6. Lamecha Girma
Lamecha Girma is redefining the 3000m Steeplechase in Ethiopia and beyond and is posing a threat to Kenya’s perpetual dominance of the event, following in the footsteps of Morocco’s Soufiane El Bakkali, and he deservedly takes the 6th spot on our 2022 Toplist of African Male Athletes.
The world began to take notice of Girma after he nearly stunned 2016 Olympic Champion and two-time World Championships GOLD-medallist Conseslus Kipruto in 2019 in Doha as a little-known athlete. He would eventually win Silver while El-Bakkali took the Bronze, and by the Tokyo Olympics, he was regarded as a worthy contender. He won the Silver medal behind the Moroccan who put paid to his dream of becoming the first Ethiopian to win the 3000m Steeplechase at the Olympics.
In 2022, the 2019 Confederation of African Athletics (CAA) Young Athlete of the Year finished nothing less than 2nd position in all of his races. During the indoor season, he raced over 3000m five times, winning three of those races and finishing 2nd in two of them. Two of those races were run at the World Indoor Championships in Belgrade, Serbia, where he won his heat in a Season’s Best (SB) of 7:46.21. He gave a good account of himself in the final but it was countryman Selemon Barega who won GOLD in 7:41.38 while Girma took Silver in 7:41.63, his first World Indoors medal.
He extended his impressive performance to the outdoor season, giving El-Bakkali a good run for his money at the Wanda League in Doha where the latter stormed to a World Lead (WL) of 8:09.66 to win the men’s 3000m Steeplechase as the Ethiopian clocked 8:09.67 for 2nd.
12TH ALL-TIME
Lamecha Girma breaks the Ethiopian record with 7:58.68 to win the men's 3000m steeplechase 🇪🇹
It's heating up in Ostrava 🔥
Watch live: https://t.co/EEJyP2DWSs pic.twitter.com/7EIoANmP01— Continental Tour Gold (@ContiTourGold) May 31, 2022
One of the defining moments of the season for Girma was at the 61st Golden Spike in Ostrava where he was in a class of his own, going on to set a new WL, National Record (NR) and lifetime best of 7:58.68 to put him on 12th in the all-time list, making him the first athlete since 2018 to dip inside the eight minute mark. He subsequently secured a 2nd place finish at the Diamond League in Morocco with a fast 7:59.24, then recorded his first victory in the series in Rome after crossing the line in 7:59.23.
One month later, Girma participated in the World Championships for the second time. Having gained more experience since Doha, he dominated his heat to cross the line ahead of Kipruto. In the final, he put up a spirited fight but El Bakkali was unstoppable as he snatched GOLD in 8:25.13 from Girma’s 8:26.01, with Kipruto settling for Bronze, the same medallists from Doha although with a change in positions.
Girma would be proud of the season he had as he’s the only athlete asides El Bakkali to have run the 3000m Steeplechase in less than eight minutes in 2022, a feat he achieved thrice in the course of the season.
