Career
His date of birth is often given as 15 May 1944, though there is some uncertainty about this. His name is also sometimes spelled as Muruse Yefter. Born in Adigrat, in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia, Miruts Yifter spent early parts of his youth working in different factories and as a carriage driver.
His talent as a long-distance runner was noticed when he joined the Ethiopian Air Force.
However, he arrived too late for the 5000 metres final. Yifter was unable to participate in the 1976 Summer Olympics because his nation boycotted the event.
Four years later in Moscow, Yifter made up for his disappointments. Five days later, in the 5000 m final, Yifter was boxed in during the last lap.
But with 300 m to go, his Ethiopian teammate, Mohamed Kedir, stepped aside and Yifter again sprinted to victory.
Due to his abrupt change in speed when executing his kick to the finish, Yifter acquired the nickname "Yifter the Shifter."
At Coamo, Puerto Rico on 6 February 1977, Yifter ran a World Best for the half-marathon of 1:02:57. At the Moscow Olympics, part of the mystery surrounding Miruts Yifter was the question of his age, which was reported to be between 33 and 42. Yifter refused to give a definitive answer, telling reporters:
"Men may steal my chickens.
Men may steal my sheep.
But no man can steal my age."
The most common versions of his date of birth are 1 January 1938 or 15 May 1944 (see IAAF Profile). Yifter continued to compete into the early 1980s, running on Ethiopia"s gold medal winning team at the 1982 and 1983 IAAF World Cross Country Championships.
