# Gudaf Tsegay

Gudaf Tsegay Desta (Amharic: ጉዳፉ ፀጋይ ደስታ; born 23 June 1997) is an Ethiopian middle- and long-distance runner. She is the current women’s world record holder for 5,000 m (14:00.21), set at the 2023 final Diamond League event, the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon. Eugene is also where she won the World Athletics Championships on 5,000 m in 2022. At the World Athletics Championships, Gudaf also won the gold medal for 10,000 metres in 2023; a bronze for the 1,500 metres in 2019, and silver in 2022. She is the 2020 Tokyo Olympic bronze medallist in the women's 5,000 metres. She is a two-time World Indoor Championship 1,500 m medallist, claiming bronze in 2016 and gold in 2022. She is also the world indoor record holder for the 1,500 m, setting previously in this event world under-18 (current) and U20 (former) records.
At age 16, Gudaf represented Ethiopia in the 1500 m at the 2014 World Indoor Championships. That same year, the 17-year-old won the silver medal in the discipline at the World U20 Championships. She is a versatile runner.

## Personal life

Gudaf Tsegay comes from the Tigray Region in northern Ethiopia. She is married to Hiluf Yihdego, who is also her coach.

## Career

In February 2014, 16-year-old Gudaf set the world's fastest under-18 mark in the indoor 1,500 metres with a time of 4:08.47 in Stockholm. In July, she became the World U20 Championship silver medallist in Eugene, Oregon, clocking 4:10.83 behind her compatriot Dawit Seyaum in 4:09.86.
Two years later, Gudaf broke the world U20 indoor record in this event with a time of 4:01.81 in Glasgow, beating previous best set by compatriot Kalkidan Gezahegne in 2010 by more than a second. Gudaf's record was bettered in 2020 by her another compatriot Lemlem Hailu. At the World Indoor Championships held in Portland, Oregon, she won the bronze medal in 4:05.71 behind only Sifan Hassan representing the Netherlands (4:04.96) and Dawit (4:05.30). The then 19-year-old represented Ethiopia in the 800 metres at the 2016 Rio Olympics, where she was eliminated in her heat, clocking 2:00.13.
In 2017, she ran her first sub-4 minute 1500 m in finishing third at the Paris Diamond League on 1 July. Gudaf competed at the London World Championships and went out of the 1,500 m event in the semi-finals. She fell after the first lap and was unable to recover, finishing about 13 seconds slower than the time she had run in the heats.
Gudaf ran her first 5000 m on 26 May 2018, at the Prefontaine Classic finishing fourth in 14:51.30. She followed it up by recording her first Diamond League win at the BAUHAUS-galan in Stockholm, setting a big new personal best of 3:57.41 for the 1500 m. On 22 July, Gudaf set another new personal best of 4:16.14 for the mile at the London Diamond League.
At the following World Championships in 2019 in Doha, Qatar, Gudaf won the bronze medal in the event with a personal best time of 3:54.38. Hassan was first in 3:51.95 while Kenya's Faith Kipyegon finished second in 3:54.22.
The next year, she earned her first overall 1500 m World Indoor Tour victory, winning races at the Copernicus Cup in Toruń, Poland, Meeting Hauts-de-France Pas-de-Calais in Liévin, France and Villa de Madrid in Spain.

### 2021: World indoor 1500 m record

On 9 February, Gudaf broke the world indoor 1500 m record at the Meeting Hauts-de-France Pas-de-Calais. The former mark of 3:55.17 set by her compatriot Genzebe Dibaba in 2014 was lowered by Gudaf to 3:53.09. Five days later, she set a new 800 m personal best of 1:57.52 at the Meeting de l'Eure in Val-de-Reuil, moving her up to ninth on the all-time lists at the time.
Gudaf clocked the fastest 10,000 m debut in history as she won at the Gold Gala Fernanda Ribeiro in Maia in 29:39.42. In June, Gudaf won the 5000 m at the Ethiopian Trials in Hengelo with a new personal best of 14:13.32. The mark was the world best for 2021. She won bronze over 5000 m at the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Sifan Hassan came first in 14:36.79 while Kenya's Hellen Obiri was second clocking 14:38.36.

