The other distance-running super power has named its London Olympic marathon squad, and although the athletes are far less well-known than Kenya’s choices, Ethiopia’s three men, led by Ayele Abshero, have all run under 2:05 in 2012, and the women, led by Tiki Gelana, have all bettered 2:20. It’s a generally young team and
Ultimately, Ethiopia’s selections were notable for what didn't seem to be a factor -- the results of the so-called World Marathon Majors, or anything that happened in 2011. All of the performances that earned spots on the Olympian team came from the Dubai Marathon in January and the Rotterdam Marathon in April.
The women’s selection was extremely straightforward; the three Olympians are the three fastest Ethiopians of 2012. They are Gelana, who ran a national record 2:18:58 for victory in Rotterdam, and Asselefech Mergia and Mare Dibaba, who were first and third in Dubai in 2:19:31 and 2:19:52, respectively. (Kenyan Lucy Kabuu was second in Dubai.) Mergia is the seasoned one; she has a bronze medal from the marathon at the 2009 IAAF World Championships.
The Ethiopian men who’ll line up to run 26.2 miles in the London Olympics are Abshero, 21, who triumphed in Dubai in 2:04:23, plus the runners-up in Dubai and Rotterdam, Dino Sefir and Getu Feleke, both of whom have timed in 2:04:50. Feleke is, at 25, the oldest of the trio. Yemane Tsegay, who won in Rotterdam in 2:04:48, was left off the team, reportedly (according to the IAAF account here) because he’d run two marathons in 2012, which was against the wishes of the Ethiopian Athletics Federation. In other words, after he took tenth in Dubai in January, there was nothing he could do to enhance his Olympic prospects.
The alternates for the men’s team are two veteran athletes, Markos Geneti and Tadese Tola, who were third and fifth, respectively, in Dubai. Bezunesh Deba is one of the women’s reserves, but it’s not her second place at the New York City Marathon last year that earned her that distinction; it’s her fourth place 2:20:30 in Dubai. The other reserve is the Paris champion Tirfi Tsegaye, who clocked 2:21:40. Firehiwot Dado, the 2011 New York City Marathon winner, was omitted after finishing fourth in a sweltering Boston Marathon in April in 2:34:56.
