Finding the next great endurance talent from the conveyor belt that is East African running has almost become a sport within a sport.
Fans and writers alike love to speculate on the next Eliud Kipchoge or Tirunesh Dibaba and while predicting future talent can be a tricky business there is little doubt that the huge amount of recent attention thrust upon Yalemzerf Yehualaw is justified.
Boasting just two years of international experience, the Ethiopian has already snared an African Games half marathon title and claimed a Word Half Marathon Championships bronze - and but for an unfortunate slip it could have been more.
Yet perhaps most eye-catching of all was her blistering performance at the Delhi Half Marathon on 29 November when she claimed victory in 1:04:46, the second fastest women&rsquo;s performance of all-time.&nbsp;
&ldquo;Many Ethiopian athletes have a natural gift but Yalemzerf had three very good qualities: speed, endurance and good core strength,&rdquo; says her coach Tessema Abshero.
&ldquo;Looking at her speed and body structure, I have not been surprised by her performances over the past two years.&rdquo;&nbsp;
<h2>A standout from age 12 </h2>
Born the eldest of six siblings, Yehualaw enjoyed a typical rural upbringing in West Gojjam in the Amhara region of Ethiopia.
From the age of 12 she was winning track races at school before later progressing to youth track titles in her highly-competitive region.
Such was her talent, she was invited to join the Ethiopian Athletics Federation Academy in Addis Ababa and then, three years ago, to join the NN Running Team coached by Abshero, a group which includes 2019 Amsterdam Marathon winner Degitu Azimeraw and Ethiopian 10km road record holder, Tsehay Gemechu, who has become a close friend.
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&ldquo;I was very happy to join Tessema&rsquo;s group,&rdquo; explains the ever-smiling Yehaulaw. &ldquo;He is a good coach with a good structure, and I also have very strong training partners.&rdquo;
Visa issues delayed the opportunity to race overseas in 2018 but after she finally made her international debut in the Rabat Half Marathon in April last year, she did not disappoint. Claiming victory in the Moroccan capital by a winning by a margin of almost three minutes in 1:09:13, she declared herself &ldquo;very satisfied&rdquo; with her efforts.
A little over two weeks later, she performed with pride on the track to finish fifth at the Ethiopian Championships over 10,000m. Running at an altitude in excess of 2300m she recorded 32:21 &ndash; in a race won by world 5000m record-holder Letesenbet Gidey.
<h2>Victory in first national team appearance </h2>
Highly encouraged by her performance level, Abshero made a strong case for her selection in the Ethiopian team for the half marathon at the African Games in Rabat.
Given her half marathon potential coupled with her experience of racing and winning in the Moroccan city, selectors were convinced by Abshero&rsquo;s urgings and Yehualaw secured a berth on the Ethiopian team &ndash; alongside her training partner Degitu Azimeraw &ndash; for the half marathon distance.
Abshero viewed competing at the African Games as a genuine medal opportunity and was confident his athletes could climb the podium.
&ldquo;I said to them, &lsquo;try and help each other during the race and in the final kilometre decide the order.&rsquo; Looking at how they were performing in training, I knew both ladies could win the medals.&rdquo;
Abshero was right to be confident as the Ethiopian pair dominated. However, it was Yehualaw who prevailed to win by a five-second margin in 1:10:26 and strike gold on her debut for Ethiopia.
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&ldquo;I was very happy to win gold and see the Ethiopian flag so high,&rdquo; she explains. &ldquo;Victory in Rabat gave me a lot of confidence for my future competitions and also a certain financial security.&rdquo;
Buoyed by her performance in Rabat and boasting a new profile, Yehualaw was suddenly a woman in demand. At the 2019 Delhi Half Marathon she posted a massive new PB by more than three minutes to record 1:06:01 and place second, just one second behind her training partner Tsehay Gemechu.&nbsp;
In November she clinched victory in the 10km Great Ethiopian Run in Addis Ababa and concluded a highly successful maiden international year with victory in the Xiamen Marathon in China (1:07:34).
