Millon Wolde

Million Wolde (born March 17, 1979) is an Ethiopian athlete, winner of 5000 m at the 2000 Summer Olympics.

At the age of only seventeen, Million Wolde competed in the 1996 World Junior Championships in Sydney, finishing sixth in the 3000 m steeplechase. At the next World Junior Championships, at Annecy, France in 1998, he won the 5000 m. He also finished eighth in the Junior World Cross-Country Championships at Cape Town in 1996, gained second place at Turin in 1997 and at Marrakech, in 1998, he won his final junior championships over 8 km. On the road, Wolde represented Ethiopia in the 1998 World Road Relay Championships at Manaus, Brazil. Ethiopia eventually finished second to Kenya, after Wolde had established a narrow lead in the initial 5 km leg.

But the real fame came, when Wolde won the bronze medal in the 3000 m at the World Indoor Championships at Maebashi in 1999 and then finished eighth in the 5000 m at the World Championships in Seville later that year. At the World Cross-Country Championships, Wolde finished fourth in the senior men's short course (4 km) at Belfast in 1999 and fifteenth at the same distance in Vilamoura, Portugal in 2000.

The highlight of Wolde's career came in the 5000 m at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, when he was still just twenty two. With no one prepared to set a decent pace, Wolde bided his time and then sprinted past the leaders with 200 m remaining to win in 13:35.49 ahead of second placed Ali Saidi-Sief of Algeria and Morocco's Brahim Lahlafi. At the next World Championships in Edmonton, Canada, Wolde won a silver medal in 5000 m.

Injuries have hampered his career during recent years, but he is still active in 2008 [IAAF, Feb 8, 2008: [http://www.iaaf.org/WHM08/news/kind=100/newsid=43269.html Kenya secures swift but exceptionally tight doubles at the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon] ] .

References

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