Genzebe Dibaba wins in Birmingham, UK

BFebruary 20, 2013, Birmingham, UK – Genzebe Dibaba (born February 8, 1991 in Bekoji, Oromia Region) of Ethiopia, the younger sister of Tirunesh Dibaba, raced to victory in the 1,500m at the British Athletics Grand Prix, an IAAF Indoor Permit Meeting here on Saturday, February 16, 2013.

Genzebe attempted to light up one of the biggest indoor meets of the year by breaking the world record but came up short by 2.5 seconds after a solo run from halfway.

She remained on target to beat the World mark of 3:58.28 held by Yelena Soboleva of Russia, until she tightened up in the last 100m to clock 4:00.84.

Genzebe was the 2012 World Indoor Champion for the 1500 m and holds the Ethiopian record for the distance with her best of 3:57.77 minutes. She represented Ethiopia at the 2012 Summer Olympics and has twice competed at the World Championships in Athletics (2009 and 2011). She was highly successful as a junior (under-19) athlete, having won two junior world cross country titles and one world junior 5000 m gold medal.