Solomon Molla

Solomon Molla (Amharic: ሶሎሞን ሞልላ; born 1987) is an Ethiopian athlete who specialises in long distance running, including the marathon. He has a personal best of 2:08:46 hours that event and won the 2008 JoongAng Seoul Marathon. He is a two-time participant at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships.

Solomon Molla
Personal information
NationalityEthiopian
Born1987 (age 33–34)
Tigray Province, Ethiopia
Sport
SportRunning
Event(s)10 km, half marathon, marathon
ClubAtlas Mountains Athletics

Career

Born in Tigray Province, he had his first experience of international competition at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships. A second place in the national championships (behind Tessema Abshiro) meant he was selected for the junior race at the 2003 IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Lausanne,[1] and he finished in ninth position.[2] In 2004, he ran at the Great Ethiopian Run, finishing eighth in the 10 km race, and came second in the 10,000 metres at the Addis Ababa municipal championships.[3][4]

In February the following year, he upset the favoured Tariku Bekele to win the 8 km race at the Jan Meda International Cross Country.[5] Based on this performance, he was entered into the 2005 IAAF World Cross Country Championships and he improved on his previous showing with an eighth place finish.[2] He became the Addis Ababa Municipal champion over 10,000 m that summer. The following year, he won the men's short race at the Jan Meda Addis Ababa Municipal Cross Country Championships, but could only manage third in the longer junior race.[6] He closed his 2006 season with a run at the Obudu Ranch Mountain Race, a mountain running competition at the Obudu Cattle Ranch in Nigeria, and his top-eight finish was enough to take a share of the prize money.[7] A summer of road running in the United States in 2007 was highlighted by a third place finish in the Azalea Trail Run (with a new best of 28:39), and fourth at the Cooper River Bridge Run. At the end of the year, he decided to move up to the marathon distance, saying that it would better suit his abilities.[2] His first attempt at the distance came at the JoongAng Seoul Marathon, where he managed to finish fourteenth.[8]

He finished seventh at the Marrakesh Marathon in January 2008,[2] and set a half marathon best of 1:02:40 in Rabat in April.[9] He further improved his marathon time at the Ottawa Marathon two months later: his time of 2:11:04.8 beat his previous best by seven minutes and he took second place behind David Cheruiyot.[10] His breakout performance came at the JoongAng Seoul Marathon in November: he further improved his best to win the race in 2:08:46,[8] ranking among the top eight Ethiopian marathon runners that season.[11]

In his second full year of marathon running, he attended the Boston Marathon for the first time and finished with a time of 2:12:02 to take seventh place.[12] He did not compete for over 18 months, only returning in November 2011. He was a shadow of his former self at the Beirut Marathon, coming ninth with a time of 2:17:37 hours.[13] A year passed and he entered the Beijing Marathon, showed a resurgence in form by coming third in 2:10:20 hours.[14] He placed third at the Houston Marathon in January 2013.[15]

Personal bests
Surface Event Time (h:m:s) Venue Date
Track 5000 m13:52.93Villeneuve d'Ascq, France15 June 2003
10,000 m28:25.27Palo Alto, California, United States29 May 2005
Road 10 km28:39Mobile, Alabama, United States24 March 2007
Half marathon1:02:40Rabat, Morocco24 April 2008
Marathon2:08:46Seoul, South Korea2 November 2008
  • All information taken from IAAF profile.[16]

References
  1. Negash, Elshadai (3 March 2003). "Hope for absent Bekele but no major surprises at the Ethiopian Cross Country Championships". IAAF. Archived from the original on 23 October 2012. Retrieved 30 October 2009.
  2. 2009 Runners - Solomon Molla. Boston Marathon. Retrieved 30 October 2009.
  3. Negash, Elshadai (28 November 2004). "Getaneh takes upset win at Great Ethiopian Run". IAAF. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
  4. Negash, Elshadai (27 April 2004). "Tadesse takes double, while Burka and Ejigu are defeated in Addis Ababa". IAAF. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
  5. Negash, Elshadai (27 February 2005). "Melkamu and Berhanu impressive winners in Addis Ababa". IAAF. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
  6. Negash, Elshadai (1 January 2006). "Erkesso continues good form in Addis Ababa". IAAF. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
  7. Hughes, Danny (25 November 2006). "Kibiwott, Rehima victorious at Obudu Ranch Mountain Race". IAAF. Archived from the original on 30 September 2009. Retrieved 30 October 2009.
  8. Kurdyumova, Yelena; Porada, Sergey (2 November 2008). "Molla takes surprise victory in Seoul". IAAF. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
  9. Kurdyumova, Yelena; Porada, Sergey (31 October 2008). "Mbote gunning for his own course record at JoongAng Seoul Marathon". IAAF. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
  10. Gains, Paul (25 May 2008). "Cheruiyot Completes Hat Trick - Ottawa Marathon report". IAAF. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
  11. "Marathon 2008". IAAF. 27 October 2009. Archived from the original on 18 October 2009. Retrieved 30 October 2009.
  12. Morse, Parker (20 April 2009). "Merga dominates, Kosgei edges Tune - Boston Marathon". IAAF. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
  13. November 2011 AIMS results. AIMS. Retrieved 14 February 2013.
  14. Jalava, Mirko (25 November 2012). "Jufar and Jia Chaofeng triumph in Beijing". IAAF. Retrieved 14 February 2013.
  15. Press Release - Houston Marathon - 1/13/13. Marathon Guide. Retrieved 14 February 2013.
  16. Biography Molla Solomon. IAAF. Retrieved 30 October 2009.
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