Derartu Tulu

Ethiopian athlete

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July 20, 2026

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Derartu Tulu is a renowned Ethiopian long-distance runner. She is celebrated for her achievements in the 10,000-meter race, having won Olympic gold medals in Barcelona in 1992 and Sydney in 2000. Tulu's success inspired other Ethiopian athletes, including her cousin Tirunesh Dibaba, who also became a decorated runner, winning multiple Olympic gold medals in the 5,000 and 10,000-meter events. Tulu's career highlights her significant impact on women's distance running and her role as a trailblazer for Ethiopian athletes on the global stage.1

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Kenenisa Bekele
…Fatuma Roba, and Bekoji native Derartu Tulu, but his first athletic love was football (soccer). Bekele attended school through the ninth grade, and it was at school that he was introduced to running. He finished fourth in his first race, but in 1998 he won a provincial cross-country title and…
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…Fatuma Roba, and Bekoji native Derartu Tulu, but his first athletic love was football (soccer). Bekele attended school through the ninth grade, and it was at school that he was introduced to running. He finished fourth in his first race, but in 1998 he won a provincial cross-country title and…
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Paula Radcliffe
…an Olympic record for winner Derartu Tulu of Ethiopia but finishing fourth herself. Later that year Radcliffe won the world half marathon title, which signaled that her future might lie in the longer distances.
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…an Olympic record for winner Derartu Tulu of Ethiopia but finishing fourth herself. Later that year Radcliffe won the world half marathon title, which signaled that her future might lie in the longer distances.
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Tirunesh Dibaba
Derartu Tulu, a cousin, had won two Olympic gold medals in the 10,000 meters (in Barcelona in 1992 and in Sydney in 2000). It seemed obvious that when Dibaba’s sister Ejegayehu Dibaba, three years her senior, took up competitive running in 1998, she would soon…
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Derartu Tulu, a cousin, had won two Olympic gold medals in the 10,000 meters (in Barcelona in 1992 and in Sydney in 2000). It seemed obvious that when Dibaba’s sister Ejegayehu Dibaba, three years her senior, took up competitive running in 1998, she would soon…
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