By Paul Gains
Abdi Fufa will compete in the TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon October 20th joining a large contingent of fellow Ethiopians on the trans Atlantic flight. Once again this is a World Athletics Elite Label race.
The 28 year-old has a personal best of 2:05:57 from the 2021 Sienna Marathon a time that will catch the attention of his competitors and perhaps cast him as a race favourite amongst the field.
More recently he finished 4th in the 2024 Dubai Marathon with a solid clocking of 2:06:23. It is no surprise, then, that Abdi aims to be on the Toronto Waterfront Marathon podium.
“My expectation in the Toronto Waterfront Marathon is to see myself on the podium,” he declares. “My (long term) goal is running well to support my family.”
Although he is married Abdi and his wife do not yet have children. In a country where the per capita annual income is a little over $1,000 the lure of Toronto Waterfront Marathon prize money – $20,000 to the winner – is immense.
The latest result in Dubai was a welcome sign that his injuries are behind him. Indeed, he didn’t compete at all in 2023.
“I had a calf injury which took me a long time to recover from,” he reveals. “But then I had continuous massage therapy and now I feel better.”
Abdi like many others grew up on a farm with his five brothers and four sisters. An elder brother enjoyed some success as a distance runner and the young Abdi took notice.
“My elder brother Imane Fufa was a good 10,000m runner and he is the one who inspired me,” he explains. “I saw him running during my childhood and so I started to run.”
After coming to the attention of the Ethiopian Athletics Federation he was selected to represent his country at the 2019 World Cross Country Championships in Aarhus, Denmark where he finished 15th. As the third Ethiopian finisher he helped Ethiopia to the team bronze medal.
These days he lives in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital, and for the past three years has been one of about thirty elite marathon runners training under legendary coach Gemedu Dedefo whose most notable charges are Tigest Assefa and Tamirat Tola.
Tigest smashed the women’s world record with a stunning 2:11:53 a year ago – before taking the Olympic silver medal in Paris – while Tamirat Tola, a last minute addition to the Ethiopian Olympic team, won the gold medal in the Paris Olympics.
It is Tamirat whose influence has proven most impactful upon Abdi. Striking Olympic gold in Paris and before that the 2022 world championship gold as he did in Eugene, Oregon led to grand celebrations amongst the group. The athletes speak of the respect and camaraderie amongst themselves.
Abdi Fufa says Tamirat’s success and the closeness “that we have in the team makes us have a team sprit. We saw Tamirat Tola’s achievement is because of his hard work and patience.”
The group will meet three times a week but each athlete follows a seven days a week program. The commitment is a constant element in Ethiopia’s success Abdi hopes to follow in the success of Tamirat Tola and continue to improve. Perhaps one day he can achieve success at the Olympics and World Championships and add to coach Gemedu’s list of exceptional athletes. The TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon is the next step in that journey.
