(Great Ethiopian Run)
Faith Kipyegon, Kenya’s double Olympic 1500m champion and one of the ten 2021 World Athletics Female Athlete of the Year nominees, will be the VIP guest at the 2021 TotalEnergies Great Ethiopian Run International 10km taking place in Addis Ababa on Sunday 14th November 2021.
The visit to the Ethiopian capital by the 27-year old Kenyan whose second Olympic title in Tokyo confirmed her status as the world’s leading 1500m runners will be her first-ever trip to Ethiopia.
Kipyegon will appear alongside Haile Gebrselassie at both the pre-race press conference in Addis Ababa and at a special Gala Dinner being staged on the eve of the race in Addis Ababa’s Hyatt Regency Hotel.
Speaking about her trip, Kipyegon who holds the Kenyan national 1500m record with her clocking of 3:51:07 set in Monaco earlier this year said: “For many years I have wanted to visit our neighbor Ethiopia. Haile has had such a big impact on running in both Kenya and Ethiopia and it is an honor for me to accept his invitation to this year’s race.”
“I am also very happy to support the Great Ethiopian Run which has inspired so many young athletes and is also helping people to stay active and lead a healthy lifestyle.”
Great Ethiopian Run General Manager Dagmawit Amare said that Faith’s visit will create great excitement around race weekend, adding: “as one of Kenya’s greatest ever athletes with an amazing record of championship victories, Faith is well-known to athletics fans in Ethiopia. It will be a great honor for us to have her with us for the race!”
Kipyegon’s record at the top of world 1500m running is unparalleled. At the age of 17, she won the World Youth 1500m and then became the World Junior 1500m champion the following year.
She claimed her first Olympic 1500m title in Rio in 2016 and then in 2017 took her first senior world title in London. Just over three months ago she repeated her Olympic victory in Tokyo. In all these races she came up against strong Ethiopian opposition including the likes of Genzebe Dibaba and Senberi Teferi.
