Merima Mohammed

Merima Mohammed Hasen (born 10 June 1992) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner who competes in road running events, including the marathon. Her personal best of 2:23:06 hours for the distance makes her the second fastest teenager ever over the 42.195 km distance. She has won marathons in Düsseldorf, Nice and Ottawa. She represented Ethiopia at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in 2011.

Merima (left) among the leaders at the 2012 Chicago Marathon

Career

Junior career

Her talent for running was identified at an early age and, having gained representation with Elite Sports Management International, she began to compete on the European road race circuit at the age of sixteen. She was runner-up over 1500 metres at the 2009 Ethiopian Middle Distance Championships in January.[1] She was selected to represent her country over that distance at the 2009 World Youth Championships in Athletics in July, but a trip in the final lap saw her go from the front of the pack to a twelfth-place finish.[2] She took on significantly longer distances soon after, winning a French 10K race and then coming fifth in the Lille Half Marathon in September.[3] She made her debut over the marathon distance in November that year and won on her first attempt, being the first runner home at the Marathon des Alpes-Maritimes in a time of 2:33:56 hours.[4]

Merima was chosen for the junior race at the 2010 IAAF World Cross Country Championships and came twelfth, one place behind fellow Ethiopian teenager Genzebe Dibaba.[5] She ran at the Ethiopian Championships in May and set a personal best of 34:10.19 minutes for the 10,000 metres, coming in sixth place.[6] Her second marathon win came soon after, as she defeated all opposition at the Ottawa Marathon.[7] She spent four months resting and preparing for another outing in Canada. At the Toronto Waterfront Marathon she finished in third place in a time of 2:23:06 hours – this was faster than the previous Canadian all-comers mark and made her the second fastest teenager ever over the distance, behind China's Zhang Yingying.[8][9] Representing the Federal Prisons team, she participated in the Ethiopian 30K Championships in November and outran Mamitu Daska to claim the national title.[10] At the Delhi Half Marathon that month she led throughout to the race, but was beaten at the line by Aselefech Mergia in a tactical sprint finish. Nevertheless, she left the competition with a significant personal best of 1:08:36 hours for the distance.[11]

Senior career

The 2011 Mumbai Marathon turned into a late race duel between Merima and her national rival Koren Jelila Yal. The winning time was the fastest ever in India, but it was Yal who won the race while Merima finished a single second behind with a final time of 2:26:57 hours.[12] She decided to compete in the senior section of the Ethiopian cross country championships and her sixth-place finish gained her a place on the team for the 2011 IAAF World Cross Country Championships,[13] where she came fifteenth. She was invited to run at the 2011 Boston Marathon but travel problems prevented her appearance. Still 18 years old, she took her third victory and her fourth marathon under the two-and-a-half-hour mark at the Düsseldorf Marathon in May. She quickly built up a lead that she did not relinquish, although hot temperatures slowed her in the latter half of the race: "I am used to cooler conditions because I train at an altitude of around 2000 metres".[14] She was back in action a month later at the World 10K Bangalore, but she was pushed into the runner-up spot in the final metres by an Ethiopian rival yet again in India, this time by Dire Tune.[15] At the 2011 Frankfurt Marathon she began the race with quick pace, but despite holding the lead for much of the early stages she slowed down and finished in fourth place overall.[16]

In her first race of 2012, she was third at the Xiamen Marathon.[17] She was among the favourites for the Rotterdam Marathon that April, but finished in third place almost seven minutes behind the winner, Tiki Gelana.[18] She ran at the 2012 Chicago Marathon but despite being among the leading pack at the halfway mark, she dropped out in the latter stages. At the 2012 African Championships in Athletics she ran a 10,000 metres best of 33:09.25 minutes for fourth, and took the same placing at the Shanghai Marathon.

She had the second-fastest outing of her career at the 2013 Houston Marathon, taking the women's title in a time of 2:23:37 hours.[19] She was faster still (2:23:14) at the Paris Marathon, where she was runner-up to Feyse Tadese.[20]

References
  1. Negash, Elshadai (2009-01-12). Lemiso's comeback highlights Ethiopian Short and Middle Distance Champs. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-06-06.
  2. Martin, David (2009-07-11). Double gold medal celebration for Sweden and Great Britain in Bressanone – Day Four – Evening report. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-06-06.
  3. Merima Mohammed Archived 2011-07-24 at the Wayback Machine. ESMI. Retrieved on 2011-06-06.
  4. Merima Mohammed. Marathon Info. Retrieved on 2011-06-06.
  5. Junior Race - W Final. IAAF (2010-03-28). Retrieved on 2011-06-06.
  6. 2010 Junior Women's 10,000 Metres. IAAF (2010). Retrieved on 2011-06-06.
  7. Men's course record falls in Ottawa. IAAF/Ottawa Marathon (2011-05-31). Retrieved on 2011-06-06.
  8. Robinson, Roger (September 2010). Roger on Running: Marathon Season in Ontario. Running Times. Retrieved on 2011-06-06.
  9. Gains, Paul (2010-09-26). Mungara and Cherop take Toronto Marathon titles as Canadian All-Comers records tumble. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-06-06.
  10. Negash, Elshadai (2010-11-01). Mohammed and Bekele take Ethiopian 30km titles. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-06-06.
  11. Krishnan, Ram. Murali (2010-11-21). Mergia recaptures women’s crown, Mutai foils Ethiopian sweep at Delhi Half Marathon. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-06-06.
  12. Krishnan, Ram. Murali (2011-01-16). Assefa and Yal take down course records in Mumbai. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-06-06.
  13. Negash, Elshadai (2011-02-21). Melkamu, Mesfin dominate Ethiopian trials for Punta Umbria. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-06-06.
  14. Wenig, Jorg (2011-05-09). Kimaiyo and Mohammed beat the heat at Dusseldorf Marathon. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-06-06.
  15. Krishnan, Ram. Murali (2011-06-05). Limo and Tune prevail in Bangalore 10Km. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-06-06.
  16. Butcher, Pat (2012-10-30). Kipsang tantalises with 2:03:42 World record assault in Frankfurt. IAAF. Retrieved on 2012-02-19.
  17. Jalava, Mirko (2012-01-07). Kamais and Kasim cruise to Xiamen wins. IAAF. Retrieved on 2012-01-08.
  18. van Hemert, Wim (2012-04-15). Spectacular double Ethiopian success brings home 2:04 and 2:18 victories in Rotterdam. IAAF. Retrieved on 2012-04-22.
  19. Youth trumps weather in Houston as Ethiopians take clean sweep of titles. IAAF (2013-01-13). Retrieved on 2013-02-18.
  20. Vazel, Pierre-Jean (2013-04-07). Tadese breaks course record in Paris as Some smashes PB. IAAF. Retrieved on 2013-04-07.
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