Tsegaye Kebede Wordofa (Amharic: ፀጋየ ከበደ ዎርዶፋ; born 15 January 1987) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner who competes in road running events, including marathons.
Living in Gerar Berak, a village some 40 km north of Addis Ababa or near the town of Sendafa, he collected firewood to sell and herded livestock to supplement his father's earnings, paying for his own education and the rest of his family.
[3] He began running for pleasure as an 8-year-old and, after competing at a half marathon in Addis Ababa in 2006, an athletics coach (Getaneh Tessema) offered him the chance to train with his group.
He attended a 10 km time trial session with the group in the following days, and he beat all runners with the exception of Deriba Merga, who went on to win the Great Ethiopian Run that year.
[3] He won the Abebe Bikila International Marathon a few months later,[4] effectively resolving the visa problems he had encountered while trying to race overseas.
[9] Haile Gebrselassie stated that he did not intend to compete in the Beijing Olympics, meaning that Kebede and Merga would carry the medal hopes for Ethiopia.
[13] This elevated him into the top ten in the all-time marathon lists and made him the second fastest Ethiopian after world record holder Haile Gebrselassie.
At 21.7 miles (35 km), he trailed the race's eventual second-place finisher and course record holder Emmanuel Mutai of Kenya by 43 seconds,[23] slowed by a pain in his side.
The Independent described Kebede as a "pocket-battleship clad in a blue vest – a runner with a boxer's stance" and called his race finish "devastating".