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Meraf Bahta

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Meraf Bahta

Medal record
Women's athletics
Representing  Sweden
European Championships
Gold medal – first place 2014 Zürich 5000 m
Silver medal – second place 2016 Amsterdam 5000 m
European Cross Country Championships
Silver medal – second place 2017 Šamorín Senior race
Bronze medal – third place 2014 Samokov Senior race

Meraf Bahta Ogbagaber (born 24 June 1989) is a Swedish middle-distance runner. She represents Sweden in international competitions and specializes in the 1500 metres and 3000 metres.

Biography

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She was born in Dekishahay (at the time still part of Ethiopia). As a junior, she competed in the junior races at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships, finishing twelfth in 2006 and sixth in 2007. Together with her teammates she won the silver medal in the team event at the 2007 championships. She finished fifth in the 1500 metres at the 2006 World Junior Championships.[1] At the 2007 All-Africa Games she finished seventh in the 5000 metres.[2] She competed in her first senior cross-country race at the 2008 World Cross Country Championships, but only finished 43rd.

Her personal best times are 4:05.11 minutes in the 1500 metres, achieved in July 2013 in Heusden-Zolder; and 14:59.49 minutes in the 5000 metres, achieved in July 2014 in Palo Alto, USA.[1] The 5000 personal best also marked a Swedish record (former was from 1995 held by Sara Wedlund). With the sub-15 race Meraf made her big international breakthrough and immediately became one of the best long distance runners on European soil and a medal contender for future European Championships.

She moved from Eritrea to Sweden in 2008. In Sweden she has continued her running career, getting support from Ulf Friberg, the trainer of Mustafa Mohamed. Bahta got her permanent residency permit in 2012 and has applied for Swedish citizenship.[3] In December she got her citizenship and since 2014 she has been eligible to compete for Sweden in international championships.[4] She represented Sweden at the 2016 Summer Olympics finishing 6th in the 1500 m.

In 2014, she also won Tjejmilen.[5]

She finished 9th in the 1500m at the 2017 World Athletics Championships.[6]

Doping suspension

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On 26 July 2018, Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet reported that she was suspected of doping violations.[7] On 24 June 2019, it was announced that she had been suspended for doping. The suspension period is partly retroactive, lasting from 1 September 2018 to 1 September 2019.[8]

Achievements

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Year Competition Venue Position Event Notes
Representing  Eritrea
2005 World Cross Country Championships Saint-Galmier, France 32nd Junior race 22:43
2006 World Junior Championships Beijing, China 5th 1500 m 4:16.01
World Cross Country Championships Fukuoka, Japan 12th Junior race 20:22
2007 World Cross Country Championships Mombasa, Kenya 6th Junior race 21:24
All-Africa Games Algiers, Algeria 9th 1500 m 4:15.12
7th 5000 m 15:56.30
2008 World Cross Country Championships Edinburgh, Great Britain 43rd Senior race 27:31
Representing  Sweden
2014 European Championships Zürich, Switzerland 1st 5000 m 15:31.39
European Cross Country Championships Samokov, Bulgaria 3rd Senior race 28:52
2016 European Championships Amsterdam, Netherlands 2nd 5000 m 15:20.54
Olympic Games Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 6th 1500 m 4:12.59
2017 European Indoor Championships Belgrade, Serbia 4th 1500 m 4:07.90
World Championships London, United Kingdom 9th 1500 m 4:04.76
European Cross Country Championships Šamorín, Slovakia 2nd Senior race 27:03
2018 World Indoor Championship Birmingham, United Kingdom 10th 1500 m 4:23.05
12th 3000 m 9:05.94
European Championships Berlin, Germany DSQ 10,000 m 32:19.34
2021 European Indoor Championships Toruń, Poland 4th 3000 m 8:48.78
Olympic Games Tokyo, Japan 18th 10,000 m 32:10.49
2022 World Indoor Championships Belgrade, Serbia 17th 3000 m 8:58.68

Personal bests

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References

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  1. ^ a b Meraf Bahta at World Athletics Edit this at Wikidata
  2. ^ ":: COJA 2007 :: Site Officiel des 9 èmes jeux africains - Alger du 11 AU 23 juillet 2007". 2007-09-28. Archived from the original on 2007-09-28. Retrieved 2018-04-09.
  3. ^ Radio, Sveriges. "Meraf Bahta springer för medborgarskap och VM - P4 Väst" (in Swedish). Retrieved 2018-04-09.
  4. ^ ":: friidrott.se :: - Nyheter & Artiklar". www.friidrott.se. Retrieved 2018-04-09.
  5. ^ "Bahta överlägsen i Tjejmilen" (in Swedish). SVT Sport. 6 September 2014. Retrieved 6 September 2014.
  6. ^ "IAAF: 1500 Metres Result | IAAF World Championships London 2017 | iaaf.org". iaaf.org. Retrieved 2018-04-09.
  7. ^ "Friidrottsstjärnan Meraf Bahta i blåsväder – har missat tre dopningskontroller".
  8. ^ Jacob Johannesson, Petter Landén (24 June 2019). "Meraf Bahta stängs av" (in Swedish). Expressen. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
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