{{short description|Ethiopian middle-distance runner}} {{Infobox sportsperson | name = Samuel Tefera | image = Samuel Tefera Belgrade 2022.jpg | image_size = 260px | caption = Tefera at the 2022 World Indoor Championships in Belgrade | nationality = Ethiopian | sport = Athletics | event = 1500 metres, Mile | club = | coach = | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1999|10|23|df=y}} | birth_place = Midakegn, Oromia, Ethiopia | height = | weight = | pb = {{ubl | '''Outdoors''' | '''1500 m''': 3:30.71 (Monaco 2021) | '''Mile''': 3:49.45 (London 2019) | '''5000 m''': 12:53.44 (Paris 2025) | '''Indoors''' | '''1500 m''': 3:31.04 '''{{AthAbbr|AR|African}}''' (Birmingham 2019) | '''Mile''': 3:55.86 (Athlone 2020) }} | show-medals = yes | medaltemplates = {{Medal|Sport|Men's athletics}} {{Medal|Country|{{ETH}}}} {{MedalCompetition|World Indoor Championships}} {{MedalGold|2018 Birmingham|1500 m}} {{MedalGold|2022 Belgrade|1500 m}} }}
'''Samuel Tefera Name''' (born 23 October 1999) is an Ethiopian middle-distance runner who specialises in the 1500 metres. At the age of 18, he became the 2018 World indoor champion, and defended his title at the 2022 World Indoor Championships, setting the championship record in the process.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.letsrun.com/news/2018/03/young-ethiopian-samuel-tefera-wins-1500m-gold-36-days-first-indoor-race-blankenship-5th-engels-7th/|title=Young Ethiopian Samuel Tefera Wins 1500m Gold 36 Days after His First Indoor Race, Blankenship 5th, Engels 7th|date=4 March 2018}}</ref><ref name="2022WInd">{{Cite web |last=Crumley |first=Euan |date=2022-03-21 |title=Tefera turns the tables on Ingebrigtsen |url=https://athleticsweekly.com/featured/tefera-turns-the-tables-on-ingebrigtsen-1039954869/ |access-date=2022-03-21 |website=AW}}</ref> Tefera is the African indoor record holder for the 1500 m.
He held the world indoor 1500 m record for three years, with his mark currently being the second-fastest on the respective world all-time list.<ref>{{Cite web |title=All time Top lists – 1500 m Men – World Indoors {{!}} until 2022-02-23 |url=https://worldathletics.org/records/all-time-toplists/middle-long/1500-metres/indoor/men/senior?regionType=world&page=1&bestResultsOnly=false&oversizedTrack=regular&firstDay=1900-01-01&lastDay=2022-03-23 |access-date=2022-02-23 |website=World Athletics}}</ref>
==Career== Samuel Tefera made his first major appearance in 2017, when the then-17-year-old represented Ethiopia in the 1500 metres at the World Championships in London, not advancing from the heats.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://media.aws.iaaf.org/competitiondocuments/pdf/5151/AT-1500-M-h----.RS6.pdf|title=Men's 1500m Results|website=World Athletics|access-date=1 October 2024}}</ref>
In March 2018, he won the gold medal in the event at the World Indoor Championships held in Birmingham. He achieved 3:58.19 to beat Marcin Lewandowski (3:58.39) and Abdalaati Iguider (3:58.43).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://worldathletics.org/news/report/world-indoor-birmingham-2018-men-1500-final|title=Report: men's 1500m final – IAAF World Indoor Championships Birmingham 2018|website=World Athletics|date=4 March 2018|access-date=1 October 2024}}</ref>
In February 2019, still 19, Tefera set a world indoor record in his specialty distance at the Birmingham Indoor Grand Prix with a time of three minutes 31.04 seconds. He broke by 0.14 seconds a 22-year-old mark of Moroccan Hicham El Guerrouj.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/athletics/47265679|title=Samuel Tefera: Ethiopian teenager breaks 22-year-old 1500m world record|date=16 February 2019|publisher=bbc.co.uk}}</ref> Tefera's record was bettered in 2022 by Jakob Ingebrigtsen.
After suffering an injury he did not finish his semifinal run at the 2019 World Championships in Doha.<ref name="2022LR">{{Cite web |last1=Gault |first1=Jonathan |last2=Johnson |first2=Robert |date=2022-03-20 |title=Samuel Tefera Upsets Olympic Champ Jakob Ingebrigtsen in Thriller |url=https://www.letsrun.com/news/2022/03/samuel-tefera-upsets-olympic-champ-jakob-ingebrigtsen-in-thriller/ |access-date=2022-03-21 |website=LetsRun.com}}</ref> Timothy Cheruiyot won the title.
Tefera represented Ethiopia at the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics, where he had an injury problem again and was eliminated in the heats of the men's 1500 metres.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Athletics TEFERA Samuel|url=https://olympics.com/tokyo-2020/olympic-games/en/results/athletics/athlete-profile-n1351959-tefera-samuel.htm|access-date=2021-08-08|work=Tokyo 2020 Olympics}}</ref><ref name="2022LR" /> Ingebrigtsen became the event winner.
At the 2022 World Indoor Championships in Belgrade, Tefera defended his title in a time of 3m 32.77s, beating Ingebrigtsen who ran 3:33.02, and setting the championship record in the process. Abel Kipsang finished third in 3:33.36.<ref name="2022WInd" />
==Competition record== [[File:Samuel Tefera Birmingham 2018.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Tefera won his first world title with a 1500 m victory at the 2018 World Indoor Championships in Birmingham.]]
{|{{AchievementTable|nation=ETH|Event=yes|Time=yes|NotesOff=yes}} |- |2017 |World Championships |London, United Kingdom |h (31st) |1500 m |3:46.22 |- |rowspan=3|2018 |World Indoor Championships |Birmingham, United Kingdom |bgcolor=gold|1st |1500 m {{AthAbbr|i}} |3:58.19 |- |World U20 Championships |Tampere, Finland |5th |1500 m |3:43.91 |- |African Championships |Asaba, Nigeria |10th |1500 m |3:45.38 |- |2019 |World Championships |Doha, Qatar |– (sf) |1500 m |{{AthAbbr|DNF}} |- |2021 |Olympic Games |Tokyo, Japan |20th (h) |1500 m |3:37.78 |- |rowspan=2|2022 |World Indoor Championships |Belgrade, Serbia |bgcolor=gold|1st |1500 m i |3:32.77 '''{{AthAbbr|CR}}''' |- |World Championships |Eugene, OR, United States |17th (sf) |1500 m |3:37.71 |- |rowspan=2|2024 |World Indoor Championships |Glasgow, United Kingdom |7th |1500 m |3:38.10 |- |Olympic Games |Paris, France |14th (sf) |1500 m |3:33.02 |}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{Commons category}} * {{sports links}}
{{Footer World Indoor Champions 1500m Men}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tefera, Samuel}} Category:Living people Category:1999 births Category:Ethiopian men middle-distance runners Category:World record holders in the sport of athletics Category:World Athletics Indoor Championships winners Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics Category:Olympic athletes for Ethiopia Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 2024 Summer Olympics Category:21st-century Ethiopian sportsmen