YIDNEKACHEW TESSEMA                                                                               Nominated by Biniyam Getachew
Yidnekachew Tessema was the founder of the Ethiopian Football Federation in 1944.   Between 1960 and 1976 he served as Director and Commissioner of the federation, Vice-Minster of the Ethiopian Sports Ministry and Secretary-General of the Ethiopian Football Federation.  He was once the coach of the national Ethiopian team as well as manager and coach of St. George Football Club.  He was also the team leader of the Ethiopian national team at the Olympics in Rome in 1960.

Yidnekachew Tessema was a founding member of the African Football Confederation when it was setup in 1957 in the Sudanese capital as the first inter-continental organization six years before the establishment of the Organization of the African Union.  From 1958 to 1972 he served as the Vice-President of the confederation before he was elected to lead the confederation as president for four consecutive terms from 1972 - 1987. As a direct result of Yidnekachew Tessema’s famous work and lobbying, Ethiopia hosted the 1962 African Cup of Nations – which was the third soccer championship of Africa (CAF). Nine countries participated in the competition and Ethiopia won the tournament for the first time after extra time in the final.  And the 1968 African Cup of Nations was the sixth African Cup of Nations, and once more it was hosted by Ethiopia. Democratic Republic of Congo won its first championship and Ethiopia finished the tournament in fourth place.  Yet again, the 1976 African Cup of Nations (the tenth African Cup of Nations) was hosted by Ethiopia. Morocco won its first championship.

Yidnekachew Tessema died in 1987 at the age of 65.  But his legacy lives on.  He was a man who dedicated his entire life to his passion – football.  Not only was he passionate about football, he was also passionate about his beloved Ethiopia and the continent of Africa.  He did things no other man was able to do before him either in Ethiopia or in the entire continent of Africa.  African in general and Ethiopia in particular are indebted to him for all his pioneering works and passion that remain unparalleled to date.  

ABEBE BIKILA                                                                                            Nominated by Selamawit Asseged
Athlete Abebe Bikila won the first ever marathon Gold medal for Africa and set an unofficial world record after running barefoot at the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome. He then bested his own record at the subsequent 1964 Olympics in Tokyo to become the first athlete in the world to win back-to-back Olympic marathon titles.

He was little known outside of Ethiopia when he entered the 1960 Olympics to run the marathon barefoot on the cobblestones of the Appian Way. Tied for the lead for much of the race, he broke ahead in the last 1,000 metres and crossed the finish line in 2 hours 15 minutes 15.2 seconds. Four years later, he underwent an appendectomy a month before the Tokyo Olympics. Nevertheless, he won a second gold medal running the marathon - this time wearing shoes - in 2 hours 12 minutes 11.2 seconds. He entered the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City but was forced to drop out of the marathon with a broken leg after 10 miles. Abebe Bikila died in 1973 at the age of 41 after a car accident in 1969 caused the lower part of his body to be paralysed.

HAILE GEBRESELASSIE                                                                               Nominated by Biniyam Getachew
Haile Gebreselassie made us all proud time and time again braking 18 world records, winning two Olympic 10,000m gold medals and four world 10,000 m titles. The stories of most of his compelling and heroic victories have been told all around the world overshadowing the gloomy stereotypical stories that western media outlets propagate relentlessly.

Most Ethiopians find him to be a sole cause for optimism at a period in time when Ethiopia's image in the world seems to have hit rock bottom. Although athletics excellence has been one of the hallmarks of Ethiopia for a very long time, Haile is like no other athlete not only in Ethiopia but anywhere in the world. He has made all the impossible possible setting a perfect example to people of all nations and ages what we could achieve as humans if we strive hard enough.

GEREMEW DENBOBA                                                                                                Nominated by Fasika Alemu
Geremew Denboba is an ambitious athlete who represented Ethiopia in the 1956 Melbourne Olympics in Australia as a cyclist and as a team leader and it was the first time ever that Ethiopia participated in the Olympics.  He carried the Ethiopian flag at the stadium in Melbourne putting his name in the history books as the first person to have done so as it was Ethiopia's debut at the Olympics.  The team he led to Melbourne had a very exhausting flight from Addis and it took them nearly 7 days to arrive. Because they spent so much time on air, they did not have enough time to practice. Yet in the end, the Ethiopian team returned home ranking 9th in the world.

Geremew Denboba is one of the first names associated with Ethiopian Cycling and in his long cycling career, he has won more than 26 cups and 32 gold and silver medals in both national and international competitions. In the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne, Geremew Denboba finished in 24th place and was the first finisher over his Asian and African competitors. In the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games, Demboba led the Ethiopian Cycling team as head coach. In this occasion, he was able to lead his Cycling team to finish ahead of the African and Asian competitors. This is an achievement Ethiopia has not been able to repeat at any international cycling competition to date. In subsequent years, he traveled around the world coaching the Ethiopian cycling team and sharing his experience and expertise with aspiring cyclists.  He took the national cycling team to many African countries, the former Soviet Union and United Arab Emirates to take part in international competitions.

Geremew Demboba is a dedicated and pioneering athlete who has devoted his time and resources to the growth of cycling in Ethiopia.  And he will always be mentioned as the first international cycling athlete in Ethiopia and the first Ethiopian to carry the Ethiopian flag at Ethiopia’s first Olympics in 1956.  He is a man who followed his ambitions and dreams vigorously to have done what no other Ethiopian before him did. 

DERARTU TULU                                                                                                    Nominated by Robel Yohannes
Derartu Tulu is a remarkable Ethiopian athlete who won the women's 10,000m contest at the Barcelona Olympics in 1992, clocking 31:06.02 to become the first African women to win the 10,000m event.  In the 10,000m final at the 1992 Olympics, Elana Meyer of South Africa pulled away from the field after 6,100m and only Derartu was able to keep pace with her. Meyer tried to force Derartu to pass her, but Derartu refused. Finally, just before the start of the last lap, Derartu darted into the lead and went on to win by 30 meters becoming the first African woman to win an Olympic Gold medal. 

Derartu Tulu returned to the Olympics in 1996, but finished in fourth place. However, her running career was far from over. At the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, Derartu again entered the 10,000m. Regaining her form of eight years earlier, she took the lead at the bell signaling the final lap and sprinted ahead to a clear victory once more becoming the first woman to win two gold medals in Olympic distance races.   Besides her triumphant run at the Sydney Olympics in 2000, she also won the IAAF World Cross Country Championships title for the third time that year. In 2001, she won her world 10,000 track title in Edmonton. This was her third world and Olympic gold medal. She has a total of 6 world and Olympic gold medals.

Derartu Tulu was born in 1972 and started running at the age of 16.  In her thriving athletic career so far, she has managed to win 35 gold, 12 silver and 15 bronze medals, and still running.  Derartu has a special place in history and a very special place in the hearts of Ethiopians.  Many will recall her victory lap in the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona – Spain – and her subsequent celebration wrapped with a giant Ethiopian flag.  That scene will always remain cherished in the hearts of Ethiopians as an unforgettable display of affection for Ethiopia on the world stage.