### 2022: World indoor 1500 m champion, and world outdoor 5,000 m champion & 1,500 m silver medallist

In February, Gudaf contested the mile in Liévin. After falling on the first lap, she finished in 4:21.72, missing Dibaba's world record of 4:13.31 but breaking the 20-year-old meeting record. A few days later, chasing her own world indoor record over 1,500 m at the Copernicus Cup in Poland, she was only 1.68 seconds behind, securing the second-fastest mark on the world indoor all-time list. She comfortably took her second overall World Indoor Tour 1,500 m victory eight days later at the Villa de Madrid Indoor Meeting, producing another record-breaking 3:57.38, the fifth-fastest result in turn on the world all-time indoor ranking.
Also in March, Gudaf continued her record-breaking form, dominating in her specialist event at the World Indoor Championships held in Belgrade, Serbia. She took her first global title, setting a championship record of 3:57.19 and winning by more than five seconds (~30 m). She led an Ethiopian medals sweep as Axumawit Embaye and Hirut Meshesha finished second and third, respectively. It was the first time one country swept the medals in any discipline, and the seventh successive Ethiopian women's victory in the event, at the World Athletics Indoor Championships.
Her best success of that year came in July at the World Championships in Eugene, Oregon, where she won two medals including her first global outdoor title. First the 25-year-old took silver in the 1,500 m event, finishing behind only Faith Kipyegon and ahead of Laura Muir. Five days later, she claimed the gold medal for the closely-run 5,000 m race with a time of 14:46.29, ahead of Beatrice Chebet in 14:46.75 and compatriot Dawit Seyaum (14:47.36).
Gudaf doubled up at the Diamond League final in Zürich in September, placing third in the 5 kilometres road race and sixth in the 1,500 m event.

### 2023: World 10,000 m champion and 5,000 m world record

She got her 2023 campaign off to strong start in February, running the indoor mile in Toruń, Poland. Gudaf missed the world record but her time of 4:16.16 was the second-fastest ever at the time. The same month, she came within just 0.09 seconds of Dibaba's world indoor 3000 m record, clocking a super fast 8:16.69 at the World Indoor Tour final in Birmingham.
She enjoyed a strong start to her outdoor season by winning the 1500 m at the Rabat Diamond League in a meeting record of 3:54.03. Later that year, in July, Gudaf competed at the London Diamond League where she outsprinted a strong field including Sifan Hassan, Beatrice Chebet and Medina Eisa to win, setting a new 5000 m personal best of 14:12.29.
At the 2023 World Championships, in Budapest, Gudaf won gold in the 10,000 m after a frantic finish where Sifan Hassan fell after making contact with Gudaf in the final 100 m. She also competed over 5000 m, placing 13th in the final. At the final Diamond League Final in Eugene, Oregon, Gudaf set a new world record over 5000 m of 14:00.21, bettering Faith Kipyegon's mark of 14:05.20 set earlier in the year.

### 2024: World indoor silver medal and 2024 Olympics

Gudaf opened her 2024 season on 4 February at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix, winning the 1500 m in a meeting record of 3:58.11. At the World Indoor Championships held in Glasgow, Gudaf won silver in the 3000 m, being outrun by Elle St. Pierre over the last 50 m. She competed in her first outdoor race of the season on 20 April at the Xiamen Diamond League, where she ran the a new personal best of 3:50.30 over 1500 m which put her third on the all-time top lists. On 25 May, at the Prefontaine Classic, Gudaf made an attempt to break the 10,000 metres world record of 29:01.03 set by Letesenbet Gidey of Ethiopia in 2021. However, Gudaf was closely followed by Kenyan athlete Beatrice Chebet, who made a surge with three laps to go while Gudaf fell behind. Chebet ended up finishing in a new world record time of 28:54.14, while Gudaf still finished in a personal best time of 29:05.92.
On 5 August, at the 2024 Paris Olympics, Gudaf attempted the triple of the 1500 m, 5000 m and 10,000 m. Firstly, she finished ninth in the 5000 metres, running 14:45.21. The race was a highly anticipated match-up between Gudaf, Beatrice Chebet, Faith Kipyegon, and Sifan Hassan. The race was won by Chebet in a time of 14:28.56, while Kipyegon finished second in a time of 14:29.60 and Hassan in third at 14:30.61. Nearing the end of the race, Gudaf pushed Kipyegon, which led to a temporarily disqualification for the latter, but this ended up being rescinded and Kipyegon's silver medal was re-instated. Next, Gudaf placed sixth in the 10,000 m in a time of 30:45.21, having been in the lead pack for the majority of the race, Gudaf faded over the last 100 m with Beatrice Chebet winning gold. Finally, Gudaf finished twelfth in the 1500 m, she led the race until the last lap where she slowed and was overtaken by the rest of the field.

