Meseret Defar

Meseret Defar Tola (Amharic: መሠረት ደፋር; born 19 November 1983) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner who competes chiefly in the 3,000 metres and 5,000 metres events. She has won medals at top-tier international competitions including Olympic and World Championship gold medals over 5,000 metres. She broke the world record in the event in 2006, broke it again in 2007 and held it until 2008, when fellow Ethiopian Tirunesh Dibaba beat her time.

In 2007 on a track in Brussels Belgium, she became the only woman with a 2-mile run in less than 9 minutes (8:58.58). This was an improvement on the world record by 11 seconds.

Defar has been successful in the 5,000 m at the Olympic Games, taking gold at the 2012 London Olympics and 2004 Athens Olympics and bronze at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. She has experienced similar success in the World Championships, taking silver in the 2005 Helsinki Championships and gold at the 2007 Osaka Championships.

Defar held the indoor records for the 5000 metres, 3,000 metres and two-mile run. She has dominated the 3,000 m indoor event, winning four consecutive gold medals at the IAAF World Indoor Championships from 2004 to 2010. She is also a two-time champion at the All-Africa Games, a four-time medalist at the African Championships and a two-time gold medalist at the World Junior Championships.

Defar took a break from competition in 2014 in order to start a family. She vowed to return by 2015 although she did not compete in the August World Championships in Beijing.