Gashau Ayale
 2024 Summer Olympics | |||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Citizenship | Israeli | ||||||||||||||
| Born | 22 August 1996 Gojam, Ethiopia | ||||||||||||||
| Home town | Jaffa, Israel | ||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.72 m (5 ft 8 in) | ||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||
| Country | Israel | ||||||||||||||
| Sport | Athletics | ||||||||||||||
| Event | Long-distance running | ||||||||||||||
| Club | Maccabi Tel Aviv | ||||||||||||||
| Achievements and titles | |||||||||||||||
| Personal best(s) | Marathon: 2:04:53 (Sevilla) 2024 (NR) 10,000 metres: 27:49.88 (London) 2022 (NR) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Gashau Ayale (Hebrew: גשאו איילה; born 22 August 1996) is a long-distance runner.[1] Born in Ethiopia, he represents Israel internationally. In May 2022, Ayale set an Israeli record in the 10,000 metres, running 27:49.88. He won the bronze medal in the marathon at the European Athletics Championships, and a gold medal in the 2022 team European Marathon Cup. In February 2024, he won a bronze medal at the Seville Marathon with a time of 2:04:53, setting a new Israeli record. Ayale represented Israel at the 2024 Paris Olympics in the Men's marathon, and came in 31st.
Early life
Ayale was born in the village of Gojam in Ethiopia to Tabak (his father) and Tesfia (his mother), and is Jewish.[2] He was born into the Beta Israel ethno-religious community of Ethiopian Jews. Fellow Israeli long-distance runner and Ethiopian Jew Girmaw Amare was born in the same area nine years prior. At two years of age he and his family moved to Gondar, Ethiopia.[2]
Ayale immigrated to Israel in 2010, at 13 years of age, with his parents and five brothers.[2][3] They initially lived in a reception center in Safed, Israel, and then later the family moved to Jaffa, Israel.[2] His father works as a cook, and his mother works as a cleaning lady.[2] He only began running at 18 years of age, as before that he was interested in soccer.[3] He trains with Maccabi Tel Aviv.[3]
Running career
2017–19; European Cup bronze medal
On July 13, 2017, at the 2017 Maccabiah Games in Jerusalem, Israel, in the 5,000 metre race Ayale ran it in 14:46.25, winning a silver medal.[1]
On November 17, 2018, in the Hasharon 10 km, he ran a 29:23, winning a bronze medal.[1]
On January 4, 2019, Ayale won the Tiberias 10 km in 29:37.[1]
On July 6, 2019, at the 2019 European 10,000m Cup in London he ran a 28:50.47, winning a bronze medal.[1]
On July 24, 2019, at the Israeli Championships in Tel Aviv, Israel, in the 1,500 metre race Ayale ran a 3:48.81, winning a silver medal.[1]
On July 25, 2019, at the Israeli Championships in the 5,000 metre race Ayale ran a 14:09.82, winning a bronze medal.[1]
2020–22; European Championships bronze medal
On September 18, 2020, Ayale won the Tel Aviv 15 km in a time of 44:36.[1]
On February 25, 2022, in the Tel Aviv Half Marathon, Ayale ran a 1:03:25 and won a silver medal.[1]
On April 26, 2022, at the Israeli 10,000m Championships in Tel Aviv he ran a 28:03.20, winning a silver medal.[1]
In May 2022, in the European Cup in London, Ayale set a national record in the 10,000 metres, running 27:49.88 to become the first Israeli to break 28 minutes in the event.[4][3]
On August 15, 2022, Ayale won the bronze medal in the marathon at the European Athletics Championships held in Munich, Germany, with a time of 2:10:29, directly behind fellow Israeli Maru Teferi.[5][1] He was also a member of the gold medal team for Israel winning the European Marathon Cup at the same competition.[6] He said, referring to the Munich massacre, "Fifty years after what happened here, winning a medal and waving the Israeli flag is just so sweet."[7]
On December 10, 2022, in the Tiberias Half Marathon, Ayale ran a 1:02:38 and won a silver medal.[1]
2023–present; Seville Marathon bronze medal
On June 10, 2023, Ayale won the Israeli League Cup 5,000 metre race in 13:47.78.[1]
On February 18, 2024, Ayale won a bronze medal at the Seville Marathon, in Sevilla, Spain, with a time of 2:04:53, setting a new Israeli record as he broke his own national record by 40 seconds.[1] It was his first international marathon, and the second marathon in his life.[3] It was the 84th-fastest marathon of all time.[2]
