Ethiopian-born Elvan Abeylegesse made double Turkish history on Friday by becoming the first-ever Turk to win an Olympic silver medal in athletics.
This medal in the women’s 10,000-meter final also made her the first ever Turkish woman to win an Olympic medal in this discipline.
Elvan, who had led for much of the latter part of the race, ran home in second with a time of 29:56.34 minutes. American Shalane Flanagan took bronze in 30:22.22. Ethiopia’s world champion Tirunesh Dibaba won the gold in 29:54.66 — an Olympic record.
During a fast race Elvan and Dibaba were neck and neck going into the final six laps. But at the sound of the bell, Dibaba kicked out and held on to win.
Dibaba and Elvan now become only the second and third women to run under 30 minutes in the 10,000 after Chinese world record holder Wang Junxia, who set her mark in Beijing in 1993.
It is worthy to note that Eşref Apak, the bronze medalist in the men’s hammer throw in the 2004 Athens Games, was the first Turk to win an Olympic medal.
One thought on “Ethiopian-born Elvan Abeylegesse made Turkish history”
there is a mistake in this article.esref apak was not the first Turk to win an olympic medal.Although Turkey has not been one of the best countries at olympics certainly not that bad either…
With regards to Elvan i would like to thank her for the great performance and achievement..She is a legend and one of the most loved people in Turkey..
We love Ethiopian People..We love our sister Elvan too..I hope
the fact that Elvan is running for Turkey does not break Ethiopia ‘s great people’s hearts..