Background
She was born in the historic town of Maychew, Tigray, and her first international title came at the 1999 IAAF World Cross Country Championships where she topped the podium in the junior race.
long-distance runner marathon runner
She was born in the historic town of Maychew, Tigray, and her first international title came at the 1999 IAAF World Cross Country Championships where she topped the podium in the junior race.
She was the silver medallist at the 2005 World Championships in Athletics and a gold medallist at the 2003 IAAF World Cross Country Championships. She made her Olympic debut as a teenager and came seventh in the 5000 m final at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Her season peaked at the 2003 World Championships in Athletics where she set a 10,000 m personal best of 30:07.15 minutes to secure the runner-up position behind Ethiopian veteran Berhane Adere who broke the African record for the event.
The following year she came fourth in the event at the 2004 Athens Olympics.
She had a success campaign on the 2004/05 cross country circuit in Spain, winning in Soria, Valle de Llodio and Seville. At the 2005 IAAF World Cross Country Championships she took second place in the short race and third in the long race, taking the team titles with Tirunesh Dibaba in both races.
She took part in the 2005 World Championships in Athletics but could not repeat her podium feat of two years earlier, finishing in sixth in the 10,000 m. Werknesh returned to international competition after a long break at the 2010 IAAF World Cross Country Championships and came in ninth place in the senior race.
She ran at the NYRR New York Mini 10K in June 2010, and finished in third place behind Kenyans Linet Masai and Emily Chebet.
She continued on the United States road circuit with a performance at the Philadelphia Half Marathon, where she was third in a time of 1:08:30. She made her marathon debut in the 2011 Boston Marathon, where she placed seventh with a time of 2:26:15. The following year she ran at the Carlsbad 5000 and was runner-up behind Tirunesh Dibaba.
At the 2012 Summer Olympics, she finished fourth in the 10,000m again.
She was a late entry at the Carlsbad 5000 in 2015 (wearing the name "Werky" on her bib), representing Adidas, and placed 11th with a time of 16:00 flat. She lives in United States of America since becoming a United States resident.
She stands 1.58 m / 5"2" tall and is coached by Kassu Alemayehu and Doctor Woldemeskel Kostre when she is running for the Ethiopian National Team. Her manager is Mark Wetmore of Global Athletics & Marketing.
Werknesh is married to Gebregziabher Gebremariam.