Aregawi aims for Euro indoors with Sweden | 15.12.2012
The countdown is on for the European Indoor Athletics Championships in Gothenburg in March - and one woman will be determined to be part of it.
It has been quite a year for Ethiopian-born Abeba Aregawi, 22, who broke her country's 1500m national record with 3:56.54 and won the Diamond League races in Rome, Oslo and Zurich and finished fifth at the Olympics.
Aregawi's husband of three years is Swedish and she has now been granted eligibility to compete for the country.
In all likelihood, she will bid to make their team for the Championships which take place between March 1-3.
Since her wedding, she has lived much of the time in Stockholm and she competes for the Hammarby club.
It has been quite a year for Ethiopian-born Abeba Aregawi, 22, who broke her country's 1500m national record with 3:56.54 and won the Diamond League races in Rome, Oslo and Zurich and finished fifth at the Olympics.
Aregawi's husband of three years is Swedish and she has now been granted eligibility to compete for the country.
In all likelihood, she will bid to make their team for the Championships which take place between March 1-3.
Since her wedding, she has lived much of the time in Stockholm and she competes for the Hammarby club.
There was even some hope from Sweden that she would run for the country in London but she represented Ethiopia.
But now she looks set to be part of a Swedish team having created a foundation to become one of the best middle-distance runners in the world.
In London she missed out on a medal by 0.29 of a second, fifth in 4:11.03.
But it was the level of improvement that says so much about her in the three years since she first made an impression.
It was back in 2009 that Aregawi caught the eye when she won the Ethiopian 800m national title by beating Mestawet Tadesse, who had been the champion on three occasions.
A year later she moved to the 1500m where she set a personal best time of 4:01.96 and made her debut in the Diamond League, finishing fourth in her home city at the DN Galan and then seventh in Zurich.
But this summer she has really taken her performances to a new level.
The Swedish federation have already started naming their team for Gothenburg with eight names chosen announced at the annual Christmas dinner.
They are Johan Wissman (400m), Philip Nossmy (60m hurdles), Michel Torneus (long jump), Moa Hjelmer (400m), Ebba Jungmark and Emma Green (high jump), Angelica Bengtsson (pole vault) and Helena Engman (shot put) and Aregawi could be next on the list.
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But now she looks set to be part of a Swedish team having created a foundation to become one of the best middle-distance runners in the world.
In London she missed out on a medal by 0.29 of a second, fifth in 4:11.03.
But it was the level of improvement that says so much about her in the three years since she first made an impression.
It was back in 2009 that Aregawi caught the eye when she won the Ethiopian 800m national title by beating Mestawet Tadesse, who had been the champion on three occasions.
A year later she moved to the 1500m where she set a personal best time of 4:01.96 and made her debut in the Diamond League, finishing fourth in her home city at the DN Galan and then seventh in Zurich.
But this summer she has really taken her performances to a new level.
The Swedish federation have already started naming their team for Gothenburg with eight names chosen announced at the annual Christmas dinner.
They are Johan Wissman (400m), Philip Nossmy (60m hurdles), Michel Torneus (long jump), Moa Hjelmer (400m), Ebba Jungmark and Emma Green (high jump), Angelica Bengtsson (pole vault) and Helena Engman (shot put) and Aregawi could be next on the list.
{gigyaCommnet:GeneralArticles}
