Hagos Gebrhiwet

2011-2013: Early career and Junior 5 km road record

Hagos had his first major win in 2011, when he took the title at the San Silvestre Vallecana 10 km race in Spain. He defeated Spain's top distance runners and also edged Eritrea's Teklemariam Medhin at the line in a personal best time of 27:57 minutes.^[8]

Hagos came fourth in the junior section of the 2012 African Cross Country Championships. He made his debut on American soil at the Boston Indoor Games, taking fourth place in a best of 7:44.08 minutes for the 3000 m.^[4] Still 17 years old, he was runner-up to World medallist Dejen Gebremeskel at the Carlsbad 5,000 on 1 April 2012.^[9] His time of 13:14 minutes was the fastest 5K road time ever for a junior athlete.^[10] He entered his first 5,000 m Diamond League event at the Shanghai Golden Grand Prix in May and upset the field by winning in wet conditions, setting a meet record time of 13:11.00 minutes and beating athletes including Kenenisa Bekele and Augustine Choge.^[4] He performed well on the major circuit, coming runner-up at the Bislett Games, then setting a 5,000 m world junior record of 12:47.53 minutes as runner-up at the Meeting Areva. This would stand as the world junior record until Selemon Barega broke it in 2018. He was selected for the Ethiopian Olympic team and came eleventh in the 5000 m Olympic final.^[1] He ended the year with a win at the Great Ethiopian Run in Addis Ababa.^[11]

In February 2013, Hagos set a new junior world record in the 3000 m by winning the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix, beating Dejen Gebremeskel and Galen Rupp with a time of 7:32.87. In March 2013 he won the junior world cross country title in Bydgoszcz, Poland. At the 2013 World Championships in Moscow, Hagos won the silver medal in the 5,000 m. He leaned at the finish line to beat Kenyan Isaiah Koech, and both were timed at 13:27.26.^[12] In March 2014, Hagos finished fifth in the 3,000 m at the 2014 IAAF World Indoor Championships in a time of 7:56.34.^[13]

2015-2016: World and Olympic bronze medals

Hagos opened his 2015 season with a fourth-placed finish at the World Cross Country Championships in Guiyang.^[14] On 15 May, Hagos held off Mo Farah to win the 3,000 m at the Doha Diamond League, running a time of 7:38.08.^[15] At the World Championships in Beijing, Hagos won bronze over 5,000 m.^[16]

At the 2016 Summer Olympics, Hagos won the bronze medal in the 5,000 m.^[17]

2017-2019: Ethiopian 10,000 m title

In August 2018, Hagos set a new personal best of 12:45.82 over 5,000 m in finishing second behind Selemon Barega at the 2018 Diamond League Final.^[18] He followed it up by winning his second Great Ethiopian Run title in November.^[19]

Hagos set a new 10,000 m personal best of 26:48.95 at the 2019 Ethiopian 10,000 m Trials in Hengelo.^[20] At that year's World Championships in Doha, Hagos finished eighth in the 10,000 m.^[21]

2023-present: 5,000 m Ethiopian record, first global senior title and Second Olympics

On June 30, 2023, Gebrhiwet ran 12:49.80 for third place in the 5000 m at the Lausanne Diamond League. By doing this, he became the first athlete to run sub-12:50 over 10 years apart, as his first time under 12:50 was his former world junior record in 2012. Hagos would later solidify this form at the Monaco Diamond League on July 23, where he ran 12:42.18 for both the victory and a personal best.^[22] At the World Championships in Budapest, Hagos finished sixth in the 5,000 m.^[23] At the inaugural World Road Running Championships in Riga, Hagos won his first senior global title in the road 5 km.^[24]

He improved his personal best at the 2024 Bislett Games with a time of 12:36.73, the second fastest in history over 5000 m and a new Ethiopian national record, breaking Kenenisa Bekele's former record of 12:37.35.^[25][26] At the 2024 Olympics in Paris, Hagos placed fifth in the 5,000 m in a time of 13:15.32.^[27] At the Diamond League Final in Brussels, Hagos finished second behind Berihu Aregawi, running a time of 12:44.25.^[28]

In December 2024, it was announced that he had signed up for the inaugural season of the Michael Johnson founded Grand Slam Track.^[29] At the first slam in Kingston, Hagos finished second overall behind Grant Fisher.

Circuit performances

Major competition record