Meb Keflezighi
Mebrahtom " Meb " Keflezighi ( born May 5, 1975 in Asmara ) is an American long-distance runner of Eritrean origin.
Life and sports career
As Mebrahtom Keflezighi was twelve years old, leaving his thirteen- member family and Eritrea went to the USA to prevent the children of the family are drawn in the Ethiopian civil war. They moved to San Diego in California. 1997 applied for Keflezighi the U.S. citizenship. At this time it was not clear that Eritrea would participate for the first time in Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. On 2 July 1998, he was a U.S. citizen and launched for the first time at the U.S. Championships in the 5000m. He immediately became the fourth, as well as a year later in the 10,000 -meter run.
In 2000 he qualified as a U.S. champion in the 10,000 m for the Olympic Games in Sydney. He was, however, due to the flu only twelfth. In 2001, he set a U.S. record in the 10,000 m. He improved the mark of Mark Nenow from 1986 to 27:13,98 minutes. A year later he was again in the 10,000 m American champion and took part for the first time at the New York City Marathon. He was ninth straight away.
In World Athletics Championships his performances were less successful. In Edmonton in 2001 he came in the 10,000 m at No. 23, in Paris / Saint- Denis in 2003 to 16th place
His most successful year was then the subsequent. He qualified while again as the best American for the 10,000 - meter race at the Olympic Games in Athens, started there but on the marathon course and won the silver medal as the first male U.S. citizen by Frank Shorter in 1976 an Olympic medal in the marathon. In the same year he was also second in the New York City Marathon with his personal best of 2:09:53. He finished third in New York City, 2006 Third Boston Marathon 2005. In November 2007 he missed as eighth in the Knockout of the U.S. Association of Athletics Federations re Olympic participation.
After he had repeatedly struggling with injury problems in 2008, he started again in 2009 successfully in the season. In January, he won in a personal best of 1:01:25 hours at the U.S. Half Marathon Championship, which was held as part of the Houston Marathon. In his ninth place in the London Marathon in April, he presented with a time of 2:09:21 h also a personal best. A further increase, he managed the San Jose Half Marathon, which he won in 1:01:00. With its 20 km of 57:52 min meantime he put on top of that to a U.S. record. Once again, six seconds faster than he ran in London then at the New York City Marathon in November. There he won a surprise as the first American since Alberto Salazar in 1982 and secured at the same time the U.S. title.
In 2010 he finished fifth in Boston, defended his title in San Jose and was sixth in New York City. At the London 2012 Olympic Martathon Keflezighi reached number four.
Meb Keflezighi is 1,70 m tall and weighs 58 kg.
Personal Best
Publication
- With Dick Patrick: Run to Overcome. Tyndale House Publishers, 2010, ISBN 978-1-4143-3957-3