Girmawit Gebrzihair

{{Infobox sportsperson

| name = Girmawit Gebrzihair

| birth_date = {{b-da|21 November 2001}}{{Tilastopaja|242893|sex=f}}. Retrieved 1 January 2024.

| birth_name =

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| full_name = Girmawit Gebrzihair Gebru
Girmawit Gebregziabher

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| image = Girmawit Gebrzihair Tampere 2018 (cropped).jpg

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| caption = Girmawit at the 2018 World U20 Championships in Athletics

| nationality = {{flagg|cncie|ETH}}

| sport = Athletics

| event = Half marathon
10,000 metres

| pb = {{ubl

|HM: 1:04:14 (2022)

|10,000m: 30:23.69 (2023)

}}

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| nationals = {{ubl

|2019 Ethiopian Champs

|{{bull}} 10,000m, 7th

|2022 Ethiopian Champs

|{{bull}} 10,000m, 1st {{GoldMedal}}

}}

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{{Medal|Country|{{flagu|Ethiopia}}}}

| updated = 1 January 2024

}}

Girmawit Gebrzihair Gebru (born 21 November 2001), also spelled Girmawit Gebregziabher, is an Ethiopian long-distance runner. In 2022, she ran the fourth-fastest half-marathon of all time with a 64:14 performance.

In 2018, Girmawit won the bronze medal at the 2018 World U20 Championships in Athletics in the women's 5000 m. Her age was the subject of controversy after athletes and journalists claimed photos of her from the event depicted someone older than her official age of 16, though no official proof of age cheating was provided.

Career

Girmawit first caught attention in 2017 at the age of 15, when she finished second at the Great Ethiopian Run with a time of 32:33 over the 10K run distance. According to the Association of Road Racing Statisticians records, this mark was a single-age best for 15 year olds by 46 seconds, beating Irvette van Zyl of South Africa's time from 2003.{{cite web |url=https://www.arrs.run/SA_R10K.htm |title=World Single Age Records- 10 km |website=Association of Road Racing Statisticians |access-date=1 January 2024}}

In 2018, she won the Ethiopian Athletics U20 Championships in the 5000 m with a time of 15:48.81 and the next day finished third in the 3000 m. In July, at the age of 16, she participated in the World U20 Championships in Athletics and finished third behind Beatrice Chebet and Ejgayehu Taye with a time of 15:34.01 minutes.

In 2019, Girmawit finished fifth in the U20 race at the World Cross Country Championships, helping her team win the gold medal. In July, she placed eighth in the 10,000 m at the Ethiopian qualifiers for the World Championships in Athletics, setting a personal best but not making the team.

In 2020 and 2021, Girmawit was not listed in any competition results.

In January 2022, Girmawit competed in the Great Ethiopian Run, finishing second with a time of 31:29, behind Yalemzerf Yehualaw. On 19 February, she set a new course record at the RAK Half Marathon with a time of 1:04:14.{{cite news |url=https://www.arabnews.com/node/2027871/sport |title=Jacob Kiplimo and Girmawit Gebrzihair take gold at 2022 Ras Al-Khaimah Half Marathon |website=Arab News |date=19 February 2022 |access-date=1 January 2024}} The time was the fourth fastest ever run by a woman in the half marathon.{{cite web |url=https://www.worldathletics.org/records/all-time-toplists/road-running/half-marathon/outdoor/women/senior?regionType=world&drop=regular&fiftyPercentRule=regular&page=1&bestResultsOnly=true&firstDay=1900-01-01&lastDay=2022-01-09 |title=Half Marathon - women - senior - outdoor |access-date=1 January 2024}} In May, Girmawit finished fifth in the 3000 m at the 2022 Doha Diamond League with a time of 8:41.88.

In March 2024, Girmawit helped Ethiopia's team place 2nd at 2024 World Athletics Cross Country Championships – Senior women's race.

Age controversy

File:Girmawit Gebrzihair Tampere 2018.jpg and resulted in ridicule]]

In July 2018, photos of Girmawit from the 2018 World U20 Championships in Athletics went viral for her apparent age. Sprinter Óscar Husillos tweeted in Spanish, "Her children and grandchildren are in the stands to see her run in the World U20 Championships".{{cite news |url=https://www.pulse.com.gh/ece-frontpage/cyber-bullying-looking-much-older-ethiopian-runner-mocked-for-claiming-shes-16-year/lzfcx41 |title=Looking much older? Ethiopian runner mocked for claiming she's 16-year-old |website=Pulse Ghana |first=Abu |last=Mubarik |date=15 July 2018 |access-date=1 January 2024}} Other journalists also ridiculed the photos, claiming that Girmawit could not possibly be 16 years old.{{citenews |url=https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/ureport/article/2001288239/ethiopian-runner-shocks-many-after-claiming-she-s-16-years-old |title=Ethiopian runner shocks many after claiming she’s 16-years-old |website=The Standard (Kenya) |first=Fay |last=Ngina |date=16 July 2018 |access-date=1 January 2024}}

Despite the controversy, there has been no proven evidence that Girmawit is over-aged.{{cite news |url=https://www.runnersworld.com/uk/news/a776288/ethiopian-runner-girmawit-gebrzihair-has-her-age-questioned-on-social-media/ |title=Ethiopian runner Girmawit Gebrzihair, has her age questioned on social media after winning bronze at World Under-20 Championships |website=Runner's World |first=Jane |last=McGuire |date=16 July 2018 |access-date=1 January 2024}} Husillos later deleted his tweet, claiming that it was taken out of context and his words were misinterpreted.{{cite news |url=https://nairobinews.nation.africa/no-one-believes-ethiopian-runners-age-claims-16/ |title=No one believes this Ethiopian runner’s age; she claims to be 16 |website=Daily Nation |first=Chad |last=Kitundu |date=15 July 2018 |access-date=1 January 2024}}

Statistics

=Personal bests=

Event	Mark	Place	Competition	Venue	Date
class="wikitable"
Half marathon	1:04:14	style="text-align:center;"\| {{Gold1}}	Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon	Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates	19 February 2022
10,000 metres	30:23.69	style="text-align:center;"\| 5th	Ethiopian 10,000m World Championships Trials	Nerja, Spain	23 June 2023

References

External links

{{World Athletics|14848733}}

Category:Living people

Category:2001 births

Category:Ethiopian female long-distance runners

Category:21st-century Ethiopian sportswomen

Category:OpenAI-written articles

Category:Age controversies in sports