Meseret Defar

Meseret Defar is an amazing runner from Ethiopia, a country in Africa. She is famous for running very long distances, especially the 3,000 meters and 5,000 meters. Imagine running around a school playground almost 8 times for the 3,000 meters, or over 12 times for the 5,000 meters!

She has won shiny gold medals at the biggest sports events in the world, like the Olympics and World Championships. She's like a superhero of running!

Meseret is incredibly fast! She has broken world records, which means she ran faster than anyone ever had before. In 2006 and 2007, she set new fastest times for the 5,000 meters. She even ran a 2-mile race so fast that it was like she was flying! She ran it in less than 9 minutes, which is super speedy. This was 11 seconds faster than the old record, which is a LOT of time in a race!

Meseret has won many gold medals. She won gold in the 5,000 meters at the 2004 Olympics in Greece and the 2012 Olympics in London. She also won a bronze medal at the 2008 Olympics. At the World Championships, she won a silver medal and another gold medal. She's also won four gold medals in a row at indoor races, which shows she's been the best for a very long time.

After all her amazing running, Meseret decided to take a break in 2014. She wanted to start a family and become a mom. She said she would come back to running, and she did! Even though she didn't race in one big event in 2015, she showed that she is strong and determined, both as an athlete and as a person.