Tsigie Gebreselama: “The work is life, and I find pleasure in it.”

Words by Hannah Borenstein.

In March 2024, dozens of distance runners in the U.S. traveled to San Juan Capistrano, CA, to race 10,000m on the track. The meeting, known as “The TEN” on the U.S. circuit, is where athletes often have optimal conditions to chase challenging global standards and qualify for global championship events. Only three women from the U.S. hit the mark, and over 40 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher was Ethiopian distance runner, Tsigie Gebreselama. She blew the field away, finishing in 29:48.34, clocking a new personal best.

“I gained a lot of confidence from the race,” Gebreselama says. “Mainly because it confirmed the training was working.”

Running 10,000m on the track can break even the most experienced distance athletes. With 25 fast laps, and nowhere to hide, it’s both a mental and physical challenge. Gebreselama, relishes the monotony of the event.

Even in training, she loves running endless laps. “My favorite type of training is actually doing around 25 to 30 kilometers of work on the track,” Gebreselama explains. It allows her to focus solely on her running, rather than the terrain. “When I focus singularly like that, I find it calming. I love it, and I don’t get tired of it.” After a pause, she adds, “The reason is that no matter how demanding the work is, work is life, and I can find pleasure in it.”

What could be understood as a cryptic taste for the monotony is, like all things, better understood in context. The monotony of metronomic pacing has been a welcome reprieve from uncertainty in Gebreselama’s life over the past few years.

Gebreselama was born in the Tigray region in northern Ethiopia, and grew up in a large family. She is the second in line of four sisters and four brothers. She began running in school, initially focusing on the 400 and 800 meters, before transitioning to longer distance events and discovering her strengths. 

“My father was encouraging. I would go out for training, and sometimes he would give me a little bit of birr (Ethiopian currency) to help my transportation from training,” she says. “Then when I would come home, he’d make sure I had a nice breakfast, and just offer words of encouragement and belief.”

Her school friends also noticed her potential and cheered her on. Through meeting other aspiring runners, Gebreselama learned about the life-changing opportunities running could offer. Despite Ethiopia’s legacy of long-distance running, Gebreselama knew little about its history when she started. “Then, as I began competing well, I learned about the financial and other opportunities that could come from the sport for me and my family, so I started to take training more seriously.”

The encouragement helped. As a junior, Gebreselama did well, ultimately qualifying for the 2018 World Athletics U20 in Finland, where she finished third in the 3000m. She went on to compete in the 10,000m at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. By the summer of 2020, Gebreselama got word that she would have a chance to run her first half-marathon in New Delhi, India. The race, scheduled for late November, went on, but Gebreselama didn’t make it to the starting line. 

In early November 2020, war broke out in Mekelle, where Gebreselama was living in training. The federal government blacked out telecommunications services in the majority of the region. 

“For one month I could not train at all,” Gebreselama recalls. “I couldn’t even go outside because of the war.” She also had no contact with friends and family outside the region for about five weeks. 

“At that point, my husband [Daniel Gidey] and I started thinking seriously about coming to Addis Ababa.” Gidey was Gebreselama’s full-time coach at that point. Some encouraged her to do so before the war because it would be easier to travel for competitions. But by December 2020, it was also about salvation. 

After leaving her family in Tigray, Gebreselama came to Addis Ababa to train. In January 2021, she won the Great Ethiopian Run (GER) – the biggest road race in Africa and an important stepping stone for some of the world’s best runners. “So many come out of winning the GER and find a lot of success,” Gebreselama says. “It’s a big deal. If you win a competition there, you can win anywhere. It was a big moment in my career.”

“I didn’t have a lot of information about my family at the time,” Gebreselama says. “I came to Addis for training and was happy for the opportunity to win, but I was emotional and carried a lot of stress for my family. The phones were still not working and we could not really communicate, but I just kept persevering and training hoping that peace would come.”

During this time, Gebreselama further honed her taste for distance training. With so much uncertainty in the world, and even more in her hometown, running in circles was a welcome escape in the moment.

After being selected to represent Ethiopia at the 2021 Olympics, Gebreselama carried the emotional burden in training through the Games. She sustained an injury and didn’t finish. She’s been focused on redemption in Paris ever since. 

In early 2023, Gebreselama began training with the On Athletics Club (OAC), where they’re based in Boulder, Co, U.S. Earlier that year, the Ethiopian government began restoring telecommunications access to the region, allowing her to communicate regularly with her family. 

She felt more comfortable traveling far. The initial trip, in September 2023, was a trial: “After evaluating my training progress, they suggested that I should come back, so I did. I stayed and continued my training, which went very well. The idea to extend my stay came from them.”

After a trip to Ethiopia, Gebreselama returned again to the U.S. for about 10 weeks, where she really found her stride. Gradually, she adapted to the local way of life, including the much later morning training times. “In Ethiopia, most of the athletes like to train earlier, before the sun is too strong,” Gebreselama says. “But here, they meet later, even after 9. Still, I didn’t mind adjusting to this schedule.”

“The first few sessions she would get there, and it was kind of funny as she just watched us doing our pre-run stretches,” middle-distance OAC athlete, Sinta Vissa, said. “And the first time she came around for a visit she was pretty quiet and kept to herself. But then, when she came for longer, she really adjusted to our way of life. We got to know her for the person she is – just a really kind and genuine person.”

Each member of the OAC taught Gebreselama more about herself. “Initially, I did a lot of training with Alicia Monson,” Gebreselama says. “We work really well together, but while she’s recovering from injury, I’ve strengthened other parts of my training with Sage Hurta-Klecker and Vissa, or just by myself.”

“Some Ethiopian athletes have a difficult time outside the country when they stay abroad for a long time,” Gebreselama says. “They really miss injera [Ethiopian flatbread] and the training. But I don’t mind these differences. Even in Ethiopia, I don’t eat injera that often. I prefer rice, pasta, and similar types of things I’d have in America.”

Gebreselama is back in Ethiopia before the Olympics. The Ethiopian Athletics Federation mandates that those selected for the Olympic team live together in a hotel in Addis Ababa for several weeks leading up to the games. Ritzenhein continues to send her training plans, and Gidey helps support her programming. 

Gebreselama continues to call her family in Tigray, and although none of her brothers and sisters have started running, Gebreselama predicts that may change: “I know my younger sister is interested in running. I can tell by the way she talks. I’m thinking about how to encourage her to start and maybe join me soon.” 

As Gebreselama continues to train hard, her family can call her when they please, and remind her – like her coach and her OAC training mates in the U.S. – that they believe she's got what it takes to excel at a global level. This sporting season is just the beginning.