The Most Famous

ATHLETES from Eritrea

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This page contains a list of the greatest Eritrean Athletes. The pantheon dataset contains 6,025 Athletes, 3 of which were born in Eritrea. This makes Eritrea the birth place of the 97th most number of Athletes behind Syria, and Malaysia.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Eritrean Athletes of all time. This list of famous Eritrean Athletes is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Eritrean Athletes.

Photo of Zersenay Tadese

1. Zersenay Tadese (b. 1982)

With an HPI of 36.60, Zersenay Tadese is the most famous Eritrean Athlete.  His biography has been translated into 29 different languages on wikipedia.

Zersenay Tadese Habtesilase[nb] (Tigrinya: ዘርእሰናይ ታደሰ; born 8 February 1982) is a retired Eritrean long-distance track and road running athlete. He held the men's half marathon world record from 2010 to 2018. His bronze medal in the 10,000 metres at the 2004 Athens Olympics made him the first ever Eritrean Olympic medallist, and his 20-km title at the 2006 IAAF World Road Running Championships also made him the country's first athlete to win at a world championship event. He does not use a sprint finish to win races; his strategy relies on a combination of efficient running and fast pace setting. Zersenay ("Tadese" is his father's name) has found most of his success in the half marathon, with four consecutive victories in the World Half Marathon Championships from 2006 to 2009 (with a 2006 20 km edition), a silver medal in 2010 and a fifth title in 2012. His 5 titles are a record. He set a world record at the Lisbon Half Marathon in 2010. He has also excelled in cross country running, winning a gold, a silver, and two bronze medals in the long-distance race over five IAAF World Cross Country Championships. He is a four-time Olympian (2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016). In 2009, Zersenay became only the second man (after Paul Tergat) to win three World Championship medals over three different surfaces in the same year, winning World Cross Country bronze, 10,000 metres World Championship silver on the track, and gold in road running at the World Half Marathon Championships. He is a popular public figure in his home country; 2500 guests attended his wedding to Merhawit Solomon, which was broadcast live on Eritrean television. His brother, Kidane Tadese, is also a professional distance runner. In 2016, he was chosen to be part of Nike's Breaking2 team to try to break 2 hours for the marathon and finished in 2:06:51.

Photo of Ghirmay Ghebreslassie

2. Ghirmay Ghebreslassie (b. 1995)

With an HPI of 30.64, Ghirmay Ghebreslassie is the 2nd most famous Eritrean Athlete.  His biography has been translated into 24 different languages.

Ghirmay Ghebreslassie (Ge'ez: ግርማይ ገብረስላሰ, born 14 November 1995) is an Eritrean long distance runner. He won the 2015 World Championships in Athletics marathon in Beijing, China, becoming the youngest winner of the race at age 19 and became the first Eritrean to win a gold medal at the World Championships. On 6 November 2016, Ghirmay was the top men's finisher at the New York City Marathon, becoming the youngest male to ever win the race.

Photo of Meb Keflezighi

3. Meb Keflezighi (b. 1975)

With an HPI of 26.28, Meb Keflezighi is the 3rd most famous Eritrean Athlete.  His biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Mebrahtom "Meb" Keflezighi (; Tigrinya: መብራህቶም ክፍለዝጊ, Mebrāhtōm Kifl'izgī; born May 5, 1975) is a retired American long distance runner. He is the 2004 Olympic silver medalist in the marathon and finished in fourth place in the 2012 Summer Olympics. He won the 2009 New York City Marathon on November 1, 2009, and the 2014 Boston Marathon on April 21, 2014, becoming the first American man to win each race since 1982 and 1983, respectively. Keflezighi is a graduate of UCLA, where he won four NCAA championships competing for the UCLA Bruins track and field team. He came in fourth in the 2014 New York City Marathon on November 2, 2014, eighth in the 2015 Boston Marathon on April 20, 2015, and second in the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team Trials to qualify for the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Photo of Luna Solomon

4. Luna Solomon (b. 1994)

With an HPI of 0.00, Luna Solomon is the 4th most famous Eritrean Athlete.  Her biography has been translated into different languages.

