Gete Wami
Medal record
Women's Athletics
Representing 
Ethiopia
10,000 m
10,000 m
Getenesh "Gete" Wami Degife (Amharic: ጌጤነሽ 'ጌጤ' ዋሚ ደግፌ born January 28th 1974 in Debre Berhan)[1] is an Ethiopian former long-distance runner who competed in cross country, track, and road events.
Her brother, Mulugeta Wami, is also a professional marathon runner.[2]
Gete won the gold medal at the 1999 World ChampionshipsinSeville, with a time of 30:24.56, which was a new African record and Championships Record.[3] She also won the 10,000 m gold medal at the 1999 All-Africa Games that year. She is a two-time winner of the IAAF World Cross Country Championships, having taken the long race title in 1996 and then the short race title in 2001.
Gete won the 2006 Berlin Marathon, finishing in front of Salina Kosgei and Monika Drybulska on September 24.[4] She was expected to beat the world record over 15 km during the Zevenheuvelenloop in and around Nijmegen on 19 November 2006, but failed. Gete finished in second position during the race, nine seconds behind Mestewat Tufa, who finished in 47:22.
In 2007, Gete won the Berlin Marathon again. She competed in the New York Marathon thirty-five days later and she finished 23 seconds behind Paula Radcliffe. Her second-place finish gave her the World Marathon Majors Series Title, earning herself the $500,000 jackpot.[5]
In August 2008, Gete dropped out of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Marathon, after running in the lead pack for much of the race, as did her teammate Berhane Adere.
The last outing of her career came at the 2009 London Marathon, where she came in ninth with a time of 2:26:54.
Year
Competition
Venue
Position
Event
Notes
Representing Ethiopia
1992
2nd
32:41.57
1995
Gothenburg, Sweden
18th
32:56.94
1996
3rd
31:06.65
1997
Athens, Greece
—
DNF
1999
1st
30:24.56
2000
3rd
14:42.23
2nd
30:22.48
2001
Edmonton, Canada
3rd
31:49.98
2008
Beijing, China
—
DNF
Year
Competition
Venue
Position
Notes
2002
Amsterdam, Netherlands
1st
Marathon
2005
San Diego Rock 'n' Roll Marathon
San Diego, United States
1st
Marathon
2006
Berlin, Germany
1st
Marathon
Nijmegen, Netherlands
2nd
15K
2007
Berlin, Germany
1st
Marathon
New York City, United States
2nd
Marathon
Series
1st
Marathon
Sporting positions
Women's 5.000m Best Year Performance
2000
Ingrid Kristiansen (NOR)
Liz Lynch-McColgan (GBR)
Wang Junxia (CHN)
Fernanda Ribeiro (POR)
Sally Barsosio (KEN) Gete Wami (ETH) Derartu Tulu (ETH) Berhane Adere (ETH) Tirunesh Dibaba (ETH) Tirunesh Dibaba (ETH) Linet Masai (KEN) Vivian Cheruiyot (KEN) Tirunesh Dibaba (ETH) Vivian Cheruiyot (KEN) Almaz Ayana (ETH)
Sifan Hassan (NED) Letesenbet Gidey (ETH) Gudaf Tsegay (ETH)
Short course
Long course
