sport in which people run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open country, and include hills, flat ground and sometimes gravel road...
. His brother, Sisay Bezabeh, is also a professional runner and represents Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
internationally.
In December 2010 Alemayehu Bezabeh was arrested as part of Operation Galgo, an investigation by the Spanish Guardia Civil into an alleged doping ring among athletes in Spain, having been caught red-handed carrying a bag of his own blood for a blood transfusion.
Arrival in Spain
Born in Addis AbabaAddis Ababa
Addis Ababa is the capital city of Ethiopia...
, Alemayehu Bezabeh arrived in Spain in 2004 via plane and stayed in the country as an illegal immigrant, sleeping outdoors and dreaming of becoming a professional runner. He began living off the winnings of the races he would take part in every week. Following a calf injury, doctors at a hospital in the Community of Madrid discovered that he had no papers and he did not know his date of birth.
X-ray
X-ray
X-radiation is a form of electromagnetic radiation. X-rays have a wavelength in the range of 0.01 to 10 nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30 petahertz to 30 exahertz and energies in the range 120 eV to 120 keV. They are shorter in wavelength than UV rays and longer than gamma...
wrist tests revealed him to be over 18 and after some estimations of his age he was given a nominal birthday of 1 January 1986. The test involved examination of the proportions of the individual bones of a wrist; it provides an estimate of biological age of a growing body, but is not informative for an age above 18 (male) when the bone growth saturates. As a result of his strong running skills, Bezabeh was given naturalised citizen status in 2008 to allow him to compete internationally for Spain.
Career
His first major competition for Spain was the 2008 Beijing Olympics and he reached the final of the men's 5000 metres race, taking eleventh place. After a win at the Cross de AtapuercaCross de Atapuerca
The Cross Internacional de Atapuerca is an annual cross country running competition that takes place in Atapuerca, Spain. Established in 2004, it takes place in early November and is among the first major competitions of the cross country season...
, he also performed well at the 2008 European Cross Country Championships
2008 European Cross Country Championships
The 15th European Cross Country Championships were held at Brussels in Belgium on 14 December 2008. Serhiy Lebid took his eighth title in the men's competition and Hilda Kibet won the women's race.-Men individual 10.0km:Total 77 competitors-Men teams:...
, finishing in seventh and leading the Spanish team to the gold with the help of Ayad Lamdassem
Ayad Lamdassem
Ayad Lamdassem is a Moroccan-born long distance runner who competes for Spain internationally.He first arrived in Spain in 2002 as part of the Moroccan contingent for the World University Cross Country Championships, which was being held in Santiago de Compostela that year...
. At the end of the year he won the Cross Internacional de Venta de Baños
Cross Internacional de Venta de Baños
The Cross Internacional de Venta de Baños is a cross country running competition that takes place in Venta de Baños, Castile and León, Spain. The competition was first held in 1980 and since then it has been held every year in mid-December...
, finishing ahead of Lamdassem and Kidane Tadese.
The following year he won the Spanish cross country championships and ran in the 2009 IAAF World Cross Country Championships
2009 IAAF World Cross Country Championships
The 37th IAAF World Cross Country Championships were held in the Al Bisharat Golf Course at Amman, Jordan on 28 March 2009. Four races took place, one for men, women, junior men and junior women respectively. All races encompassed both individual and team competition...
, finishing just outside the top thirty. He also competed at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics
2009 World Championships in Athletics
The 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics were held in Berlin, Germany from 15–23 August 2009. The majority of events took place in the Olympiastadion, while the marathon and racewalking events started and finished at the Brandenburg Gate....
but he failed to make the 5000 m final
2009 World Championships in Athletics – Men's 5000 metres
The men's 5000 metres at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics will be held at the Olympic Stadium on 20 and 23 August-Medalists:-Records:-Qualification standards:-Schedule:-Heats:...
. Despite this setback, the year turned out to be his breakthrough season as he won the men's senior 10 km race at the 2009 European Cross Country Championships
2009 European Cross Country Championships
The 2009 European Cross Country Championships was a continental cross country running competition that was held on 13 December 2009 in Dublin, Ireland. Dublin was selected as the host city in 2007 and the event was the first time that a major European athletics championships took place in Ireland...
. He fought off former champions Serhiy Lebid and Mo Farah, and went on to become the first Spanish champion in the history of the competition.
