Yomif Kejelcha

Yomif Kejelcha Atomsa (born 1 August 1997) is an Ethiopian distance runner. He formerly held world records in the short track mile (3:47.01 from 2019 to 2025) and the half marathon (57:30 from 2024 to 2025).
Yomif won the silver medal in the 10,000 metres at the 2019 World Athletics Championships and gold medals for the 3000 metres at the 2016 and 2018 World Indoor Championships. He was the 2013 World Youth 3000 m champion and 2014 World Junior 5000 m gold medallist.
Yomif was born on 1 August 1997 in Showa, Oromia, Ethiopia. His father is Kejelcha Atoma, and his mother is Biritu Negese. He is the fifth of nine children.
Yomif was introduced to the sport of athletics by his friend Abebe Dribsa. Against his father's wishes, Yomif dropped out of high school in the ninth grade to pursue running, leading to his expulsion from home. Yomif secured school clearance to apply for the police force, and returned home at the suggestion of his mother.
Yomif joined the Burayu Kenema Club, and moved to the outskirts of Addis Ababa to train.
Yomif made his international debut at the 2013 World Youth Championships in Donetsk, winning gold in the boys' 3000 metres with a time of 7:53.56.
In June, he placed second over 3000 m in 7:36.28 at the Ostrava Golden Spike elite meeting, losing only to Kenya's Caleb Ndiku; he defeated 2008 Olympic medallist Nick Willis and former world champion Bernard Lagat. Yomif won the 5000 metres at the World Junior Championships held in July in Eugene, Oregon that year, running 13:25.19. He also won gold in the 3000 m at the Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing later that summer. He finished 2014 as the world youth leader at both the 3000 and 5000 metres, and world junior leader at 3000 metres.
Yomif opened his 2015 season at the African Junior Championships in Addis Ababa, winning the 5000 m in a time of 14:31.03. He made his IAAF Diamond League debut in Doha, placing fifth in the 3000 m. He then won a non-Diamond Race 5000 m event at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, improving his personal best to 13:10.54 and outkicking Edwin Soi and Galen Rupp. Yomif scored his first Diamond League victory the following week at the Golden Gala in Rome, winning 5000 m in a world-leading 12:58.39 and breaking 13 minutes for the first time. On 11 September, Yomif competed in the event at the Brussels Diamond League, setting a new personal best and world-leading time of 12:53.98.
He started 2016 by winning the gold in the 3000 metres at the World Indoor Championships in Portland, Oregon. On 27 August, Yomif won the event at the Diamond League Paris meet in a new world U20 record of 7:28.19.
At the European Athletics Outdoor Classic Permit Meeting in Sweden on 18 August, Yomif won the 3000 m with a time of 7:28.00. On 31 August, he placed third in the 5000 m at the Diamond League Brussels Final. He ran a personal best of 12:46.79, making him the seventh-fastest runner ever in the event.
Yomif came within hundredth of a second of Hicham El Guerrouj's world indoor mile record on 9 February at the Millrose Games. He ran an Ethiopian national record and a Millrose meet record of 3:48.46, making him second-fastest athlete of all time in the event. On 3 March, Yomif broke this record with a time of 3:47.01, slicing 1.44 seconds off El Guerrouj's mark set in 1997 (this record was later broken by Yared Nuguse of the United States in February 2025, running 3:46.63). He came short of the 1500 metres world indoor record with his 3:31.25 split en route, making him the third-fastest indoor performer in history. He was paced by Erik Sowinski, Christian Harrison, and Harun Abda.
Yomif won the silver medal for the 10,000 metres at the 2019 World Athletics Championships held in Doha, Qatar, finished eighth in the event at the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics in 2021, and placed also eighth in the 5000 m at the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon.
Yomif was a member of the Nike Oregon Project from 2018 to 2019, where he trained alongside Galen Rupp and Sifan Hassan.
On 19 March, he missed Berihu Aregawi's 5 kilometres world record of 12:49 by just one second in Lille, France to move up to second on the world all-time list.
On 2 June, at the Golden Gala meeting in Florence, Yomif narrowly finished second to Mohamed Katir over the 5000 metres, in a time of 12:52.12, losing to Katir by only 0.03 seconds. On June 15, Yomif won the 5000 metres at the Bislett Games in Oslo in a time of 12:41.73, the fifth-fastest time in 5000 metre history. Finishing second to Yomif was Jacob Kiplimo, who lost by 0.003 seconds in one of the smallest margins in distance running history (12:41.725 to 12:41.728, making them the joint fifth fastest 5000 metre runners in history at the time).
At the end of the 2023 outdoor season, on 17 September, Yomif competed in the 3000 metres at the Diamond League Final (Prefontaine Classic) in Eugene, Oregon. He finished second to Jakob Ingebrigtsen, in a time of 7:23.64, losing by only one hundredth of a second. At the time, this was the fourth fastest men's 3000m performance in history, behind Ingebrigtsen's 7:23.63, Hicham El Guerrouj's 7:23.09, and Daniel Komen's world record of 7:20.67.
On 30 May, Yomif contested the 5000 metres at the Oslo Diamond League, finishing second to compatriot Hagos Gebrhiwet. Hagos ran 12:36.73 to become the second fastest man in history at the 5000 metre distance, behind Joshua Cheptegei's world record of 12:35.36, while Yomif finished in a time of 12:38.95, becoming the fourth fastest 5000 metre runner in history, behind Kenenisa Bekele (12:37.35), Hagos, and Cheptegei.
After exchanging leads with his teammates for most of the race, Yomif finished sixth in the 2024 Olympic 10,000 m.
On 27 October, in the 2024 Valencia Half Marathon, Yomif set a new half marathon world record of 57:30, breaking Jacob Kiplimo's former half marathon world record of 57:31 by one second. In 2025, Kiplimo broke Yomif's record by 48 seconds, running 56:42.
Yomif married Yadu Birhanu Biru in 2022. Yomif is an avid fan of the English Premier League football team Chelsea.
Yomif's running hero is compatriot Kenenisa Bekele, a four time Olympic medalist. He trains daily, running between 120 and 140 kilometres a week. He often trains alongside Telahun Haile Bekele, Hagos Gebrhiwet and Birhanu Balew.
All information from World Athletics profile.