MONTE CARLO: (Jan 4, 2004 ) Ethiopia’s Olympic 10,000 metres champion Kenenisa Bekele was hit by tragedy on Tuesday when his 18-year-old fiancee Alem Techale died of a heart attack while out training with him, it was reported on the IAAF website.
Techale, who became the first Ethiopian woman to win a major global 1500m title when she won the World Youth Championship in 2003, was training with Bekele in Ararat, a forest in a hilly area on the outskirts of Addis Abeba.
Techale, who was due to marry the six-time world cross country champion in Addis Abeba on May 8, collapsed and was carried by Bekele to his car but she died on the way to the hospital.
Her funeral will be held in her hometown of Arsela on Wednesday.
IAAF president Lamine Diack expressed his condolences to 22-year-old Bekele, who has done the double in the short and long course cross country world championship races three times in the last three years and is also the reigning world champion in the 10,000m.
I remember Alem as an extremely gifted athlete who, after being crowned as World Youth Champion in 2003, looked set for a long and successful career in our sport,'' wrote Diack. I also recall meeting her at the last edition of the World Athletics Gala when you were honoured as (2004) Athlete of the Year, and remember her as a charming person with a warm and pleasant personality. She will be sadly missed.’’