Derartu Tulu
Encyclopedia
Derartu Tulu (born March 21, 1972 in Bekoji
Bekoji (woreda)
Bekoji is one of the 180 woredas in the Oromia Region of Ethiopia. Part of the Arsi Zone, Bekoji is bordered on the south by Gedeb, on the southwest by Kofele, on the west by Munesa, on the north by Digeluna Tijo, on the east by Sherka, and on the southeast by the Shebelle River which separates it...

, Arsi
Arsi
* Arsi Province, a former province of Ethiopia* Arsi Zone, a zone within the Oromia region of Ethiopia* Arsi Oromo, an Ethiopian clan of the Oromo people* Arsi language, a dialect of Oromo language* Arsi language, an extinct Tocharian language...

, Ethiopia
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...

) is an Ethiopia
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...

n long distance track
Long-distance track event
Long-distance track event races require runners to balance their energy. These types of races are predominantly aerobic in nature and at the highest level, exceptional levels of aerobic endurance is required more than anything else...

, road
Road running
Road running is the sport of running on a measured course over an established road . These events would be classified as long distance according to athletics terminology, with distances typically ranging from 5 kilometers to 42.2 kilometers in the marathon. They may involve large numbers of runners...

 and marathon athlete.

Derartu (ዻራርቱ ቱሉ), a member of the Oromo
Oromo people
The Oromo are an ethnic group found in Ethiopia, northern Kenya, .and parts of Somalia. With 30 million members, they constitute the single largest ethnic group in Ethiopia and approximately 34.49% of the population according to the 2007 census...

 ethnic group, grew up tending cattle in the village of Bekoji
Bekoji (woreda)
Bekoji is one of the 180 woredas in the Oromia Region of Ethiopia. Part of the Arsi Zone, Bekoji is bordered on the south by Gedeb, on the southwest by Kofele, on the west by Munesa, on the north by Digeluna Tijo, on the east by Sherka, and on the southeast by the Shebelle River which separates it...

 in the highlands of Arsi Province
Arsi Province
Arsi was a province of Ethiopia with its capital at Asella. The province was reduced to a Zone of the Oromia Region with the adoption of the new constitution in 1995....

. The same village as Kenenisa Bekele
Kenenisa Bekele
Kenenisa Bekele is an Ethiopian long-distance runner, who holds the world record and Olympic record in both the 5000 metres and 10,000 metres events...

.

Derartu is the first black African woman to win a gold medal in the Olympic Games. Her 1992 Olympic gold medal launched her career. She sat out 1993 and 1994 with a knee injury and returned to competition in the 1995 IAAF World Cross Country Championships
IAAF World Cross Country Championships
IAAF World Cross Country Championships is the most important competition in international cross country running. Held annually and organised by International Association of Athletics Federations , it was inaugurated in 1973, when it replaced the International Cross Country Championships...

 where she won gold, having arrived at the race only an hour before the start. She was stuck in Athens airport without sleep for 24 hours. The same year she lost out to Fernanda Ribeiro
Fernanda Ribeiro
Maria Fernanda Moreira Ribeiro, GCIH , is a long-distance runner, born in Penafiel, Portugal. She achieved the top of her career in the 1996 Summer Olympics where she won the women's 10,000 m gold medal, giving Portugal their 3rd Olympic gold , and establishing a new Olympic record - 31:01.63.-...

 and won silver
Silver medal
A silver medal is a medal awarded to the second place finisher of contests such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, and contests with similar formats....

 at the World Championships 10,000.

1996 was a difficult year. At the IAAF World Cross Country Championships
IAAF World Cross Country Championships
IAAF World Cross Country Championships is the most important competition in international cross country running. Held annually and organised by International Association of Athletics Federations , it was inaugurated in 1973, when it replaced the International Cross Country Championships...

 Tulu lost her shoe in the race and had to fight back to get 4th place. She also finished 4th at the Olympic Games where she was nursing an injury. In 1997 she won the world cross country title for the second time but did not factor in the 10,000 metres World Championships. 1998 and 1999 she gave birth, but came back in 2000 in the best shape of her life. She won the 10,000 metres Olympic gold for the second time (the only woman to have done this in the short history of the event). She had also won the IAAF World Cross Country Championships
IAAF World Cross Country Championships
IAAF World Cross Country Championships is the most important competition in international cross country running. Held annually and organised by International Association of Athletics Federations , it was inaugurated in 1973, when it replaced the International Cross Country Championships...

 title for the third time. In 2001 she finally won her world 10,000 track title in Edmonton
Edmonton
Edmonton is the capital of the Canadian province of Alberta and is the province's second-largest city. Edmonton is located on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Capital Region, which is surrounded by the central region of the province.The city and its census...

. This was her third world and Olympic gold medal. She has a total of 6 world and Olympic gold medals.

