Lemlem Hailu


Lemlem Hailu is an Ethiopian middle- and long-distance runner. She won the gold medal in the 3000 metres at the 2022 [World Athletics Indoor Championships|2022 World Indoor Championships]. Lemlem earned bronze in the 1500 metres at the 2019 African Games.
At age 16, she was the 1500 m 2017 World Youth champion to take a bronze in the event at the Youth Olympic Games a year later. She represented Ethiopia in the women's 1500 m at the 2019 World Championships and 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Lemlem holds the world junior indoor record in the event.

Career

At age 16, Lemlem Hailu gained first international experience at the 2017 World Youth Championships in Nairobi, where she won the 1500 metres event. A year later, she took gold over the distance at the African Youth Games held in Algiers and went to Argentina for Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, where she earned bronze in a Athletics at the [2018 Summer Youth Olympics – Girls' 1500 metres|combined 1500m event].
In 2019, she captured the bronze medal for the 1500m at the African Games. Lemlem represented Ethiopia in the event at the 2019 World Championships in Doha, reaching the 2019 [World Athletics Championships – Women's 1500 metres|semi-finals].
In February 2020, she set a world under-20 record for the indoor 1500 metres with a time of 4:01.79, breaking by 0.02 s previous mark set by her compatriot Gudaf Tsegay in 2016. The same month, Lemlem improved her record to 4m 1.57s, which was her fourth personal best achieved within three weeks. In October, she won the 1500m race at the Kip Keino Classic.
In 2021, Lemlem secured an overall 3000m World Indoor Tour victory, winning two top-level meets. She won the event at the Meeting Hauts-de-France Pas-de-Calais in Liévin, and the Copernicus Cup in Toruń. At the delayed 2020 Summer Olympics|2020 Tokyo Olympics], Lemlem was eliminated in the semi-finals of the Athletics at the [2020 Summer Olympics – Women's 1500 metres|1500m event].
The next year, Lemlem became the 3000m World indoor champion in Belgrade with a season's best of 2022 [World Athletics Indoor Championships – Women's 3000 metres|8:41.82]. Elle Purrier St. Pierre won silver in 8:42.04 while Lemlem's compatriot Ejgayehu Taye was third in 8:42.23.

Achievements

International competitions

Circuit wins, and National titles

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