.jpg) Yomif Kejelcha in 2016 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Yomif Kejelcha Atomsa |
| Born | 1 August 1997 Oromia, Ethiopia |
| Height | 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)[1] |
| Weight | 58 kg (128 lb) |
| Sport | |
| Country | Ethiopia |
| Sport | Athletics |
| Event | Long-distance running |
| Team | Adidas |
| Coached by | Tim Rowberry |
Medal record | |
Yomif Kejelcha Atomsa (born 1 August 1997)[2] is an Ethiopian distance runner. He won the silver medal in the 10,000 metres at the 2019 World Athletics Championships and gold medals for the 3000 metres at the 2016 and 2018 World Indoor Championships. Kejelcha is the world indoor record holder for the mile with a time of 3:47.01, set on 3 March 2019 in Boston.
He was the 2013 World Youth 3000 m champion and 2014 World Junior 5000 m gold medallist.
Yomif Kejelcha made his international debut at the 2013 World Youth Championships in Donetsk, winning gold in the boys' 3000 metres with a time of 7:53.56.[3][4]
In June 2014, he placed second over 3000 m in 7:36.28 at the Ostrava Golden Spike elite meeting, losing only to Kenya's Caleb Ndiku; he defeated 2008 Olympic medallist Nick Willis and former world champion Bernard Lagat.[3][5] Yomif won the 5000 metres at the World Junior Championships held in July in Eugene, Oregon that year, running 13:25.19. He also won gold in the 3000 m at the Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing later that summer.[3] He finished 2014 as the world youth leader at both the 3000 and 5000 metres, and world junior leader at 3000 metres.[3]
Yomif opened his 2015 season at the African Junior Championships in Addis Ababa, winning the 5000 m in a time of 14:31.03.[3][6] He made his IAAF Diamond League debut in Doha, placing fifth in the 3000 m. He then won a non-Diamond Race 5000 m event at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, improving his personal best to 13:10.54 and outkicking Edwin Soi and Galen Rupp.[7] Yomif scored his first Diamond League victory the following week at the Golden Gala in Rome, winning 5000 m in a world-leading 12:58.39 and breaking 13 minutes for the first time.[3][8] On 11 September 2015, Kejelcha competed in the event at the Brussels Diamond League, setting a new personal best and world-leading time of 12:53.98.[9]
He started 2016 by winning the gold in the 3000 metres at the World Indoor Championships in Portland, Oregon. On 27 August, Kejelcha won the event at the Diamond League Paris meet in a new world U20 record of 7:28.19.
At the European Athletics Outdoor Classic Permit Meeting in Sweden on 18 August 2018, Kejelcha won the 3000 m with a time of 7:28.00.[10] On 31 August, he placed third in the 5000 m at the Diamond League Brussels Final. He ran a personal best of 12:46.79, making him the seventh-fastest runner ever in the event.
Kejelcha came within hundredth of a second of Hicham El Guerrouj's world indoor mile record on 9 February 2019 at the Millrose Games.[11] He ran an Ethiopian national record and a Millrose meet record of 3:48.46, making him second-fastest athlete of all time in the event.[12] On 3 March, Kejelcha broke the record with a time of 3:47.01, slicing 1.44 seconds off El Guerrouj's mark set in 1997. He came short of the 1500 metres world indoor record with his 3:31.25 split en route, making him the third-fastest indoor performer in history though. He was paced by Erik Sowinski, Christian Harrison, and Harun Abda.[13]
Kejelcha won the silver medal for the 10,000 metres at the 2019 World Athletics Championships held in Doha, Qatar, finished eighth in the event at the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics in 2021, and placed also eighth in the 5000 m at the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon.[2]
On March 19, 2023, he missed Berihu Aregawi's 5 kilometres world record of 12:49 by just one second in Lille, France to move up to second on the world all-time list.[14]
The 2023 outdoor track season started out well for Kejelcha, as he began with a narrow second place finish behind Mohamed Katir over 5000 metres at the Golden Gala Florence Diamond League meeting in 12:52.12, only losing to Katir by 0.03 seconds. On June 15, Kejelcha won the 5000 metres at the Bislett Games in Oslo in a time of 12:41.73, the fifth-fastest time in 5000 metre history. Finishing second to Kejelcha was Jacob Kiplimo, who lost by 0.003 seconds in one of the smallest margins in distance running history (12:41.725 to 12:41.728, making them the joint fifth fastest 5000 metre runners in history).[15] Kiplimo's second place finish is also notable for being the fastest non-winning time in 5000 metre history, surpassing Daniel Komen's second place finish of 12:44.90 to Haile Gebrselassie's 12:41.86 in 1997.
At the end of the 2023 outdoor season, on September 17th, Kejelcha competed in the 3000 Meter Run at the Diamond League Final (Prefontaine Classic) in Eugene, Oregon. Kejelcha finished second to Jakob Ingebrigtsen, in a time of 7:23.64, losing by only one hundredth of a second.[16]
At the time, this was the 4th fastest men's 3000m performance in history, behind Ingebrigtsen's 7:23.63, Hicham El Guerrouj's 7:23.09, and Daniel Komen's world record of 7:20.67.[17]
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All information from World Athletics profile.[2]
| Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Event | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | World Youth Championships | Donetsk, Ukraine | 1st | 3000 m | 7:53.56 |
| 2014 | African Youth Games | Gaborone, Botswana | 1st | 3000 m | 7:56.51 |
| World Junior Championships | Eugene, OR, United States | 1st | 5000 m | 13:25.19 | |
| Youth Olympic Games | Nanjing, China | 1st | 3000 m | 7:56.20 | |
| 2015 | African Junior Championships | Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | 1st | 5000 m | 14:31.03 |
| World Championships | Beijing, China | 4th | 5000 m | 13:52.43 | |
| 2016 | World Indoor Championships | Portland, OR, United States | 1st | 3000 m | 7:57.21 |
| 2017 | World Championships | London, United Kingdom | 4th | 5000 m | 13:33.51 |
| 2018 | World Indoor Championships | Birmingham, United Kingdom | 1st | 3000 m | 8:14.41 |
| 2019 | World Championships | Doha, Qatar | 2nd | 10,000 m | 26:49.34 |
| 2021 | Olympic Games | Tokyo, Japan | 8th | 10,000 m | 27:52.03 |
| 2022 | World Championships | Eugene, OR, United States | 8th | 5000 m | 13:12.09 |
| 2023 | World Championships | Budapest, Hungary | 5th | 5000 m | 13:12.51 |
