Tolossa Kotu

Tolossa Kotu Terfe (born 25 December 1952[1][note 1] also transliterated as Tolosa Kotu) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner and coach. He placed fourth in men's 10,000 metres at the 1980 Summer Olympics and has coached the national teams of both Ethiopia and Bahrain.

Running career

Tolossa Kotu represented Ethiopia at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich in the 5000 metres, but failed to qualify for the final.[1] At the 1980 Olympics in Moscow Kotu ran the 10,000 metres, winning his heat.[1][3] In the final he stayed with the leaders until the last lap, placing fourth behind Miruts Yifter, Kaarlo Maaninka and Mohammed Kedir.[3] Track & Field News ranked him the seventh-best 10,000 m runner of 1980, behind the three runners he lost to at the Olympics and three whose countries boycotted the Olympics (Craig Virgin, Henry Rono and Toshihiko Seko); this was the only time he was ranked in the world's top 10.[4] In 1981 he represented Africa at 5,000 metres in the 1981 IAAF World Cup in Rome, placing fifth.[5]

Coaching career

Kotu remained active in distance running as a coach. Kenenisa Bekele joined Kotu's Mugher Cement Factory team as a 16-year-old in 1998, and Kotu coached him to multiple Olympic and world titles.[6][7][8] Kotu also coached Ethiopian national teams[9][10][11] before moving to Bahrain to coach that country's team.[7][12]

Notes
  1. Tilastopaja gives his birth date as 15 March 1950.[2]

References
  1. "Tolossa Kotu Bio, Stats and Results". Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
  2. Tolossa Kotu at Tilastopaja (registration required)
  3. Siukonen, Markku; et al. (1980). Urheilutieto 5 (in Finnish). Oy Scandia Kirjat Ab. ISBN 951-9466-20-7.
  4. "World Rankings — Men's 10,000" (PDF). Track & Field News. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
  5. Butler, Mark (ed.). "1st IAAF/VTB Bank Continental Cup Split 2010: IAAF Statistics Handbook" (PDF). International Association of Athletics Federations. p. 32. Retrieved 14 December 2014.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  6. "Our Ambassadors: Kenenisa Bekele". IAAF Diamond League. Archived from the original on 14 December 2014. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
  7. "Bekele the apple of coach Kotu's eye". Hindustan Times. 4 July 2013. Archived from the original on 14 December 2014. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
  8. Nagle, Jeanne (2014). Top 101 Athletes. Britannica Educational Publishing. ISBN 978-1-6227-5135-8. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
  9. "'Focus on Africans' - men's 10,000m Final biographies". International Association of Athletics Federations. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
  10. "Ethiopia's final squad of 27 for Athens". International Association of Athletics Federations. 10 August 2004. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
  11. "Ethiopia seeks to top best medal haul in Fukuoka". International Association of Athletics Federations. 27 March 2006. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
  12. "Alemu on track for greater glory". Gulf Daily News. 2 March 2009. Retrieved 14 December 2014.



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