Her transition to the marathon was rewarded with victories in London
London Marathon
The London Marathon is one of the biggest running events in the world, and one of the five top world marathons that make up the World Marathon Majors competition, which has a $1 million prize purse. It has been held each spring in London since 1981. The race is currently sponsored by Virgin Money,...

 and Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...

 Marathons in 2001. She finished 4th at the 2005 World Championships setting her personal best time of 2:23:30. She also won the Portugal Half Marathon
Portugal Half Marathon
Portugal Half Marathon is an annual half marathon contested every September in Lisbon, Portugal.A new, faster course was established for the race in 2010 and 25 km record holder Mary Keitany duly responded by setting a women's course record of 1:08:46...

 in 2000 and 2003, and Lisbon Half Marathon
Lisbon Half Marathon
First held in 1991, the race has consistently delivered fast winning times. However, many of these times have been unratifiable for record purposes due to factors including: the course being too short , excessive tailwinds, as well as there being an excessive drop in altitude, which boosted...

 in 2003. In 2009, at the age of 37, she won the New York City Marathon
New York City Marathon
The New York City Marathon is a major annual marathon that courses through the five boroughs of New York City. It is one of the largest marathons in the world, with 45,103 finishers in 2010...

 defeating of the likes of Paula Radcliffe,http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/04/born-to-run-the-marathon/?src=me&ref=general Lyudmila Petrova
Lyudmila Petrova
Lyudmila Nikolayevna Petrova is a Russian long-distance runner, who represented her native country at two Summer Olympics: 1996 and 2004. She won the 2000 edition of the New York City Marathon....

 and Salina Kosgei
Salina Kosgei
Salina Jebet Kosgei is a long distance runner from Kenya. She is a Commonwealth Games gold medalist, has competed at the Olympics and has won various marathons, including the 2009 Boston Marathon.- Career :...

.

In 2004, she declined to enter the New York Marathon, where she would have been likely to face marathon World Record
World record
A world record is usually the best global performance ever recorded and verified in a specific skill or sport. The book Guinness World Records collates and publishes notable records of all types, from first and best to worst human achievements, to extremes in the natural world and beyond...

 holder Paula Radcliffe
Paula Radcliffe
Paula Jane Radcliffe, MBE is an English long-distance runner. She is the current women's world record holder in the marathon with her time of 2:15:25 hours...

, whom she has had a great rivalry with over the years, and focused instead on the Olympic Games
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...

, where she won the bronze medal
Bronze medal
A bronze medal is a medal awarded to the third place finisher of contests such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The practice of awarding bronze third place medals began at the 1904 Olympic Games in St...

 in the 10 000 m behind Xing Huina
Xing Huina
Xing Huina is a Chinese track and field athlete.-Biography:Xing was born to family of farmers in Hanting, Weifang, Shandong. Standing 1.66 m tall and weighing 50 kg , she began training at Weifang City Sport School, coached by Chi Yuzhai...

 and her cousin Ejegayehu Dibaba
Ejegayehu Dibaba
Ejegayehu Dibaba is an Ethiopian long-distance runner.She is a member of the Oromo ethnic group from the high-altitude Arsi Zone of the Oromia Region. She is the third child of six, her younger sisters Tirunesh and Genzebe are also international long distance athletes, and brother Dejene is marked...

. (Radcliffe failed to finish.)

As of 2009, Derartu Tulu is still running competitively, while most of her old rivals are retired or retiring. She is an icon of the Olympic movement and many will recall her victory lap in 1992 with white South African Elana Meyer
Elana Meyer
Elana Meyer is a former long-distance runner from South Africa, who won the silver medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics in the 10,000 metre event....

, symbolically celebrating an African victory and the end of apartheid on the track. She will also be remembered for her speed. Her 60.3 second-last lap at the end of the 10,000 metres at the Sydney Olympics was a sprint of note.

Achievements

  • 1990
    • World Junior Championships
      IAAF World Junior Championships in Athletics
      The IAAF World Junior Championships in Athletics are the world championships for junior aged athletes athletes, organized by the International Association of Athletics Federations. It is held biennially since 1986.-Championships:-Men:-Women:-External links:* at...

       - Plovdiv
      Plovdiv
      Plovdiv is the second-largest city in Bulgaria after Sofia with a population of 338,153 inhabitants according to Census 2011. Plovdiv's history spans some 6,000 years, with traces of a Neolithic settlement dating to roughly 4000 BC; it is one of the oldest cities in Europe...

      , Bulgaria
      Bulgaria
      Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...

      .
      • 10,000 metres gold medal
        Gold medal
        A gold medal is typically the medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture...

  • 1991
    • World Cross Country Championship - Antwerp, Belgium
      Belgium
      Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

      .
      • Long course Silver medal
    • All-Africa Games
      Athletics at the 1991 All-Africa Games
      The fourth All-Africa Games were held in September 1991 in Cairo, Egypt.-Men's events:-Women's events:-Medal table:-External links:*...

