Copenhagen 2014: Zersenay Tadese eyes sixth gold medal – AthleticsAfrica
Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

East Africa

Copenhagen 2014: Zersenay Tadese eyes sixth gold medal

Five-time winner, Zersenay Tadese from Eritrea, vying for an unprecedented sixth individual gold medal at the 2014 IAAF/AL-Bank World Half Marathon Championships in Copenhagen – 15 days to go.

IAAF World Half Marathon Championships – Copenhagen 2014
IAAF World Half Marathon Championships – Copenhagen 2014

With two weeks to go until the 2014 IAAF/AL-Bank World Half Marathon Championships in Copenhagen, Denmark, five-time winner Zersenay Tadese has revealed he will be vying for an unprecedented sixth individual gold medal.

Without doubt the most successful athlete in the history of the event, the Eritrean is the reigning champion. He also holds the championship record of 58:59, set in 2007 in Udine in a race that remains one of the greatest ever half marathons in terms of depth.

Tadese’s first victory came in 2006 when the event went through a slight change in format and name. Held in the Hungarian city of Debrecen, the races were slightly reduced to 20km and the name of the event changed to the IAAF World Road Running Championships.

Course Map - Copenhagen 2014

Course Map Copenhagen 2014

Although the name remained in place for one more year, the distance moved back up to the half marathon in 2007 and one year later the name reverted back to the[link id=”402″ tax=”post_tag” text=” IAAF World Half Marathon Championships”].

Tadese won two more gold medals in 2008 and 2009, but his streak came to an end in 2010 when he was surprisingly defeated by Kenya’s Wilson Kiprop.

He returned to winning ways in Kavarna two years ago though, standing on the top step of the podium once more at the World Half Marathon Championships.

Tadese will renew his rivalry with the 2010 victor in Copenhagen as Kiprop was recently announced as part of a strong Kenyan line-up for the event.

More on IAAF

Meet The Authors

Editorial Team at World Athletics | Website | + Posts

World Athletics (formerly the International Association of Athletics Federations - IAAF) is the international governing body for the sport of athletics, such as running, jumping and throwing.

You May Also Like

World

World Athletics launches Global Conversation about the future of the sport - What you need to know.

World

The IAAF Council approved the global governing body's new name and logo at the 217th IAAF Council Meeting which concluded in Monaco on June...

Africa

Kenya's Abraham Kiptum broke the men?s world record at the IAAF Gold Label road race, clocking 58:18 to take five seconds off the mark...

World

With exactly two years to go until the athletics action gets underway in the Japanese capital, the IAAF has published the qualification system for...

Click to access the login or register cheese