- Maryam Yusuf Jamal
-
Medal record 
Jamal at the 2010 Aviva Grand PrixCompetitor for 
BahrainWomen’s athletics World Championships Gold 2007 Osaka 1500 m Gold 2009 Berlin 1500 m World Indoor Championships Silver 2008 Valencia 1500 m IAAF World Cup Gold 2006 Athens 1500 m Asian Games Gold 2006 Doha 800 m Gold 2006 Doha 1500 m Gold 2010 Guangzhou 1500m Asian Cross Country Championships Gold 2007 Amman Senior race Gold 2009 Manama Senior race Maryam Yusuf Jamal (Amharic: ማሪያም፡ ዩሱፍ፡ ጃማል?) (Arabic: مريم يوسف جمال) (born Zenebech Tola) (Amharic: ዘነበቸ፡ ቶላ?) (born September 16, 1984) is a Bahraini middle distance runner.
Born in Ethiopia, 2005 was her first full season. She gained the national record and ran the fastest 3000 m of 2005 with a time of 8:28.87 at a race in Oslo. Jamal is a two-time world champion in the 1500 m, having won at the 2007 and 2009 World Championships in Athletics.
She represented Bahrain at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, finishing fifth in the 1500 m final.[1] She has had much success at regional competitions: winning two gold medals at the 2006 Asian Games and winning the Asian Cross Country Championships in both 2007 and 2009.
Contents
Early life and transfer
Jamal was born in the Arsi Zone in the Oromia Region of Ethiopia, an area famous for distance runners, including Haile Gebreselassie, Kenenisa Bekele and Tirunesh Dibaba. She was born into the Christian family from the Oromo ethnic group, and fled with her husband, Tariq Yaqoob, due partially to political and economic problems. Jamal had run a qualifying time for the 2004 Summer Olympics, but was allegedly refused permission to represent her home country by the Ethiopian Athletic Federation due to the competition in the country as well as politics.
In 2004 she and her husband sought political asylum in Lausanne, Switzerland. She applied for multiple citizenship papers before Bahrain granted them to her that same year. First, she applied for citizenship in America, Canada and France. [2] Bahrain, eager to gain a sporting image, granted this in exchange that she change her name to an Arabic one and that she compete in the Asian Games in Doha, Qatar in 2006. She was allowed to keep her religion though.
Based in Lausanne, Jamal often trains at altitude in St. Moritz. She is trained by her husband Tariq Yaqoob (who was Mnashu Taye before being granted Bahraini citizenship with his wife).
Competing for Bahrain
Jamal with her gold medal from the 2007 World Championships
She ran at the 2005 World Championships in Athletics, but was obstructed in the final, which resulted in the disqualification of the silver medallist Yuliya Chizhenko. She beat the event winner, Tatyana Tomashova, soon afterwards to take the gold at the 2005 IAAF World Athletics Final. After a bronze medal performance at the 2006 IAAF World Indoor Championships, Jamal beat Tomashova twice more at major events the following year, bringing Asia victory in the 1500 m at the 2006 IAAF World Cup and winning at the 2006 IAAF World Athletics Final. She closed the year with a 800/1500 m double at the 2006 Asian Games.
She turned her skills to cross country running at the start of 2007: she took first place at the Cinque Mulini and went on to win the individual and team gold medals at the Asian Cross Country Championships. At the 2007 World Championships in Athletics in Osaka, Jamal passed Yelena Soboleva in the last 200 metres to win the women's 1500 metres, winning the only gold medal for Bahrain. She made it a third consecutive World Final victory at the 2007 IAAF World Athletics Final, finishing ahead of Soboleva (who was later disqualified for switching urine samples to avoid drug testing).
At the start of the next season, she competed at the 2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships and ran a close indoor 1500 m against Gelete Burka. Sobeleva set a world record for the victory but was later stripped of the title. Burka was elevated to gold while Jamal gained the silver medal, which she won in an Asian record time of 3:59.79. She did not build on her World Championship success with an Olympic medal as she finished fifth in the 1500 metres at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Another win at the 2008 IAAF World Athletics Final closed the year.
She became the first female athlete to win twice at the Asian Cross Country Championships, taking her second gold and competing in Bahrain for the first time. She ran at the 2009 IAAF World Cross Country Championships at finished ninth overall. Making up for her Olympic defeat, she defended her world title on the track with a win at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics, just staying ahead of Lisa Dobriskey at the finish line. A fourth place finish at the 2009 IAAF World Athletics Final brought an end to a successful season.
