# Elvan Abeylegesse

Elvan Abeylegesse (also formerly: Hewan Abeye (አልቫን አበይለገሠ, Amharic) and Elvan Can (Turkish); born 11 September 1982) is an Ethiopian-born Turkish middle and long-distance running athlete who competes over distances from 1500 metres up to the marathon, and also in cross country. She is the former world record-holder for the 5000 metres, at 14:24.68 minutes.
In August 2015, the Turkish Athletics Federation confirmed that an anti-doping test taken during the 2007 World Championships in Athletics had been retested and found to be positive for a controlled substance, and that the athlete had been temporarily suspended pending retesting of her 'B-sample'. On 29 March 2017, IAAF confirmed the positive test, expunged her results from 25 August 2007 until 25 August 2009 (thereby stripping her of the two silver medals she had won at the 2008 Olympic Games), and banned her from athletics for two years.

## Early life and career

Abeylegesse was born Hewan Abeye on 11 September 1982 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and raised with her seven brothers and sisters. She began her career running cross country. In 1999, she started for the Ethiopian junior team at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Belfast, Northern Ireland and finished ninth. There, she was invited to a meeting in Istanbul, Turkey. She decided to move to Turkey and became a Turkish citizen after marrying a Turkish national. She took the name Elvan Can. Later she divorced and took the name Elvan Abeylegesse.
Registered in the Enka Sports Club in Istanbul, she is coached by Ertan Hatipoglu, a former triple jumper of Turkish origin from Bulgaria.

### Career highlights

Abeylegesse's career in the international arena began at the age of 18 in Grosseto, Italy in 2001 by winning the European 3000 m and 5000 m titles, setting a national record for Turkey. She became a world leader with a time of 8:31:94 in the 3000 m in Brussels, Belgium in 2002 and with a time of 3:58.38 in the 1500 m in Moscow, Russia in 2004.
Abeylegesse has been a scholarship holder with the Olympic Solidarity program since August 2002.
At the Evergood Bergen Bislett Games in Norway on 11 June 2004, the sixth meeting of TDK Golden League, Abeylegesse broke the women's 5000 m world record, which had belonged to Chinese runner Jiang Bo since 1997 (14:28.09), improving the mark by over three seconds to 14:24.68. She became the first Turkish athlete ever to set a world record.
On 3 June 2006 her record time was beaten by Ethiopian Meseret Defar, who ran in 14:24.53 in New York City.
She ran at the inaugural World 10K Bangalore race in 2008 and finished in a dead heat with Grace Momanyi, with both runners eventually being declared joint victors.
She was the 2010 recipient of the Pierre de Coubertin World Fair Play Trophy, an annual award given by the International Fair Play Committee. She had lent a pair of running shoes to competitor Meselech Melkamu just moments before the beginning of the 10,000 metres final at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics. Having forgotten to bring her shoes to the track, Melkamu went on to take the silver.
Abeylegesse won the 2010 edition of the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon in a time of 1:07:07. This was the fastest ever time for a woman in the half marathon race and made her the sixth fastest woman overall. She played down suggestions of a permanent switch to longer road races, however, saying a marathon debut would have to wait until after the 2012 London Olympics.
At the 2010 European Athletics Championships, Abeylegesse won gold in the 10,000 m, finishing in 31 minutes, 10.23 seconds On 28 July 2010, and she won the silver medal in 5000m finishing in 14 minutes, 54.44 seconds on 1 August 2010. She narrowly missed out on a medal at the 2010 IAAF Continental Cup, finishing two seconds behind Molly Huddle in the 5000 m.
She returned to action in 2012 after her pregnancy and made her debut over 20 km, finishing as runner-up at the 20 Kilomètres de Paris. She was also runner-up in the 15K section of the Istanbul Eurasia Marathon. She won the Nice Half Marathon in April 2013. On 17 November 2013 she became runner-up in the women's category at the Istanbul Marathon with a time of 2:29:30.

### Doping ban

In August 2015, the Turkish Athletics Federation confirmed that an anti-doping test taken during the 2007 World Championships in Athletics had been retested and found to be positive for a controlled substance, and that the athlete had been temporarily suspended pending retesting of her 'B-sample'. If confirmed, Abeylegesse stood to lose her 2007 medal, and possibly other awards from that date. On 29 March 2017, IAAF confirmed the positive test, expunged her results from 25 August 2007 until 25 August 2009 (thereby stripping her of the two silver medals she had won at the 2008 Olympic Games), and banned her from athletics for two years.

## Personal life

Abeylegesse married her longtime partner Semeneh Debelie in February 2011 and decided to take the season off due to pregnancy. In July 2011, she gave birth to a girl named Arsema.

