Abreham Cherkos

Abreham Cherkos Feleke (Amharic: አብረሃም ቸርቆስ ፈለቀ; born 23 September 1989) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner. A former track specialist, he now competes in road running events including the marathon.

Abreham Cherkos
Abreham Cherkos (in front) during the 2008 World Indoor Championships
Personal information
Born23 September 1989 (1989-09-23) (age 31)
Medal record
Men's athletics
Representing  Ethiopia
World Indoor Championships
2008 Valencia3000 m

He was the 2005 World Youth Champion in the 3000 m and upgraded to a world junior silver medal the next year over 5000 m. He took bronze at the 2006 IAAF World Athletics Final and represented Ethiopia at the 2007 World Championships in Athletics. He won his first major senior medal (a bronze) at the 2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships.

He became world junior champion in 2008 and also made his Olympic debut, finishing fifth at the 2008 Beijing Games. After a year out in 2009, he made his marathon debut in 2010 at the Amsterdam Marathon, setting a best of 2:07:29.

Career

Abreham Cherkos was born in Asella in Ethiopia's Oromia Region – the same town as multiple-gold medallist Haile Gebrselassie.[1] Abreham made his international debut at the World Youth Championships in 2005, where he won the world youth title ahead of another great Ethiopian Prospect Ibrahim Jailan. In the 3000 metres race held in Marrakech, he covered the last km in 2:27, indicating his speed in distance events. He set a world youth best of 7:32.37 for the 3000 m in Lausanne that year. In 2006 Abreham began his international year by beating veteran runner Abraham Chebii of Kenya at the Carlsbad 5000, completing the 5 km road race in 13:14.

Later in the year, Abreham, in one of the most famous athletics stadiums – Bislett Stadion – he ran 12:59 in only his second 5000 metres race, finishing fifth behind a group of experienced runners including Kenenisa Bekele of Ethiopia and Isaac Kiprono Songok of Kenya. He followed his sub-13 minute performance with a 12:54.19 in Rome later on in the season. At sixteen years of age Abreham was running under the world record 12 years earlier. He completed the 2006 season with a silver medal in the 2006 World Junior Championships behind his older countryman Tariku Bekele. At the last meet of the year he beat Tariku at the IAAF World Athletics Final.

As a junior with one year of competition under his belt Abreham was able to finish third against the top athletes at the discipline at the 2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships. He finished fifth at the 2008 Beijing Olympics in the 5000 m later that year.

He competed at the 2010 Giro di Castelbuono in July and finished second, behind Zersenay Tadese but ahead of Samuel Wanjiru and former winner Vincent Kipruto.[2] This race proved to be good preparation for the Amsterdam Marathon in October as he took fourth place in a quick race, clocking a time of 2:07:29 on his debut to finish six seconds behind compatriot Chala Dechase.[3]

He began 2011 with a run at the Roma-Ostia Half Marathon and he finished fourth in 61:42 minutes. He was invited to the 2011 Boston Marathon and ended the race in fifth place with a time of 2:06:13 (a personal best, but on a wind-assisted course). His sole outing the following year came at the 2012 London Marathon, but he was much slower and his time of 2:12:46 hours left him in 15th place and out of touch with the top runners. He missed the entire 2013, but returned in 2014 in good form, running a legal-course best of 2:07:08 hours to take fifth at the Seoul International Marathon.[4]

Achievements

Competition record
YearCompetitionVenuePositionEventNotes
Representing  Ethiopia
2005 World Youth Championships Marrakech, Morocco 1st 3000 m 8:00.90
2006 World Junior Championships Beijing, China 2nd 5000 m 13:35.95
World Athletics Final Stuttgart, Germany 3rd 5000 m 13:49.66
2007 World Championships Osaka, Japan 8th 5000 m 13:51.01
2008 World Indoor Championships Valencia, Spain 3rd 3000 m 7:49.96
World Junior Championships Bydgoszcz, Poland 1st 5000 m 13:08.57
Olympic Games Beijing, China 5th 5000 m 13:16.46

Personal bests

References
  1. Abreham Cherkos. Sports Reference. Retrieved 22 March 2014.
  2. Zorzi, Alberto (27 July 2010). "Tadese cruises in Castelbueno". IAAF. Archived from the original on 28 July 2010. Retrieved 27 July 2010.
  3. van Hemert, Wim (17 October 2010). "Getu Feleke sets Amsterdam course record: 2:05:44". IAAF. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
  4. Minshull, Phil (16 March 2014). "Jarso smashes personal best with 2:06:17 to win in Seoul". IAAF. Retrieved 22 March 2014.
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