April 2010 Athlete of the Month: Teyba Erkesso of Ethiopia
Running is in her blood. 28 year old Teyba Erkesso of Ethiopia hails from the Arsi region in Southern Ethiopia and is of the Arsi clan within the Oromo ethnic group, the largest in the country, cradle to the most distinguished Ethiopian athlete in modern times.
Who can forget bare-footed Abebe Bikila winning the Rome Olympic marathon in 1960, and then repeating himself in Tokyo in 1964?
2010 has begun with a flourish for Erkesso: she recorded her marathon personal best of 2h 23’ 53’’ at the Houston (Texas) Marathon in January (only 3’ outside the all-time top ten), and progressed with a bang when she won the Boston Marathon in April, earning 60 GSN points for Ethiopia.
Erkesso is the leading lady in a phenomenally strong Ethiopian ladies marathon team: 3 of her fellow-countrywomen came 3rd, 4th, and 5th at the 2010 London Marathon, earning more GSN points for the African nation, which now sits in 16th place in the Overall Global Cup 2010 ranking (as well as leading the Marathon Global Cup). This means 2 positions better than April 2009, and being ahead of running rivals Kenya as well as traditionally sport-savvy nations such as Japan or the Netherlands.
With 3 more big marathons to go in the 2010 calendar, who knows where Ethiopia, thanks to Teyba Erkesso and her fleet friends, will end up?