## International competitions

| Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Event | Notes |
| Representing Turkey ||||||
| 1999 | World Cross Country Championships | Belfast, Northern Ireland | 9th | Junior race | 22:03 |
| 1999 | World Youth Championships | Bydgoszcz, Poland | 5th | 3000 metres | 9:08.29 |
| 1999 | European Junior Championships | Riga, Latvia | 2nd | 5000 metres | 16:06.40 |
| 2000 | World Cross Country Championships | Vilamoura, Portugal | 90th | Short race | 14:30 |
| 2000 | World Junior Championships | Santiago, Chile | 6th | 3000m | 9:28.20 |
| 2000 | World Junior Championships | Santiago, Chile | 6th | 5000m | 16:33.77 |
| 2001 | World Cross Country Championships | Ostend, Netherlands | 22nd | Junior race | 23:30 |
| 2001 | European Junior Championships | Grosseto, Italy | 1st | 3000 metres | 8:53.42 |
| 2001 | European Junior Championships | Grosseto, Italy | 1st | 5000 metres | 15:21.12 |
| 2001 | World Championships | Edmonton, Canada | 8th (heats) | 5000 metres | 15:22.89 |
| 2001 | Mediterranean Games | Tunis, Tunisia | 3rd | 10,000 metres | 32:29.20 |
| 2001 | European Cross Country Championships | Thun, Switzerland | 1st | Junior race | 10:35 |
| 2002 | European Championships | Munich, Germany | 7th | 5000 metres | 15:24.41 |
| 2002 | IAAF Grand Prix Final | Paris, France | 8th | 3000 metres | 9:01.50 |
| 2002 | European Cross Country Championships | Medulin, Croatia | 3rd | Junior race | 20:19 |
| 2003 | European U23 Championships | Bydgoszcz, Poland | 1st | 5000m | 15:16.79 |
| 2003 | World Championships | Paris, France | 5th | 5000 metres | 14:53.56 |
| 2003 | IAAF World Athletics Final | Monaco | 1st | 5000m | 14:56.25 |
| 2004 | European Champion Clubs' Cup | Moscow, Russia | 1st | 1500 metres | 3:58.28 |
| 2004 | European Cup | Istanbul, Turkey | 1st | 3000 metres | 8:49.14 |
| 2004 | Olympic Games | Athens, Greece | 8th | 1500 metres | 4:00.67 |
| 2004 | Olympic Games | Athens, Greece | 12th | 5000 metres | 15:12.64 |
| 2004 | IAAF World Athletics Final | Monaco | 1st | 5000m | 14:59.19 |
| 2006 | European Championships | Gothenburg, Sweden | 3rd | 5000 metres | 14:59.29 |
| 2007 | World Championships | Osaka, Japan | DSQ | 10,000 metres | 31:59.40 |
| 2008 | Olympic Games | Beijing, China | DSQ | 5000 metres | 15:42.74 |
| 2008 | Olympic Games | Beijing, China | DSQ | 10,000 metres | 29:56.34 |
| 2009 | Mediterranean Games | Pescara, Italy | DSQ | 10,000 metres | 31:51.98 |
| 2010 | European Championships | Barcelona, Spain | 1st | 5000 metres | 14:54.44 |
| 2010 | European Championships | Barcelona, Spain | 1st | 10,000 metres | 31:10.23 |
| 2013 | Mediterranean Games | Mersin, Turkey | 2nd | 10,000 meters | 32:59.30 |
| 2019 | World Championships | Doha, Qatar | DNF | Marathon | N/A |

## Marathons

* Istanbul Marathon: 2013, 2nd, 2:29:30

## World records

* 11 June 2004, Bergen Bislett Games (Golden League), Bergen, Norway (5000 m) Gold (14:24:68) WR

## Personal bests

| Discipline | Performance | Place | Date |
| 1500 m | 3:58:28 | Moscow, Russia | 30 May 2004 |
| 2000 m | 5:33:83 | İstanbul, Turkey | 7 June 2003 |
| 3000 m | 8:31:94 | Brussels, Belgium | 30 August 2002 |
| 5000 m | 14:24:68 | Bergen, Norway | 11 June 2004 |
| 10,000 m | 29:56:34 | Beijing, China | 15 August 2008 |

## Performance progression

| Discipline | Season | Performance | Place | Date |
| 1500 m | 2004 | 3:58:28 | Moscow, Russia | 30 May 2004 |
| 1500 m | 2003 | 4:07:25 | Beograd, Serbia | 25 May 2003 |
| 1500 m | 2002 | 4:11:00 | İzmir, Turkey | 11 May 2002 |
| 1500 m | 2001 | 4:11:31 | Istanbul, Turkey | 28 July 2001 |
| 2000 m | 2003 | 5:33:83 | Istanbul, Turkey | 7 June 2003 |
| 3000 m | 2004 | 8:35:83 | Doha, Qatar | 14 May 2004 |
| 3000 m | 2003 | 8:42:29 | İzmir, Turkey | 11 May 2003 |
| 3000 m | 2002 | 8:31:94 | Brussels, Belgium | 30 August 2002 |
| 3000 m | 2001 | 8:53:42 | Grosseto, Italy | 21 July 2001 |
| 3000 m | 2000 | 9:08:07 | İzmir, Turkey | 21 May 2000 |
| 3000 m | 1999 | 9:08:29 | Bydgoszcz, Poland | 17 July 1999 |
| 5000 m | 2004 | 14:24:68 | Bergen, Norway | 11 June 2004 |
| 5000 m | 2003 | 14:53:56 | Paris, France | 30 August 2003 |
| 5000 m | 2002 | 15:00:49 | Hengelo, Netherlands | 2 June 2002 |
| 5000 m | 2001 | 15:21:12 | Grosseto, Italy | 20 July 2001 |
| 5000 m | 2000 | 16:33:77 | Santiago de Chile, Chile | 17 October 2000 |
| 5000 m | 1999 | 16:06:20 | Riga, Latvia | 7 August 1999 |
| 10000 m | 2008 | 29:56.34 | Beijing, China | 15 August 2008 |
| 10000 m | 2006 | 30:21.67 | Antalya, Turkey | 15 April 2006 |
| 10000m | 2001 | 32:29:20 | Tunis, Tunisia | 12 September 2001 |