Tolossa Kotu

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Tolossa Kotu Terfe (born 25 December 1952[1][note 1] also transliterated as Tolosa Kotu) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner and coach. He placed fourth in men's 10,000 metres at the 1980 Summer Olympics and has coached the national teams of both Ethiopia and Bahrain.

Running career[edit]

Tolossa Kotu represented Ethiopia at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich in the 5000 metres, but failed to qualify for the final.[1] At the 1980 Olympics in Moscow Kotu ran the 10,000 metres, winning his heat.[1][3] In the final he stayed with the leaders until the last lap, placing fourth behind Miruts Yifter, Kaarlo Maaninka and Mohammed Kedir.[3] Track & Field News ranked him the seventh-best 10,000 m runner of 1980, behind the three runners he lost to at the Olympics and three whose countries boycotted the Olympics (Craig Virgin, Henry Rono and Toshihiko Seko); this was the only time he was ranked in the world's top 10.[4] In 1981 he represented Africa at 5,000 metres in the 1981 IAAF World Cup in Rome, placing fifth.[5]

Coaching career[edit]

Kotu remained active in distance running as a coach. Kenenisa Bekele joined Kotu's Mugher Cement Factory team as a 16-year-old in 1998, and Kotu coached him to multiple Olympic and world titles.[6][7][8] Kotu also coached Ethiopian national teams[9][10][11] before moving to Bahrain to coach that country's team.[7][12]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ Tilastopaja gives his birth date as 15 March 1950.[2]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c "Tolossa Kotu Bio, Stats and Results". Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
  2. ^ Tolossa Kotu at Tilastopaja (registration required)
  3. ^ a b Siukonen, Markku; et al. (1980). Urheilutieto 5 (in Finnish). Oy Scandia Kirjat Ab. ISBN 951-9466-20-7.
  4. ^ "World Rankings — Men's 10,000" (PDF). Track & Field News. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
  5. ^ Butler, Mark (ed.). "1st IAAF/VTB Bank Continental Cup Split 2010: IAAF Statistics Handbook" (PDF). International Association of Athletics Federations. p. 32. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
  6. ^ "Our Ambassadors: Kenenisa Bekele". IAAF Diamond League. Archived from the original on 14 December 2014. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
  7. ^ a b "Bekele the apple of coach Kotu's eye". Hindustan Times. 4 July 2013. Archived from the original on 14 December 2014. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
  8. ^ Nagle, Jeanne (2014). Top 101 Athletes. Britannica Educational Publishing. ISBN 978-1-6227-5135-8. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
  9. ^ "'Focus on Africans' - men's 10,000m Final biographies". International Association of Athletics Federations. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
  10. ^ "Ethiopia's final squad of 27 for Athens". International Association of Athletics Federations. 10 August 2004. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
  11. ^ "Ethiopia seeks to top best medal haul in Fukuoka". International Association of Athletics Federations. 27 March 2006. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
  12. ^ "Alemu on track for greater glory". Gulf Daily News. 2 March 2009. Retrieved 14 December 2014.


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