Ethiopia Now Top Running Nation in the World
by Allie Comeau on June 6, 2009 
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The best marathon runners in the world now hail from Ethiopia. The African country has replaced Kenya as the world’s top running nation.
In Ethiopia, running is a way of life and is the sport – it’s what baseball, football and basketball combined are to the U.S.
Ethiopia has won 22 running medals (10 gold) in the last three Olympic games. Kenya has only won 8 (1 gold). In the last world championships, Ethiopia has won 20 medals and Kenya has only won 12.
Ethiopian runners get an early start in life, often running up to 10km to school every day. Ethiopia’s national running club searches the country for talent and brings children to training centers to run with the best.
“They get top athletes employed, and they make very good salaries,” Makke’ said, “plus bonuses, plus awards.”
Top runners in Ethiopia can make up to $500,000 – a tremendous amount of money for that part of the world.
So what’s behind Ethiopia’s rise to the top? It may be the money, the lifestyle, the environment, the training or even genetic predisposition. Or it may be, like Makke’ believes, that Ethiopian runners just plain old believe in themselves…
“Ethiopian athletes are believers,” said Hussein Makke’, a Beirut-raised manager of about 60 Ethiopian and many Kenyan distance runners. “This is the key right there. They are believers and they believe in themselves and they thrive on this confidence.”
Whatever it is that makes Ethiopian runners so fast and graceful, it’s certainly working.
Photo: Bolder Boulder champion Tilahun Regassa, 19, of Ethiopia shows off his national pride after the raceat Folsom Field in Boulder, CO. He won the 10K by 19 seconds, finishing in 28:17. (Cyrus McCrimmon, The Denver Post )
