NEED TO KNOW

• The Dibaba sisters are the only siblings in recorded history to hold concurrent world records across multiple distance events
• Together they have won four Olympic gold medals, two silvers, three bronzes and 15 World Championship titles
• All five sisters grew up on a rural farm in Bekoji, Ethiopia — a town of fewer than 20,000 people at 9,200 feet elevation

BEKOJI, ETHIOPIA (TDR) — The Dibaba sisters — Tirunesh, Genzebe, Ejegayehu, Anna and Melat — did not grow up with sponsorship deals or state-of-the-art training facilities. They grew up hauling water, running miles to school and helping their parents cultivate wheat, teff and barley on a farm in the Ethiopian highlands. What emerged from that upbringing is the most decorated athletics family in history — five sisters from Bekoji, a town of fewer than 20,000 people who collectively won four Olympic gold medals, two silvers, three bronzes and 15 World Championship titles. No other sibling group in recorded athletics history has held concurrent world records.

Their story is resurfacing during Black History Month as a reminder that global sporting excellence can emerge from the most unlikely circumstances — and that the gap between a rural farming village and an Olympic podium is shorter than it looks when an entire family runs together.

How Bekoji Became a Factory for Champions

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Bekoji sits at roughly 2,800 meters above sea level in the Arsi Zone of Ethiopia’s Oromia Region. The thin air forces the body to build aerobic capacity that translates into devastating endurance at lower elevations. But altitude alone does not explain why this particular town has produced 16 Olympic medals over two decades.

“If you can run in Bekoji, you can run anywhere. The weather here teaches you to take in exactly how much oxygen you need, no more, no less.” — Sentayehu Eshetu

Sentayehu Eshetu, the legendary local coach known simply as “Coach,” spent nearly four decades developing talent in Bekoji. His first protégée was Derartu Tulu — the Dibaba sisters’ cousin — who became the first Black African woman to win Olympic gold in the 10,000 meters at Barcelona 1992. For the Dibaba sisters, Tulu was not a distant celebrity. She was family.

“Sentayehu knew that my cousin Derartu Tulu ran. He knew that my sisters ran too. He used to tell me that I would be a great runner.” — Tirunesh Dibaba

The Baby-Faced Destroyer and Her Sisters

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Ejegayehu reached the Olympic stage first, winning silver in the 10,000 meters at the 2004 Athens Games and adding two World Championship bronzes the following year in Helsinki. Her breakthrough signaled that the Dibaba name would become permanent in distance running.

Then came Tirunesh — nicknamed the “Baby-Faced Destroyer” — who elevated the family legacy into something unprecedented. At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, she became the first woman in history to win gold in both the 5,000 and 10,000 meters at the same Games. She defended her 10,000-meter title at London 2012, becoming the first woman to win the event at consecutive Olympics.

“I grew up running with pails of water that I went to fetch from the river after school every day, to help my mother.” — Tirunesh Dibaba

Tirunesh held the outdoor 5,000-meter world record from 2008 until compatriot Letesenbet Gidey broke it in 2020. Her career total: three Olympic golds, five World Championship golds and four individual World Cross Country titles.

Genzebe, the youngest of the elite trio, dominated middle-distance events. She holds the distinction of possessing more world records than any woman in track history — four records plus two world-best times across the indoor mile, 3,000 meters and 5,000 meters. In 2014, she broke three indoor world records in just two weeks, earning the Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year award. Her silver medal in the 1,500 meters at the 2016 Rio Olympics added to five World Indoor Championship golds and the 2015 outdoor world title.

Anna and Melat, the remaining two sisters, competed at regional levels but did not pursue elite international careers. Still, all seven Dibaba siblings — including brother Dejene — are runners.

Legacy Beyond the Medal Count

The Dibaba dynasty extends beyond the track. Tirunesh married Sileshi Sihine, a two-time Olympic 10,000-meter silver medalist, in a 2008 wedding that drew an estimated half a million attendees and was broadcast nationally. The family has invested their earnings back into Bekoji, becoming real estate developers in the community that raised them.

“Our country is not like other countries. You should bring back gold when you compete for Ethiopia. The people don’t accept anything less.” — Tirunesh Dibaba

Track legend Haile Gebrselassie put it plainly:

“There are a few running families, but not like the Dibabas.” — Haile Gebrselassie

As the world turns toward the next Summer Olympics, the Dibaba name remains the benchmark for what a single family can achieve in global athletics. Their story — from a mud-walled farmhouse at 9,200 feet to the most decorated sibling dynasty in track history — continues to inspire a new generation of Ethiopian runners training on the same hills of Bekoji where Coach Eshetu still watches for the next champion.

What does it take for a single family to reshape an entire sport — and can Bekoji’s pipeline of champions survive as the next generation faces a world of expanding opportunity beyond the track?

Sources

This report was compiled using information from the International Olympic Committee, World Athletics, Wikipedia’s Dibaba family entry, reporting by CNN, Pulse Sports Nigeria, KMOB 1003, SportsBrief, Reqiq, Outside Magazine, and biographical profiles from Grokipedia and Wikipedia.

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