Product Code Database
Yomif Kejelcha Atomsa (born 1 August 1997) is an Ethiopian distance runner. He formerly held world records in the short track Mile run (3:47.01 from 2019 to 2025) and the half marathon (57:30 from 2024 to 2025).
Yomif won the silver medal in the 10,000 metres at the 2019 World Athletics Championships and gold medals for the 3000 metres at the 2016 and 2018 World Indoor Championships. He was the 2013 World Youth 3000 m champion and 2014 World Junior 5000 m gold medallist.
Yomif was introduced to the sport of athletics by his friend Abebe Dribsa. Against his father's wishes, Yomif dropped out of high school in the ninth grade to pursue running, leading to his expulsion from home. Yomif secured school clearance to apply for the police force, and returned home at the suggestion of his mother.
Yomif joined the Burayu Kenema Club, and moved to the outskirts of Addis Ababa to train.
target="_blank" rel="nofollow"> Wayback Machine: On 31 August, he placed third in the 5000 m at the Diamond League Brussels Final. He ran a personal best of 12:46.79, making him the seventh-fastest runner ever in the event.
Yomif won the silver medal for the 10,000 metres at the 2019 World Athletics Championships held in Doha, Qatar, finished eighth in the event at the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics in 2021, and placed also eighth in the 5000 m at the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon.
Yomif was a member of the Nike Oregon Project from 2018 to 2019, where he trained alongside Galen Rupp and Sifan Hassan.
On 2 June, at the Golden Gala meeting in Florence, Yomif narrowly finished second to Mohamed Katir over the 5000 metres, in a time of 12:52.12, losing to Katir by only 0.03 seconds. On June 15, Yomif won the 5000 metres at the Bislett Games in Oslo in a time of 12:41.73, the fifth-fastest time in 5000 metre history. Finishing second to Yomif was Jacob Kiplimo, who lost by 0.003 seconds in one of the smallest margins in distance running history (12:41.725 to 12:41.728, making them the joint fifth fastest 5000 metre runners in history at the time).
At the end of the 2023 outdoor season, on 17 September, Yomif competed in the 3000 metres at the Diamond League Final (Prefontaine Classic) in Eugene, Oregon. He finished second to Jakob Ingebrigtsen, in a time of 7:23.64, losing by only one hundredth of a second. At the time, this was the fourth fastest men's 3000m performance in history, behind Ingebrigtsen's 7:23.63, Hicham El Guerrouj's 7:23.09, and Daniel Komen's world record of 7:20.67.
After exchanging leads with his teammates for most of the race, Yomif finished sixth in the 2024 Olympic 10,000 m.
On 27 October, in the 2024 Valencia Half Marathon, Yomif set a new half marathon world record of 57:30, breaking Jacob Kiplimo's former half marathon world record of 57:31 by one second. In 2025, Kiplimo broke Yomif's record by 48 seconds, running 56:42.
Yomif's running hero is compatriot Kenenisa Bekele, a four time Olympic medalist. He trains daily, running between 120 and 140 kilometres a week. He often trains alongside Telahun Haile Bekele, Hagos Gebrhiwet and Birhanu Balew.
| 2013 | World Youth Championships | Donetsk, Ukraine | 1st | 3000 m | |
| 2014 | African Youth Games | Gaborone, Botswana | 1st | 3000 m | |
| World Junior Championships | Eugene, OR, United States | 1st | 5000 m | ||
| Youth Olympic Games | Nanjing, China | 1st | 3000 m | ||
| 2015 | African Junior Championships | Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | 1st | 5000 m | |
| World Championships | Beijing, China | 4th | 5000 m | ||
| 2016 | World Indoor Championships | Portland, OR, United States | 1st | 3000 m | |
| 2017 | World Championships | London, United Kingdom | 4th | 5000 m | |
| 2018 | World Indoor Championships | Birmingham, United Kingdom | 1st | 3000 m | |
| 2019 | World Championships | Doha, Qatar | 2nd | 10,000 m | |
| 2021 | Olympic Games | Tokyo, Japan | 8th | 10,000 m | |
| 2022 | World Championships | Eugene, OR, United States | 8th | 5000 m | |
| 2023 | World Championships | Budapest, Hungary | 5th | 5000 m | |
| 2024 | Olympic Games | Paris, France | 6th | 10,000 m | |
| 2025 | World Championships | Tokyo, Japan | 2nd | 10,000 m |
| Outdoor Track | 1500 m | 3:31.25 | Boston | 3 March 2019 | |
| Mile run | 3:58.24 | Stanford | 30 June 2019 | ||
| 3000 m | 7:23.64 | Eugene | 17 September 2023 | 5th all time | |
| 5000 m | 12:38.95 | Oslo | 30 May 2024 | 4th all time | |
| 10,000 m | 26:31.01 | Nerja | 14 June 2024 | 7th all time | |
| Indoor Track | 1000 m | 2:18.34 | Seattle | 12 January 2019 | |
| 1500 m | 3:31.25 | Boston | 3 March 2019 | En route to mile | |
| Mile run | 3:47.01 | 4th all time | |||
| 2000 m | 4:57.74 | Metz | 28 February 2014 | ||
| 3000 m | 7:38.67 | Karlsruhe | 3 February 2018 | ||
| Road | 5 km | 12:50 | Lille | 19 March 2023 | 2nd all time |
| 10 km | 26:37 | Laredo | 16 March 2024 | 3rd all time | |
| Half marathon | 57:30 | Valencia | 27 October 2024 | 2nd all time |
|
|