## Achievements
### Personal bests

| Type | Event | Time (m:s) | Place | Date | Notes |
| Track | 800 metres | 1:59.52 | Paris, France | 24 August 2019 | |
| Track | 800 metres indoor | 1:57.52 i | Val-de-Reuil, France | 14 February 2021 | NR, 10th woman of all time |
| Track | 1500 metres | 3:50.30 | Xiamen, China | 20 April 2024 | 3rd woman of all time |
| Track | 1500 metres indoor | 3:53.09 i | Liévin, France | 9 February 2021 | World record |
| Track | One mile | 4:16.14 | London, United Kingdom | 22 July 2018 | 6th woman of all time |
| Track | One mile indoor | 4:16.16 i | Toruń, Poland | 8 February 2023 | 2nd of all time |
| Track | 3000 metres | 8:25.23 | Doha, Qatar | 25 September 2020 | |
| Track | 3000 metres indoor | 8:16.69 i | Birmingham, United Kingdom | 25 February 2023 | 2nd of all time |
| Track | 5000 metres | 14:00.21 | Eugene, USA | 17 September 2023 | World record |
| Track | 10,000 metres | 29:05.92 | Eugene, USA | 25 May 2024 | 3rd of all time |

### International competitions

Representing  Ethiopia :
| Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Event | Time |
| 2014 | World Indoor Championships | Sopot, Poland | 9th (h) | 1500 m i | 4:11.83 |
| 2014 | World Junior Championships | Eugene, OR, United States | 2nd | 1500 m | 4:10.83 |
| 2016 | World Indoor Championships | Portland, OR, United States | 3rd | 1500 m i | 4:05.71 |
| 2016 | Olympic Games | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | 19th (h) | 800 m | 2:00.13 |
| 2017 | World Championships | London, United Kingdom | 24th (sf) | 1500 m | 4:22.01 |
| 2019 | World Championships | Doha, Qatar | 3rd | 1500 m | 3:54.38 |
| 2021 | Olympic Games | Tokyo, Japan | 3rd | 5000 m | 14:38.87 |
| 2022 | World Indoor Championships | Belgrade, Serbia | 1st | 1500 m i | 3:57.19 CR |
| 2022 | World Championships | Eugene, OR, United States | 2nd | 1500 m | 3:54.52 |
| 2022 | World Championships | Eugene, OR, United States | 1st | 5000 m | 14:46.29 |
| 2023 | World Championships | Budapest, Hungary | 13th | 5000 m | 15:01.13 |
| 2023 | World Championships | Budapest, Hungary | 1st | 10,000 m | 31:27.18 |
| 2024 | World Indoor Championships | Glasgow, United Kingdom | 2nd | 3000 m | 8:21.13 |
| 2024 | Olympic Games | Paris, France | 12th | 1500 m | 4:01.27 |
| 2024 | Olympic Games | Paris, France | 9th | 5000 m | 14:45.21 |
| 2024 | Olympic Games | Paris, France | 6th | 10,000 m | 30:45.21 |

### Circuit wins and titles, National titles

* Diamond League 5000 metres champion: 2023
** 2018: Stockholm Bauhaus-galan (1500 m, MR PB)
** 2023: Rabat Meeting International (1500 m, WL MR), London Anniversary Games (5000 m, MR PB), Eugene Prefontaine Classic (5000 m, WR)
* World Athletics Indoor Tour 1500 m overall winner: 2020, 2022
** 2020 (1500m): Toruń Copernicus Cup, Liévin Meeting Hauts-de-France Pas-de-Calais, Villa de Madrid
** 2021: Liévin (1500m, WR), Villa de Madrid (3000m)
** 2022: Liévin (Mile, WL MR), Toruń (1500m, WL MR), Madrid (1500m, MR)
** 2023: Toruń (Mile, WL MR), Liévin (1500m, WL), Birmingham World Indoor Tour Final (3000m, WL MR)
* Ethiopian Athletics Championships
** 5000 metres: 2021