 Yigrem Demelash at the 2013 World Cross Country Championships | ||
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Men's athletics | ||
Representing  Ethiopia
| ||
| IAAF World U20 Championships | ||
 |
2012 Barcelona | 10,000 m |
Yigrem Demelash (born 26 January 1994) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner. He was the 2012 World Junior champion in the 10,000 metres. He holds a personal best of 26:57.56 minutes for that event.
His first high-profile competition was the 2011 Great Ethiopian Run, where he finished as runner-up to Mosinet Geremew.[1] He began competing in Europe the following year and at the Paderborn 10K was again second to his compatriot Mosinet Geremew.[2] On the track, he ran a 5000 metres personal best of 13:03.30 minutes at the Bislett Games in Oslo before going on to secure the 10,000 metres gold medal at the 2012 World Junior Championships in Athletics, overturning a history of Kenyan dominance at that event.[3] He closed his season with a run of 26:57.56 minutes in the 10,000 m at the Memorial Van Damme, setting an Ethiopian junior record.[2] This race was the fastest of the year so his fourth-place finish translated into fourth in the world rankings for the season.[4]
He entered the senior ranks in 2013 and promptly finished second at the Jan Meda International – Ethiopia's cross country championships.[5] He was unable to repeat this form at the 2013 IAAF World Cross Country Championships, however, and in 69th place he was the last man of his team to finish.[6] He was again involved in the fastest 10,000 m of the season, this time his run of 27:15.51 minutes brought him seventh on the yearly rankings.[7] He missed most of the 2014 season, with the highlight being a runner-up finish behind Abera Kuma at the Zevenheuvelenloop road race.[8]
Demelash had a stellar 2016 season, topping the world rankings, and emerging as a favorite to medal at the Olympics. At the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Demelash competed in the Men's 10,000 metres, finishing in 4th place, only one hundredth of a second behind his teammate, Tamirat Tola. Demelash made a strong surge in the last 10 metres, but Tola was able to reach the finish line quickly enough to elude him.
