Tigist Gezahagn’s extraordinary path to Vienna glory
It is highly likely that Tigist Gezahagn’s achievements are unprecedented: In Vienna the 26 year-old became probably the first Paralympic champion to win one of the classic city marathons. After victories in Ljubljana in October and Doha in January she now triumphed at the Vienna City Marathon. The Ethiopian, who is visually impaired and won the 1,500 m gold medals at the 2021 and 2024 Paralympics, not only took Austria’s most prestigious road race but also broke the course record by almost one minute. Coached by Getamesay Molla in Addis Ababa and managed by the Swiss marathon record holder Tadesse Abraham, Tigist Gezahagn improved the mark from 2:20:59 to 2:20:06, which is also a personal best.
With no running background in the family, her parents not in favour of her starting a running career, living in a farming community and leaving school early because of her limited vision Tigist Gezahagn defied all the odds and managed to become an international elite athlete.
Tigist Gezahagn was between three and four years old when she started loosing her eyesight. „After a while it got worse and I could hardly see anything. I then went for medical treatment and had surgery in 2013. Afterwards it was better and I could run again. But a couple of years later my vision deteriorated again and I had to stop training. I received some treatment and my left eye, on which I was almost blind, improved. But even today it is not stable,“ explained Tigist Gezahagn, who can only see what is very near to her. “We want to help her and we will try to find support so that she hopefully can get better medical treatment in Europe,“ said Tadesse Abraham. The manager was impressed by how Tigist Gezahagn, who ran behind a pacemaker for most of the race, manoeuvered through the streets of Vienna to victory. „My heart sank when she was tripped by the runner behind her just before the 30k mark. I was so relieved that she did not fall. There were also tram tracks to avoid,“ said Tadesse Abraham, who was a competitor at the Vienna City Marathon himself on two occasions. In 2019 he was runner-up in the Austrian capital with 2:07:24. Two years ago another of his athletes, Ethiopia’s Chala Regasa, won the men’s race in Vienna.
Tigist Gezahagn grew up in the village of Ilani Kersa in the Amhara region of Ethiopia. Her parents are farmers and she is the second oldest of eight children and the only one persueing a running carerr. „I started running at school and there were regional competitions,“ said Tigist Gezahagn. But she had to leave school early after eight years because of her poor eyesight. „I could hardly see anything at that time.“ But she continued running. And when people were telling her that she should go for the Paralympics that motivated her. She was lucky to have a coach who took care of her for four years and under his guidance she qualified for the 2021 Paralympics in Tokyo. In Japan she became the first ever gold medallist of Ethiopia at the Paralympics.
“Originally my parents were not in favour of me starting a running career. They feared I might fall badly when I was training in the woods. But after the first Paralympics they accepted it,“ said Tigist Gezahagn, who moved to Addis Ababa for training after winning the gold medal in Tokyo. She still lives there today with her boyfriend.
After winning her second 1,500 m gold medal in 2024 Tigist Gezahagn left the Paralympic sport and joined Getamesay Molla’s training group. “I want to live a normal life,“ said the new Vienna course record holder, who gets support from fellow-athletes and pacemakers during training sessions. Anyalem Desta, who won the Amsterdam Marathon in 2:17:37, is among her training partners. “I did not expect to become so successful after the switch. By training with able bodied runners I was able to build a stronger shape,“ said Tigist Gezahagn. “I want to run even faster in my next marathon.“
“I think Tigist can run around 2:17,“ said Tadesse Abraham. “The challenge now is to find the right race, which suits her needs. Vienna was really perfect because the organisers took care of her so well.“
For more information please visit www.vienna-marathon.com or contact Andreas Maier (Press Officer): andreas@vienna-marathon.com
Please Note: You may use the attached photo, showing Tigist Gezahagn and Tadesse Abraham, only in conjunction with this press release with the following credit: VCM / Jenia Symonds
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