WERKNESH Kidane (kee-DAH-neh), Ethiopia (5000/10,000m, x-country)

Born 21 November 1981, Mayshie district, near Axum, Tigray region, Ethiopia.

Lives in Addis Ababa.

Manager: Mark Wetmore.  Club: Banks

Coaches: Kassu Alemayehu (club) and Dr. Woldemeskel Kostre (national)

At 23, Werknesh Kidane is in her ninth year of international competition. She was 13th in the World Junior Cross Country in 1997. She won bronze in the same race the next year and in 1999 took the junior title, as well as a 4th at 5000m in the Johannesburg All-Africa Games. The next year, the defending World Cross junior champion at 18, she slipped to 9th in the junior race, but later that year, running in the senior ranks in the Sydney Olympic 5000m, she came home a creditable 7th (14:47.40). In 2001, as a senior in the World Cross, she finished 5th in the 4 km race, and in 2002 won silver in the same race. But it was not until 2003 that she really came into her own.

She started by winning the 8km race at Ethiopia's World Cross trials by more than 10 seconds over a strong field, then coming back the next day for 2nd in the 4 km race behind future World 5000m champion Tirunesh Dibaba. Werknesh went on to duplicate the double feat at the World Cross in Lausanne, taking gold in the long race by nine seconds and coming in a close 2nd (this time to Kenya's defending champion Edith Masai) in the short race the next day.

Her 2003 international track season kicked off with a 20 second victory at 10,000m in the Palo Alto GPII (PB 30:41.40). She went on to notch two more PBs in major competitions, 14:33.04 at 5000 in the Oslo GL (the #2 time in 2003) and 8:39.51 in the Paris GL, before returning to Paris for the World Championships. There, on the opening night of the Championships, Werknesh was one of a quartet who pushed each other to new heights in the greatest women's 10,000 ever run. She took silver in 30:07.15 (history's fourth fastest time), three seconds behind countrywoman Berhane Adere and ahead of Sun Yingjie of China and Lornah Kiplagat of the Netherlands.

Her 2004 season began on a similarly high note. After a month away from competition with a minor injury, she claimed five straight dominating cross country victories—three in Spain, where her winning margin averaged 27 seconds, and then a big double win at the Ethiopian Championships. At the World Cross in Brussels, she couldn’t quite match her gold/silver double from 2003, but turned in a valuable 3rd in the 8 km and 4th in the 4 km, contributing to two Ethiopian team triumphs.

On the track she raced sparingly, first at Hengelo with a 4th at 5000 (15:04.34) behind Kenya’s future Olympic silver medalist Isabella Ochichi, but ahead of a couple of fellow Ethiopian Olympic team aspirants. Werknesh then staked her claim for a trip to Athens with a brilliant 14:38.05 for 2nd in the Rome 5000 behind Ejegayehu Dibaba. “I led for many laps,” she said later, “so I was very pleased I was able to finish that well.”

Ethiopian Olympic selectors ultimately put Ejegayehu and Werknesh on the team in the 10,000, along with two-time Olympic gold medallist Derartu Tulu. The choice was controversial because last year’s World Champion, Berhane, who had set an indoor world record at 5000 in January, was dropped shortly before the start of the Games, and didn’t take it quietly. The result in Athens was not altogether to the Ethiopians’ liking. The gold and silver from Paris shifted down a notch to silver and bronze (Ejegayehu and Derartu, with Werknesh 4th in 30:28.30) as the country’s streak of four straight global gold medals in the women’s 10,000 was broken by China’s fast-finishing Xing Huina. Werknesh ended her 2004 track season with a 5th in the 5000m at the World Athletics Final in September.

The diminutive Werknesh has again been impressive on the European cross country circuit this season, taking two wins in Spain, but she paid dearly for her busy European schedule at the Ethiopian trials, where she finished a tired 6th in the 8km, but recovered a day later to finish 4th in the 4 km, booking a place on both teams for St. Etienne/St. Galmier.

Weighing only 41kgs and standing at 1.58m, Werknesh might look too frail to handle mud, but the 23-year old has shown in the past (Lausanne 2nd and 1st, Brussels 4th and 3rd) that she has the stamina to double even in heavy going.  

Yearly progression 3000/5000/10,000:  1998 - 9:02.40/15:55.18/ ;  1999 - 9:07.54/15:24.56/;  2000 - 8:44.14/14:47.40/ ;  2001 - 9:03.74/15:29.96/31:43.41;  2002 - 8:41.58/14:43.53/ ;  2003 - 8:39.51 / 14:33.04 / 30:07.15;  2004 – 14:38..05/ 30:28.30.

As a young teenager, Werknesh moved to the capital to live with uncle Kidane Demoz, a soldier from the northern region of Tigray. A believer in physical fitness, he encouraged Werknesh to run, and set her on her career path

Prepared by John Manners, Elshadai Negash and Sabrina Yohannes for the IAAF "Focus on Africans" project. . © 2003-2005 IAAF.