       - Cairo
      Cairo
      Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...

      , Egypt
      Egypt
      Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...

      • 10,000 metres gold medal
        Gold medal
        A gold medal is typically the medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture...

  • 1992
    • Summer Olympics
      1992 Summer Olympics
      The 1992 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event celebrated in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, in 1992. The International Olympic Committee voted in 1986 to separate the Summer and Winter Games, which had been held in the same...

       - 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...

      , 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...

      .
      • 10,000 metres gold medal
        Gold medal
        A gold medal is typically the medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture...

    • IAAF World Cup - Havana
      Havana
      Havana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous...

      , Cuba
      Cuba
      The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...

      .
      • 10,000 m gold medal
  • 1995
    • World Cross Country Championship
      1995 IAAF World Cross Country Championships
      The 23rd IAAF World Cross Country Championships were held on 25 March 1995 in Durham, England.- Individual :- Team :- Individual :- Team :- Individual :- Team :- Individual :- Team :- External links :**...

       - Durham
      Durham
      Durham is a city in north east England. It is within the County Durham local government district, and is the county town of the larger ceremonial county...

      , England
      England
      England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

      .
      • Long course gold medal
    • World Championships
      1995 World Championships in Athletics
      The 5th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held at the Ullevi Stadium, Gothenburg, Sweden between August 5 and August 13.This edition featured 1804 athletes from 191 nations....

       - Gothenburg
      Gothenburg
      Gothenburg is the second-largest city in Sweden and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated on the west coast of Sweden, the city proper has a population of 519,399, with 549,839 in the urban area and total of 937,015 inhabitants in the metropolitan area...

      , Sweden
      Sweden
      Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

      .
      • 10,000 m silver medal
        Silver medal
        A silver medal is a medal awarded to the second place finisher of contests such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, and contests with similar formats....

  • 1997
    • World Cross Country Championship
      1997 IAAF World Cross Country Championships
      The 25th IAAF World Cross Country Championships were held on 23 March 1997 in Turin, Italy.- Individual :- Team :- Individual :- Team :- Individual :- Team :- Individual :- Team :- External links :**...

       - Turin
      Turin
      Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...

      , Italy
      Italy
      Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

      .
      • Long course gold medal
  • 2000
    • Summer Olympics
      2000 Summer Olympics
      The Sydney 2000 Summer Olympic Games or the Millennium Games/Games of the New Millennium, officially known as the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was celebrated between 15 September and 1 October 2000 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia...

       - Sydney
      Sydney
      Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

      , 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...

      .
      • 10,000 m gold medal
    • World Cross Country Championship
      2000 IAAF World Cross Country Championships
      The 28th IAAF World Cross Country Championships were held 18-19 March 2000 in Vilamoura, Portugal.- Individual :- Team :- Individual :- Team :- Individual :- Team :- Individual :- Team :- Individual :- Team :- Individual :...

       - Vilamoura
      Vilamoura
      Vilamoura is in the municipality of Loulé, in the Algarve, Portugal. Its boundaries lie within the parish of Quarteira. Vilamoura is a purpose built resort and Marina which was started from scratch by a wealthy banker from Porto, Cupertino de Miranda. The resort was started in 1974 and is still...

      , Portugal
      Portugal
      Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

      .
      • Long course gold medal
  • 2001
    • World Championships
      2001 World Championships in Athletics
      The 8th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held at the Commonwealth Stadium, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada between 3 August and 12 August and was the first time the event had visited North America...

       - Edmonton, Canada
      Canada
      Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

      .
      • 10,000 m gold medal
    • London Marathon
      London Marathon
      The London Marathon is one of the biggest running events in the world, and one of the five top world marathons that make up the World Marathon Majors competition, which has a $1 million prize purse. It has been held each spring in London since 1981. The race is currently sponsored by Virgin Money,...

       winner
    • Tokyo International Women's Marathon
      Tokyo International Women's Marathon
      The Tokyo International Women's Marathon was a marathon for female elite runners held in Tokyo from 1979 until 2008 in November.It was first held in November 1979, and this race was the first women's marathon officially sanctioned by the International Amateur Athletic Federation...

       winner
  • 2004
    • Summer Olympics
      2004 Summer Olympics
      The 2004 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad, was a premier international multi-sport event held in Athens, Greece from August 13 to August 29, 2004 with the motto Welcome Home. 10,625 athletes competed, some 600 more than expected, accompanied by 5,501 team...

       - Athens
      Athens
      Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...

      , Greece
      Greece
      Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

      • 10,000 m bronze medal
  • 2009
    • New York City Marathon
      New York City Marathon
      The New York City Marathon is a major annual marathon that courses through the five boroughs of New York City. It is one of the largest marathons in the world, with 45,103 finishers in 2010...

      winner
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