Gete Wami

This article is about a person whose name includes a patronymic. The article properly refers to the person by her given name, Gete, and not as Wami.

Getenesh "Gete" Wami Degife (Amharic: ጌጤነሽ 'ጌጤ' ዋሚ ደግፌ born January 28th 1974 in Debre Berhan)^[1] is an Ethiopian former long-distance runner who competed in cross country, track, and road events.

Gete Wami

Medal record
Women's Athletics
Representing  Ethiopia
Olympic Games
	2000 Sydney	10,000 m
	1996 Atlanta	10,000 m
	2000 Sydney	5000 m
World Championships
	1999 Seville	10,000 m
	2001 Edmonton	10,000 m

Her brother, Mulugeta Wami, is also a professional marathon runner.^[2]

Biography

Gete won the gold medal at the 1999 World Championships in Seville, with a time of 30:24.56, which was a new African record and Championships Record.^[3] She also won the 10,000 m gold medal at the 1999 All-Africa Games that year. She is a two-time winner of the IAAF World Cross Country Championships, having taken the long race title in 1996 and then the short race title in 2001.

Gete won the 2006 Berlin Marathon, finishing in front of Salina Kosgei and Monika Drybulska on September 24.^[4] She was expected to beat the world record over 15 km during the Zevenheuvelenloop in and around Nijmegen on 19 November 2006, but failed. Gete finished in second position during the race, nine seconds behind Mestewat Tufa, who finished in 47:22.

In 2007, Gete won the Berlin Marathon again. She competed in the New York Marathon thirty-five days later and she finished 23 seconds behind Paula Radcliffe. Her second-place finish gave her the World Marathon Majors Series Title, earning herself the $500,000 jackpot.^[5]

In August 2008, Gete dropped out of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Marathon, after running in the lead pack for much of the race, as did her teammate Berhane Adere.

The last outing of her career came at the 2009 London Marathon, where she came in ninth with a time of 2:26:54.

International competitions

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Event	Notes
Representing  Ethiopia
1992	World Junior Championships	Seoul, South Korea	2nd	10,000 m	32:41.57
1995	World Championships	Gothenburg, Sweden	18th	10,000 m	32:56.94
1996	Olympic Games	Atlanta, United States	3rd	10,000 m	31:06.65
1997	World Championships	Athens, Greece	—	10,000 m	DNF
1999	World Championships	Sevilla, Spain	1st	10,000 m	30:24.56
2000	Olympic Games	Sydney, Australia	3rd	5000 m	14:42.23
			2nd	10,000 m	30:22.48
2001	World Championships	Edmonton, Canada	3rd	10,000 m	31:49.98
2008	Olympic Games	Beijing, China	—	Marathon	DNF

Road races

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Notes
2002	Amsterdam Marathon	Amsterdam, Netherlands	1st	Marathon
2005	San Diego Rock 'n' Roll Marathon	San Diego, United States	1st	Marathon
2006	Berlin Marathon	Berlin, Germany	1st	Marathon
	Zevenheuvelenloop	Nijmegen, Netherlands	2nd	15K
2007	Berlin Marathon	Berlin, Germany	1st	Marathon
	New York City Marathon	New York City, United States	2nd	Marathon
	World Marathon Majors	Series	1st	Marathon