Haftom Welday | My Journey to Paris
My Goals
- 2021: Move to Hamburg – done!
- 2022: Get German citizenship – done!
- 2022: Best running time – in Berlin done!
- 2022: Admission to the national squad – I’m in!
- 2023: World Athletics Championships in Budapest – 15th Place!
- 2023: Qualification for the Olympic Games in Paris
- 2024: Take part in the Olympic Games in Paris
My Results
- Marathon: 2:11:25 – World Athletics Championship in Budapest, 27 August, 2023
- Marathon: 2:09:06 – Berlin, 25 Septeber 2022
- 5 km: 13:32 – Lausanne, 2 October 2021
- Marathon: 2:13:47 – Berlin, 26 September 2021
- Half marathon: 1:02:47 – Berlin, 22 August 2021
- Profile on World Athletics
Flying Finish in Budapest
photo: IMAGO/Eibner
15th place in the marathon race at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest – I can definitely be happy with the results of my first competition for the German national team. I am especially encouraged by the fact that I had the strength to speed at the end of the race. I almost caught up to Kenyan top runner Timothy Kiplagat in the finish (see photo). In the end we crossed the finish line at the same time in 2:11:25 – only two minutes and 32 seconds behind the new world champion Victor Kiplangat from Uganda. My focus is now on Valencia, where, on December 3, I want to beat the Olympic standard by as much as possible. I am training hard and will travel to Spain well prepared!
My Journey
My journey has been unusual. As a young person in my old East African homeland of Tigray, I enjoyed playing soccer with my friends. But running? No! I had no desire to do that back then.
In 2014, fleeing war and violence, I left my old home in Tigray. My dangerous trip took me through the Sahara and across the Mediterranean to Europe. I thank God that I survived the journey!
My Journey
My journey has been unusual. As a young person in my old East African homeland of Tigray, I enjoyed playing soccer with my friends. But running? No! I had no desire to do that back then.
In 2014, fleeing war and violence, I left my old home in Tigray. My dangerous trip took me through the Sahara and across the Mediterranean to Europe. I thank God that I survived the journey!
Press
I Have Been Nominated for the World Athletics Championships!
Mark the 27th of August on your calendar! On that Sunday, I will be competing for Germany in the marathon at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest. It will be my debut wearing the German national team kit, and I am very proud and happy that the DLV nominated...
Intuition + Science
I'm usually a very intuitive runner and pay extremely close attention to what my body is telling me - at the Haspa Hamburg Marathon, I brutally tested its limits. That hurt, but it took me another big step forward. I also rely heavily on science. Professor Karsten...
Hamburg Marathon: Learned a Lot!
The race today was extremely hard! I started with a very high pace. Unfortunately, the pacers didn’t run evenly. Then starting at KM 15 I also had bad stomach problems. In spite of all that, I kept up with the leading group at the Haspa Hamburg Marathon until KM 30. I...