At the 2010 IAAF World Cross Country Championships
2010 IAAF World Cross Country Championships
The 2010 IAAF World Cross Country Championships were held at Myślęcinek Park in Bydgoszcz, Poland on 28 March 2010. It was the first time in over twenty years that Poland hosted the annual championships, having previously held them in Warsaw in 1987. Kenyan runners dominated the competition, taking...
he was fourteenth overall. A 5000 m silver medal at the 2010 European Team Championships
2010 European Team Championships
The second SPAR European Team Championships took place on 19 and 20 June 2010. The track and field athletics tournament run by European Athletics was the successor of the old European Cup competition which was held annually until 2008....
boded well for the 2010 European Athletics Championships in Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
, but he was ten seconds off his compatriot Jesús España
Jesús España
Jesús España Cobo is a Spanish runner who mostly concentrates on the 3000 and 5000 metres....
, who took silver. He was fourth at the Atapuerca race which began the 2010/11 cross country season. He was set to defend his title at the 2010 European Cross Country Championships
2010 European Cross Country Championships
The 2010 European Cross Country Championships was a continental cross country running competition that took place on 12 December in Albufeira, Portugal. It was the second time that the country hosted the event, building upon the 1997 edition held in Oeiras....
in December but abruptly withdrew after he was arrested.
Doping case
On 9 December 2010 Alemayehu Bezabeh was arrested as part of Operation Galgo, an investigation by the Spanish Guardia Civil into a large-scale doping ring among athletes in Spain centred on the disgraced Spanish doctor Eufemiano FuentesEufemiano Fuentes
Doctor Eufemiano Fuentes is a Spanish sports doctor best known for being implicated in the Operación Puerto doping case.Fuentes was once an athlete. He then became the team doctor of Team ONCE, Amaya and the Kelme. The former Kelme rider Jesús Manzano accused Fuentes of being involved with doping....
and the Spanish running star Marta Dominguez
Marta Domínguez
Marta Domínguez Azpeleta is a Spanish runner. She was accused of drug dealing and but later acquitted .Dominguez currently competes mainly in 3000 m steeplechase, a distance in which she was the 2009 world champion...
, who was arrested on suspicion of trafficking in drugs. He confessed to his involvement in the alleged doping ring after having been surprised by the Guardia Civil in the company of the top Spanish coach Manuel Pascua Piqueras and the retired competitive mountain-biker Alberto León, when he was caught red-handed carrying a bag of his own blood which he was intending to use for an illegal autotransfusion
Autotransfusion
Autotransfusion is a process when a person receives their own blood for a transfusion, instead of banked donor blood. Blood can be pre-donated before a surgery, or can be collected during and after the surgery using a device commonly known as the Cell Saver. The Cell Saver is utilized in surgeries...
to improve his athletic performance. The Real Federación Española de Atletismo immediately withdrew Bezabeh from the Spanish team that was due to compete on 12 December 2010 in the European Cross Country Championships
2010 European Cross Country Championships
The 2010 European Cross Country Championships was a continental cross country running competition that took place on 12 December in Albufeira, Portugal. It was the second time that the country hosted the event, building upon the 1997 edition held in Oeiras....
in Portugal, where he would have been the defending champion.
However, he was eventually cleared by the national federation of charges for attempted doping, as its committee declared that there was not sufficient evidence against him. The federation president, José María Odriozola, accepted Bezabeh's version of events – that he believed León was a medic who was analysing his blood for a liver problem.
Personal bests
| Surface | Event | Time (m Minute A minute is a unit of measurement of time or of angle. The minute is a unit of time equal to 1/60th of an hour or 60 seconds. In the UTC time scale, a minute on rare occasions has 59 or 61 seconds; see leap second. The minute is not an SI unit; however, it is accepted for use with SI units... :s Second The second is a unit of measurement of time, and is the International System of Units base unit of time. It may be measured using a clock.... ) |
Venue | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Track | 1500 m | 3:39.85 | Huelva Huelva Huelva is a city in southwestern Spain, the capital of the province of Huelva in the autonomous region of Andalusia. It is located along the Gulf of Cadiz coast, at the confluence of the Odiel and Tinto rivers. According to the 2010 census, the city has a population of 149,410 inhabitants. The... , Spain |
9 June 2010 |
| 3000 m | 7:45.98 | Huelva Huelva Huelva is a city in southwestern Spain, the capital of the province of Huelva in the autonomous region of Andalusia. It is located along the Gulf of Cadiz coast, at the confluence of the Odiel and Tinto rivers. According to the 2010 census, the city has a population of 149,410 inhabitants. The... , Spain |
7 June 2005 | |
| 5000 m | 12:57.25 | Olso, Norway | 4 June 2010 | |
| Road | 10 km | 28:39 | Madrid Madrid Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan... , Spain |
19 November 2006 |
- All information taken from IAAF profile.