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Quick Facts
Represents: Ethiopia
Age: 26 (January 27, 1982)
Hometown: Huruta, Arsi region
Residence: Addis Ababa
Affiliation: adidas
Event: Marathon (2:08.11 PB, Seoul 2004) |
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Career Highlights
- 2002 Seoul International Marathon, 4th (2:09:51)
- 2003 Beppu-Oita Marathon, 2nd (2:10:18)
- 2003 Seoul International Marathon, 8th (2:14:45)
- 2004 Seoul International Marathon, 4th, (2:08:11)
- 2004 Olympics, 46th (2:21:53)
- 2005 Seoul International Marathon, 5th, (2:14:16)
- 2005 Eindhoven Marathon, 7th (2:10:12)
- 2006 Paris Marathon, 17th (2:14:44)
- 2006 Cologne Marathon, 1st (2:11:24)
- 2007 Boston Marathon, 5th (2:15:06)
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Background
Teferi Wodajo was raised on a farm with three brothers and six sisters, where they grew wheat and barley and raised cattle for milk. He had never run before countryman Gezahegne Abera won the 2000 Olympics, but that was enough to inspire him to begin. The day after hearing the news on the radio, he ran seven painful kilometers. “There were 10 of us who were there,” he recalls, “but only two lasted more than a few days. Then he was out, too.” In high school, Teferi studied English, chemistry, biology and physics, and had planned to become a biologist. Instead, after graduating, he moved to Addis Ababa, rented a house and began training on his own. He was soon discovered by the Police Club, for which Haile Gebrselassie also runs.
After proving himself by finishing second in the 2002 Addis Ababa Marathon, the young Teferi ran his first international marathon in 2002 in Seoul in 2:09:51, which was good enough for fourth. In 2004, he was named to the Ethiopian squad for the Olympic Games, in which he finished 46th, the second Ethiopian. At the 2007 Boston Marathon, Teferi finished well on a wet, windy day, less than a minute behind the winner. Coming full circle, he credits Abera with teaching him most of what he knows about race strategy. |
