Melat Yisak Kejeta

Melat Yisak Kejeta (born 27 September 1992)[1] is a German long-distance runner. She won the silver medal for the women's race at the 2020 World Half Marathon Championships and represented Germany at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Kejeta is the European record holder for the women's only half marathon.

Melat Yisak Kejeta
Melat Yisak Kejeta in 2017
Personal information
NationalityGerman
Born (1992-09-27) 27 September 1992
Achebe, Ethiopia
Height1.65 m (5 ft 5 in)
Sport
CountryGermany
SportAthletics
Event(s)Long-distance running
ClubLaufteam Kassel (2019–)
Coached byWinfried Aufenanger
Medal record
Women's athletics
Representing  Germany
World Half Marathon Championships
Silver medal – second place2020 GdyniaHalf marathon
Bronze medal – third place2020 GdyniaTeam

Personal life

Melat Yisak Kejeta was born in Ethiopia. She is a member of the Oromo ethnic group, like the Dibaba sisters who are among her role models.[2] She came to Germany in 2013 as a refugee and acquired German citizenship in March 2019.[3] She lives in Baunatal near Kassel with her husband whom she met in a German regional train.[4]

Career

She was a talented U20 runner and became good again after having gained a foothold in Germany.[5] In 2018, she improved her half marathon personal best to 1:08:41, which would have ranked her third on the 2018 European top list had she already been a German citizen.[6]

In 2019, she made her marathon debut at the 2019 Berlin Marathon held in Berlin, Germany. She had prepared for that in Kenya under the guidance of Eliud Kipchoge's coach Patrick Sang who assessed her marathon potential to be somewhere in the range from 2:19 to 2:22.[7] She finished in sixth place in the women's category with a time of 2:23:57, which as of 8 August 2021 was the fastest marathon debut by a German woman (previously Irina Mikitenko at the 2007 Berlin Marathon)[8] and put her third on the German all-time top list behind Mikitenko's 2:19:19 and Uta Pippig's 2:21:45.[2]

Since 6 March 2020, she is eligible to represent Germany in international championships.[1] She made her debut in the German national team in the women's race at the 2020 World Athletics Half Marathon Championships held in Gdynia, Poland.[9][10] The winner was Peres Jepchirchir of Kenya with 1:05:16, a new world record for a women's only run. Kejeta won silver in 1:05:18.[11] This time was an improvement on her personal best by 3:23, on the German record by 2:40, and on the European record for women-only races by 1:07.[12][13][14] Kejeta's split time for the 10 km was 30:47, faster than the German national record for the 10 k.[15] Her performance also helped Germany to win an unexpected team bronze. These were the first German medals ever in a half marathon world championship.[12]

On 7 August 2021, she participated in the marathon at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics (which had been postponed due to COVID-19) and finished sixth, the best result of a German marathon runner in Olympic Games since Atlanta 1996 when Katrin Dörre-Heinig finished fourth.[16]

Achievements

International competitions
Representing  Germany
YearCompetitionVenuePositionEventTime
2020 World Half Marathon Championships Gdynia, Poland 2nd Half marathon 1:05:18 ARwo
2021 Olympic Games Sapporo, Japan 6th Marathon 2:29:16
2023 World Championships Budapest, Hungary 11th Marathon 2:29:04

Personal bests
Road

National titles

References
  1. "Melat Yisak KEJETA – Athlete Profile". World Athletics. Retrieved 1 January 2023.
  2. Knuth, Johannes. "Geschmeidig in ein neues Leben". Süddeutsche.de (in German). Retrieved 23 October 2020.
  3. "Melat im Glück: Olympia jetzt großes Ziel". EAM Kassel Marathon (in German). Retrieved 11 November 2020.
  4. Brandbeck, Leonard. "Melat Kejetas Weg nach ganz vorne". www.tagesspiegel.de (in German). Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  5. "Progression" section of "Melat Yisak Kejeta". World Athletics. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  6. "Records & Lists - European Athletics". European Athletics. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  7. Ermert, Christian. "Das ist die Marathon-Hoffnung Melat Kejeta". laufen.de (in German). Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  8. "Melat Kejeta träumt von Marathon-Zeit unter 2:20 Stunden". www.leichtathletik.de (in German). Retrieved 21 October 2020.
  9. Wenig, Jörg. "Melat Kejeta gibt ihr Debüt im deutschen Nationalteam". laufen.de (in German).
  10. "Women's Half Marathon" (PDF). 2020 World Athletics Half Marathon Championships. Archived (PDF) from the original on 17 October 2020. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  11. Wenig, Jörg. "Melat Kejeta holt sensationell Silber und pulverisiert den deutschen Rekord". laufen.de (in German). Retrieved 11 November 2020.
  12. "Getting to know world half marathon silver medallist Melat Kejeta". European Athletics. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
  13. "Jepchirchir breaks women-only world record". www.worldathletics.org. World Athletics. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  14. "Half Marathon Splits | World Athletics Half Marathon Championships". World Athletics. Retrieved 18 October 2020.
  15. "Wahnsinns-Leistung: Melat Kejeta holt Silber und bricht 25 Jahre alten deutschen Rekord". www.leichtathletik.de (in German). Retrieved 18 October 2020.
  16. "Platz sechs: Melat Kejeta sorgt im Olympia-Marathon für Top-Resultat". leichtathletik.de (in German). Retrieved 8 August 2021.
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