Dawit Seyaum Biratu (born 27 July 1996)[1] is an Ethiopian middle- and long-distance runner who specialises in the 1500 metres. She placed fourth at the 2015 World Championships and won the silver medal at the 2016 World Indoor Championships. Dawit took a bronze in the 5000 metres at the 2022 World Championships.

Dawit Seyaum
Personal information
Full nameDawit Seyaum Biratu
NationalityEthiopian
Born (1996-07-27) 27 July 1996 (age 28)
Height1.61 m (5 ft 3 in)
Weight49 kg (108 lb)
Sport
CountryEthiopia
SportAthletics
Event(s)1500 metres, 5000 m
Achievements and titles
Personal bests

She was in her specialist event the 2013 World Youth Championship silver medallist, and 2014 World junior champion.

Career

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Dawit Seyaum made her first impact at national level in 2013, winning the 1500 metres Ethiopian junior title.[2] Her international debut on the IAAF Diamond League circuit followed shortly after, and she set a personal best of 4:14.95 minutes in the event at the Doha Diamond League meet.[3] She was selected to compete in the 1500 m at the 2013 World Youth Championships in Athletics held in Donetsk, Ukraine and was runner-up to Tigist Gashaw – the first time Ethiopia took the top two spots in that event.[4] She reversed this placing at the 2013 African Junior Championships, taking the title with a best of 4:09.00 minutes several seconds ahead of Tigist.[5]

Dawit won her first indoor competition in Prague in February 2014, running 1500 m with a time of 4:09.08 minutes.[6] At the Rabat Meeting, she established herself among the world's top 1500 m runners with a win in 3:59.53 minutes – an Ethiopian junior record and meeting record which ranked her seventh in the global rankings that year.[7][8] She was near four minutes again at the New York Diamond League, where she finished as runner-up.[3] Dawit entered the World Junior Championships in Eugene as favourite and delivered on this by winning the gold medal, going unchallenged throughout the final lap.[9] Her first senior medal followed at the African Championships in Athletics, where she was the silver medallist behind the more experienced Hellen Obiri.[10] Dawit was chosen for the Africa team for the 2014 IAAF Continental Cup and finished with the bronze medal behind Sifan Hassan and Shannon Rowbury.[11]

In 2015, she secured in the 1500 m a gold at the African Junior Championships, placed fourth at the World Championships in Beijing (behind, 1–3, Genzebe Dibaba, Faith Kipyegon and Sifan Hassan), and won the event at the African Games held in Brazzaville.[1][12]

The next year, Dawit took the World Indoor Championship silver in her specialist event in Portland, and finished eight in the final of the 2016 Rio Olympics.[1]

The 2018 World Indoor Championships held in Birmingham were unsuccessful for her as she was eliminated in the heats.[1]

In February 2022, Dawit set a world-leading time of 8:23.24 for the indoor 3000 metres at the Meeting Hauts-de-France Pas-de-Calais in Liévin, becoming the third-fastest woman in this indoor event in history (only her compatriots Dibaba and Gudaf Tsegay ran faster).[13] She finished fifth at the event in 8:44.55 at the World Indoor Championships in Belgrade the following month.[1]

At the 2022 World Championships in Eugene, Oregon in July, Dawit competed in the 5000 metres event and claimed the bronze medal in a time of 14:47.36 behind Tsegay (14:46.29) and Beatrice Chebet (14:46.75).[14] She ended that year on high, winning for the second consecutive time the 5 kilometres road race at the BOclassic held in Bolzano, Italy (in 2021, she set a course record).[15][16]

Achievements

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Dawit (2nd from the right) won the bronze medal for the 5000 m at the 2022 World Championships in Eugene.

International competitions

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Representing   Ethiopia
Year Competition Venue Position Event Time
2013 World Youth Championships Donetsk, Ukraine 2nd 1500 m 4:15.51
African Junior Championships Bambous, Mauritius 1st 1500 m 4:09.00
2014 World Junior Championships Eugene, OR, United States 1st 1500 m 4:09.86
African Championships Marrakech, Morocco 2nd 1500 m 4:10.92
Continental Cup Marrakech, Morocco 3rd 1500 m 4:07.61
2015 African Junior Championships Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 1st 1500 m 4:15.94
World Championships Beijing, China 4th 1500 m 4:10.26
African Games Brazzaville, Congo Republic 1st 1500 m 4:16.69
2016 World Indoor Championships Portland, OR, United States 2nd 1500 m i 4:05.30
Olympic Games Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 8th 1500 m 4:13.14
2018 World Indoor Championships Birmingham, United Kingdom 14th (h) 1500 m i 4:10.20
2022 World Indoor Championships Belgrade, Serbia 5th 3000 m i 8:44.55
World Championships Eugene, OR, United States 3rd 5000 m 14:47.36

Personal bests

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Road

Circuit wins

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e "Dawit SEYAUM – Athlete Profile". World Athletics. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  2. ^ Negash, Elshadai (2013-03-17). Teferi and Mola make their mark at Ethiopian Junior Champs. IAAF. Retrieved on 2014-11-08.
  3. ^ a b Dawit Seyaum. Tilastopaja. Retrieved on 2014-11-08.
  4. ^ Gashaw leads Ethiopian 1-2 in 1500m. IAAF (2013-07-13). Retrieved on 2014-11-08.
  5. ^ Ethiopian and Nigerian athletes impress at African Junior Champs. IAAF (2013-09-01). Retrieved on 2014-11-08.
  6. ^ Minshull, Phil (2014-02-25). Ukhov's stock continues to rise as the Russian jumps 2.42m in Prague". IAAF. Retrieved on 2014-11-08.
  7. ^ Mulkeen, Jon (2014-06-08). Bondarenko breaks African all-comers' record in Marrakesh. IAAF. Retrieved on 2014-11-08.
  8. ^ 1500 Metres - women - senior - outdoor - 2014. IAAF. Retrieved on 2014-11-08.
  9. ^ Robinson, Javier Clavelo (2014-07-27). Report: women's 1500m – IAAF World Junior Championships, Oregon 2014. IAAF. Retrieved on 2014-11-08.
  10. ^ Mulkeen, Jon (2014-08-12). Redemption for Makwala at African Championships. IAAF. Retrieved on 2014-11-08.
  11. ^ Ramsak, Bob (2014-09-14). Report: women's 1500m – IAAF Continental Cup, Marrakech 2014". IAAF. Retrieved on 2014-11-08.
  12. ^ "WCH 15 | Beijing – 1500 metres Women | Final". World Athletics. 2015-08-25. Retrieved 2022-10-29.
  13. ^ "2022 Lievin Recap: Jacobs & Holloway Keep Rolling, Seyaum & Girma Win Fast 3K's". LetsRun.com. 2022-02-17. Retrieved 2022-03-19.
  14. ^ "Gudaf Tsegay Closes in 59.95 To Win Her 1st World Title In Women's 5000". LetsRun.com. 2022-07-23. Retrieved 2022-08-24.
  15. ^ Diego Sampaolo (1 January 2022). "Azimeraw and Katir end year on a high in Madrid". World Athletics. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
  16. ^ Sampaolo, Diego (2022-12-31). "Chelimo and Seyaum end year with wins in Bolzano". World Athletics. Retrieved 2023-01-01.
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