GEZAHEGNE ABERA

Gezahegne Abera (born April 23, 1978) is an Ethiopian athlete, winner of the marathon race at the 2000 Summer Olympics

Among the best pure marathon racers of his generation, Gezahegne Abera’s sensational sprint finishes are the stuff of legend. Oddly, his widest margin of victory came on the biggest stage : the 2000 Olympic Games. There, after being tripped at 19 miles, he surged at mile 24 against a strong wind to defeat runner-up Eric Wainaina of Kenya by a rare chasm of 20 seconds.

In his other lifetime victories, he has won by the slim total of seven seconds, and in his 2003 London victory outsprinted five athletes, including Paul Tergat, for the win.

Even in one of his rare losses, the 2000 Boston Marathon, a photo finish gave him the same time ex-equo as the winner.

The first man ever to win gold at  both the Olympics and World Champs, Abera has been troubled the past few years by Achilles problems, which necessitated surgery in the autumn of 2004 and again after that period.

One of eight children from a farming family, Abera enjoyed playing soccer as a child, and often dreamed to emulate Milla and the like. While in high school he used to run 25K a day, his roundtrip to school and backm rather than board like most students there, so he could help his family on the farm.

He is married to Elfenesh Alemu, a 2004 Olympian, two-time runner-up in the Boston Marathon and winner of the 2003 Tokyo International Women’s Marathon.