Background

Perhaps the greatest female athlete ever to hail from her country, Derartu Tulu is almost certainly the most historic: In 1992, at age 20, she became the first black African woman to win an Olympic gold medal when she flew past Elana Meyer at the bell to win at 10,000 meters. She then invited the South African silver medalist to share her victory lap in a poignant show of post-apartheid harmony. As a tribute to her place in history, Derartu’s portrait was ensconced in the last of the five Olympic rings hanging in the Addis Ababa stadium, where she joined Abebe Bikila, Mamo Wolde, Miruts Yifter and Haile Gebrselassie as the most revered of Ethiopian athletes.

In 1998, Derartu took a break to give birth to her daughter, Tsion. Her second Olympic gold at 10,000 meters, in 2000, offered almost as much excitement as her first, with Derartu (30:17.49) the victor in a breathtaking race in which the first six women all broke the Olympic record. That triumph made her the only woman to win two Olympic gold medals at distances over 1500m.

After her triumph in Sydney, Derartu proved even better in 2001, winning the prestigious London Marathon, the gold medal in the 10000m at the IAAF World Championships, and another marathon victory that fall in Tokyo. Three years later, Derartu won her third Olympic medal, taking bronze in the 10000m at the 2004 Athens Olympics. Following Athens, Derartu made a more permenant transition to the marathon, and the following year finished fourth in the marathon at the IAAF World Championships in Helsinki, setting a new personal best. She ended the year with a third place finish at the ING New York City Marathon.

In 2006, Derartu gave birth to her second child and spent the next year recovering. In her first race back after nearly two-and-a-half years away from competition, Derartu finished second in the 2008 Madrid Marathon, and a year later, finished fourth at the Nagano Marathon. After running a significant season best in the Half-Marathon at the ING Philadelphia Distance Run in September, Derartu decided to enter the ING New York City Marathon for the first time in four years. Derartu stayed in the lead pack throughout the race, as pre-race favorites such as reigning Boston Marathon Champion Salina Kosgei of Kenya and eventually world record holder Paula Radcliffe of Great Britain fell off the pack. Derartu's closing speed left her with a comfortable victory and made her the first Ethiopian woman to ever win the New York Marathon.