1. Tirunesh, Genzebe and Ejegayehu Dibaba
The presence of two World Record holders in a single household puts the Dibaba family at the zenith of our Top 5 Siblings in Track and Field. The trailblazer of the clan and eldest of six siblings is Ejegayehu. The 33-year old is an achiever in her own right, having won Silver in the 10,000m at the 2004 Olympics in Athens and double Bronze over the 5000m and 10,000m at the World Championships in Helsinki a year later.
She set the pace for Tirunesh who is the current World and Olympic 10,000m champion. The 30-year old became the youngest athlete ever to win an individual GOLD medal at the 2003 World Championships, her first of FIVE GOLD medals at the worlds. She is also the youngest ever medallist for Ethiopia at the Olympics after winning Bronze in Athens at the age of 19.
(Photo Credit: Jed Jacobsohn/ The New York Times)
Her WR of 14:11.15 in the 5000m at the 2008 Oslo Golden League meeting stands till today. Tirunesh’s 5000m/10,000m DOUBLE GOLD at the Beijing Olympics made her the first woman to win both events at the same Olympics. Her husband, Sileshi Sihine is also a two-time Olympic Silver medallist.
Last but certainly not the least in this family of greats is Genzebe who holds the World Indoor Records over 1500m, 3000m and 5000m. 2014 was a fantastic year for the 24-year old as she broke THREE WRs within a space of 15 days, making her one of only three athletes in history to achieve this feat, joining Jesse Owens and Usain Bolt.
(Photo Credit: www.africatopsports.com)
However she stands alone as the only one to do this in three different cities and meets, and in individual events. Her impressive form last year earned her a place on Making of Champions’ Africa’s Top 8 athletes of 2014. The one record that has eluded her though is that of older sibling, Tirunesh’s 5000m WR, which she made two unsuccessful attempts on at the 2015 Eugene and Oslo Diamond League meetings respectively.