In June 2024, Maru Teferi (fourth place; 1:01:07—seven seconds behind the winner), Ayale (seventh place; 1:01:28), and Girmaw Amare (ninth place) secured Team Israel's second-place finish in the team half marathon event in the 2024 European Athletics Championships in Rome, Italy.[8][9] A half marathon was run rather than a full marathon because of the proximity of the race to the Paris Olympics marathon.[9]
2024 Paris Olympics
Ayale represented Israel at the 2024 Paris Olympics in the Men's marathon.[3] He said: "It is a great honor for me to represent Israel, especially in this painful time for the people of Israel. I look forward to wearing the uniform of the Israeli national team and running through the streets of Paris with the Israeli flag on my chest. I promise to do my very best to represent our country with honor."[3][10] He ran it in a time of 2:11:36 (as Tamirat Tola of Ethiopia won in a time of 2:06:26), and came in 31st.[11]
Personal life
Ayale has a younger brother, Yehuda Darba Ayala, who holds Israel's national U23 5,000 metres record.[4]
Personal bests
- 3000 metres – 8:05.64 (Tel Aviv 2020)
- 5000 metres – 13:47.78 (Tel Aviv 2023)
- 10,000 metres – 27:49.88 (London 2022) NR
- Road
- 10 kilometres – 29:23 (Hod HaSharon 2018)
- Half marathon – 1:02:38 (Tiberias 2022)
- Marathon – 2:04:53 (Seville 2024) NR
See also
- List of European Athletics Championships medalists (men)
- List of Israeli records in athletics
- List of select Jewish track and field athletes
- National records in the marathon
- Sports in Israel
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n "Gashau Ayale (Israel) | Profile". World Athletics.
- ^ a b c d e f פורת, אבינעם (16 March 2024). "ריאיון מיוחד | מסעו המדהים של גשאו איילה: "לא ראיתי כסף ועתיד, איך אני בונה הלאה את החיים שלי"". Ynet.
- ^ a b c d e f g Sports, Ynet (18 February 2024). "Israeli runner Gashau Ayale sets new national record in marathon". Ynet.
- ^ a b Rakovsky, Ido (15 May 2022). "Two Israeli Brothers Set National Record in Long-distance Track Running Events; Gashau Ayala and Yehuda Darba Ayala set new records in the 10,000-meter and 5,000-meter race respectively". Haaretz. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
- ^ Gurvis, Jacob (16 August 2022). "50 years after Olympic massacre, Israeli marathon team wins gold at European Championships in Munich". Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
- ^ "Israeli athlete wins first silver medal in marathon for Israel; Maru Teferi makes history at the World Athletics Championship's men's marathon by becoming the first Israeli distance-running athlete to medal at a world championship". Ynet. 27 August 2023.
- ^ Rakovsky, Ido (16 August 2022). "Israel stuns Europe with poignant gold medal in team marathon in Munich". The Forward.
- ^ "Crippa and Riva land another Italian 1-2 in Roma 2024," European Athletics, June 9, 2024.
- ^ a b "Israeli marathon team secures silver medal in European Athletics Championships; Maru Teferi, Gashau Ayale, and Girmaw Amare all finished in the top ten, securing the team's second-place finish behind Italy", Ynet, June 9, 2024
- ^ "New Israeli marathon record set in Spain; Israeli runner Gashau Ayale has become the first Israeli to finish a marathon below 2:05:00, securing himself a place on the Israeli Olympic team in the process.", Israel National News, February 18, 2024.
- ^ "Men's Marathon Results," Olympics.com.
External links
- Gashau Ayale at World Athletics
- Gashau Ayale at European Athletics
- Gashau Ayale at The-Sports.org
- Gashau Ayale on Instagram
- Olympic Committee of Israel page (in Hebrew)
- 1996 births
- Living people
- Athletes (track and field) at the 2024 Summer Olympics
- Citizens of Israel through Law of Return
- Competitors at the 2017 Maccabiah Games
- Ethiopian emigrants to Israel
- Ethiopian Jews
- European Athletics Championships medalists
- Jewish Israeli sportspeople
- Israeli male long-distance runners
- Israeli male marathon runners
- Israeli male middle-distance runners
- Israeli people of Ethiopian-Jewish descent
- Maccabiah Games medalists in athletics
- Maccabiah Games silver medalists for Israel
- People from Gondar
- People from Jaffa
- People from Safed
- Sportspeople of Ethiopian descent
- Sportspeople from Amhara Region
- Sportspeople from Northern District (Israel)
- Sportspeople from Tel Aviv
- Olympic athletes for Israel
- 21st-century Israeli sportsmen