Luna Solomon (born 1996) is an Eritrean sport-shooter who qualified for, and took part in, the 2020 Olympic Games as part of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Refugee Olympic Team. Solomon fled Eritrea for Switzerland in 2015, and took up sport shooting through the Make a Mark project, founded by Italian triple Olympic gold medallist Niccolò Campriani. Solomon qualified for the 2020 Olympics and competed in the 10m air rifle event with Campriani as her coach. Solomon was last in the fifty competing shooters at the Olympics in her event. It was announced in May 2024 that Solomon would be competing as part of the Refugee Olympic Team in the 2024 Olympic Games.

Photo of Eyob Faniel

5. Eyob Faniel (b. 1992)

With an HPI of 0.00, Eyob Faniel is the 5th most famous Eritrean Athlete.  His biography has been translated into different languages.

Eyob Faniel (born 26 November 1992) is an Italian long-distance runner who won a silver medal at the 2018 Mediterranean Games. He is a former national record holder in the marathon with a time of 2:07:19, set on 23 February 2020, at the 2020 Seville Marathon. He finished 20th at the 2020 Summer Olympics, in the Marathon.

Photo of Amanal Petros

6. Amanal Petros (b. 1995)

With an HPI of 0.00, Amanal Petros is the 6th most famous Eritrean Athlete.  His biography has been translated into different languages.

Amanal Petros (born 17 May 1995) is an Afro-German long-distance runner and as of December 2023, the national record holder in the marathon with a time of 2:04:58, set at the 2023 Berlin Marathon.

Photo of Gretchen Ortiz

7. Gretchen Ortiz (b. 1986)

With an HPI of 0.00, Gretchen Ortiz is the 7th most famous Eritrean Athlete.  Her biography has been translated into different languages.

Gretchen Ortiz Pacheco (born June 3, 1986) is a Puerto Rican sailor. She represented Puerto Rico at the 2020 Summer Olympics, ranking 17th in the mixed Nacra 17 event alongside Enrique Figueroa Suarez.

Photo of Tachlowini Gabriyesos

8. Tachlowini Gabriyesos (b. 1998)

With an HPI of 0.00, Tachlowini Gabriyesos is the 8th most famous Eritrean Athlete.  His biography has been translated into different languages.

Tachlowini Melake Gabriyesos (born 1998) is an Eritrean-born long-distance runner. He lives and trains in Tel Aviv, Israel, where he runs with the Emek Hefer club and is supported by an International Olympic Committee (IOC) Refugee Athlete Scholarship. He has competed over 3000 metres, 5000 metres, 10,000 metres, the half marathon, and the marathon. He finished in 16th place at the 2020 Olympics.

Photo of Lázaro Martínez

9. Lázaro Martínez (b. )

With an HPI of 0.00, Lázaro Martínez is the 9th most famous Eritrean Athlete.  Their biography has been translated into different languages.

Lázaro Martínez may refer to: Lázaro Martínez (sprinter) (born 1962), Cuban sprinter Lázaro Martínez (triple jumper) (born 1997), Cuban triple jumper Lázaro Arias Martínez (born 1957), Mexican PRI politician

Photo of Meraf Bahta

10. Meraf Bahta (b. 1989)

With an HPI of 0.00, Meraf Bahta is the 10th most famous Eritrean Athlete.  Her biography has been translated into different languages.

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.

People

Pantheon has 13 people classified as Eritrean athletes born between 1975 and 1998. Of these 13, 13 (100.00%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Eritrean athletes include Zersenay Tadese, Ghirmay Ghebreslassie, and Meb Keflezighi. As of April 2024, 10 new Eritrean athletes have been added to Pantheon including Luna Solomon, Eyob Faniel, and Amanal Petros.

Living Eritrean Athletes

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Newly Added Eritrean Athletes (2024)

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