In 2010 she competed on the inaugural Diamond League circuit, including a second place finish behind Sentayehu Ejigu at the Herculis meeting. Later that season she ran at the 2010 Asian Games and she retained her title over 1500 m.[3] She opened her 2011 with a win at the Eurocross, following on from compatriot Mimi Belete's win the previous year.[4]
Controversy
After winning the 3000 m in Oslo on July 14, 2005, her image was published throughout the international sporting press. Her outfit of short shorts and a sleaveless midriff bearing top caused a minor outrage in Bahrain led by MP Hamad Al-Muhannadi. In 2004, Bahraini champion Ruqaya Al Ghasra competed in the Athens Olympics fully covered. Bahrain Athletics Association vice-president Mohammed Jamal said the association was already planning to give new sportswear to Ms Jamal, which covered her stomach and her legs down to the knee. However comments by Mohammed Jamal show that to be unlikely to actually occur.
Personal bests
Distance Mark Location Date 800 m 1:59.69 Geneva June 11, 2005 1500 m 3:56.79 Rieti June 14, 2005 3000 m 8:28.87 Oslo July 29, 2005 5000 m 14:51.68 Hengelo May 29, 2005 1/4 Marathon 34:19 Lausanne October 24, 2004 1/2 Marathon 1:11:43 Uster September 18, 2004 References
- ^ "Record Bahrain team for Games", Gulf Daily News, April 29, 2008
- ^ Maryam Yusuf Jamal applied to US, Canada and France before approaching Bahrain
- ^ Jamal captures 1500m title in Guangzhou – Asian Games, Day 3. IAAF (2010-11-24). Retrieved on 2011-02-27.
- ^ Wenig, Jorg (2011-02-27). Jamal and Moroccan men dominate in Diekirch. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-02-27.
External links
Sporting positions Preceded by
Isabella OchichiWomen's 3.000m Best Year Performance
2005Succeeded by
Meseret DefarWorld Champions in Women's 1500 m 1983: Mary Decker (USA) • 1987: Tetyana Dorovskikh (URS) • 1991: Hassiba Boulmerka (ALG) • 1993: Liu Dong (CHN) • 1995: Hassiba Boulmerka (ALG) • 1997: Carla Sacramento (POR) • 1999: Svetlana Masterkova (RUS) • 2001: Gabriela Szabo (ROU) • 2003: Tatyana Tomashova (RUS) • 2005: Tatyana Tomashova (RUS) • 2007: Maryam Yusuf Jamal (BHR) • 2009: Maryam Yusuf Jamal (BHR) • 2011: Jennifer Simpson (USA)
IAAF World / Continental Cup Champions in Women's 1500 m 1977: Tatyana Kazankina (URS) • 1979: Christiane Wartenberg (GDR) • 1981: Tamara Sorokina (URS) • 1985: Hildegard Körner (GDR) • 1989: Paula Ivan (ROM) • 1992: Yekaterina Podkopayeva (RUS) • 1994: Hassiba Boulmerka (ALG) • 1998: Svetlana Masterkova (RUS) • 2002: Süreyya Ayhan (TUR) • 2006: Maryam Yusuf Jamal (BHR) • 2010: Hind Dehiba (FRA)
World Best Year Performance in Women's 1500 m 1970 – 1971: Karin Burneleit (GDR) • 1972: Lyudmila Bragina (URS) • 1973: Karin Krebs (GDR) • 1974: Gunhild Hoffmeister (GDR) • 1975: Nina Morgunova (URS) • 1976: Tatyana Kazankina (URS) • 1977: Natalia Mărăşescu (ROM) • 1978: Giana Romanova (URS) • 1979: Totka Petrova (BUL) • 1980: Tatyana Kazankina (URS) • 1981 – 1982: Olga Dvirna (URS) • 1983: Mary Slaney (USA) • 1984: Nadezhda Ralldugina (URS) • 1985: Mary Slaney (USA) • 1986: Doina Melinte (ROM) • 1987: Tetyana Dorovskikh (URS) • 1988 – 1989: Paula Ivan (ROU) • 1990: Doina Melinte (ROM) • 1991: Natalya Artyomova (RUS) • 1992: Hassiba Boulmerka (ALG) • 1993: Qu Yunxia (CHN) • 1994 – 1995: Sonia O'Sullivan (IRL) • 1996: Svetlana Masterkova (RUS) • 1997: Jiang Bo (CHN) • 1998: Gabriela Szabo (ROM) • 1999: Violeta Szekely (ROM) • 2000: Suzy Favor-Hamilton (USA) • 2001: Violeta Szekely (ROM) • 2002 – 2003: Süreyya Ayhan (TUR) • 2004: Kelly Holmes (GBR) • 2005: Maryam Yusuf Jamal (BHR) • 2006: Yuliya Fomenko (RUS) • 2007 – 2009: Maryam Yusuf Jamal (BHR) • 2010: Anna Alminova (RUS)
Categories:- 1984 births
- Living people
- Female middle distance runners
- Female long-distance runners
- Bahraini long-distance runners
- Ethiopian middle distance runners
- Ethiopian long-distance runners
- Ethiopian sportswomen
- Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics
- Olympic athletes of Bahrain
- Asian Games medalists in athletics (track and field)
- Bahraini people of Ethiopian descent
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