Returning to training at her base in Addis Ababa, she has continued to develop and build her fitness.&nbsp;
<h2>Team berth for Gdynia secured, then pandemic hits </h2>
An unfortunate stomach issue hindered her attempts to produce her best at the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon in February, where she finished sixth in 1:06:35. But she bounced back to win the Women&rsquo;s First 5km in 15:27 in Addis Ababa only for the global pandemic to strike causing the postponement of the World Athletics Half Marathon Championships &ndash; for which she had been selected for the Ethiopian team.
During the early stages of the pandemic she returned to her home village for a month and took some time away from serious training.
However, since returning to the Ethiopian capital and training as part of a smaller COVID secure group, she has gradually rebuilt fitness.
In preparation for the rescheduled World Half Marathon Championships in Gdynia, Poland, the Ethiopians organised a 15km trial race in which Yehualaw impressed by winning, defeating a world-class group of athletes.
&ldquo;In those final weeks of preparation (before Gdynia) her form got better and better,&rdquo; explains Abshero. &ldquo;You could see her improving. I remember she ran 15:45 for the final 5km. That race was at an altitude of 2500m, so I told her then she is in shape to win a gold medal at the World Half Marathon Championships.&rdquo;
<h2>Skidding to Gdynia bronze </h2>
In an incident-packed women&rsquo;s race in Gdynia &ndash; in which several of the main contenders took a tumble &ndash; Yehaulaw produced a mature and perfectly controlled race &ndash; at least for the first 21km.
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Entering the final 100 metres in a three-way battle for the medals she was poised to make her strike only to skid and almost fall on the carpet which covered the sand on the beach finish. Losing vital momentum at that key moment she had to settle for bronze, albeit with a massive new PB of 1:05:19 &ndash; just three seconds behind gold medallist Peres Jepchirchir &ndash; who posted a women&rsquo;s only world record.
Yehualaw says she was &ldquo;very happy&rdquo; to win a first global international medal but her perfectionist coach was disappointed it was not more.
&ldquo;I know Yalemzerf was happy but I knew she could have won gold,&rdquo; adds Abshero, who believes the untimely skid cost her the ultimate prize.
<h2>Making amends in Delhi </h2>
Moving on the New Delhi Half Marathon, where she faced a world-class field which included reigning world marathon champion Ruth Chepngetich, world marathon record-holder Brigid Kosgei and Gemechu, the two-time defending champion, was a daunting prospect.
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Yet running in ideal conditions, Yehualaw ran with the composure and confidence of a champion. Hitting the 10km checkpoint in a blistering 30:49 as part of the lead group, she kicked clear of her rivals in the final three kilometres to stop the clock in a dazzling 1:04:46 &ndash; to come within 15 seconds of Ababel Yeshaneh&rsquo;s world record time set earlier this year in Ras Al Khaimah.
It was comfortably the most impressive performance of the 21-year-old&rsquo;s exciting career, and served special notice of her potential.
&ldquo;I went out to break the course record here in Delhi and I was hoping for a new PB, but I did not expect to come so close world record,&rdquo; explains Yehualaw. "It was more than I expected.&rdquo;
Abshero was similarly stunned and impressed.
&ldquo;I knew she was in good shape and I expected a good performance but never in my dreams did I expect this,&rdquo; he says.&nbsp;
The future looks to be extremely rosy for the Ethiopian who has some big ambitions. Her goal is to win titles over a range of distances and surfaces and according to Abshero her versatility is a huge asset.
&ldquo;She can run well over 5000m and 10,000m on the track, half marathon and one day the marathon on the road.&rdquo;
Yet whatever she goes on to achieve Yehualaw is at this moment one of the world&rsquo;s most exciting young endurance talents and we should take the time to sit back and enjoy the journey over the months and years to come.
Steve Landells for World Athletics

Fans and writers alike love to speculate on the next Eliud Kipchoge or Tirunesh Dibaba and while predicting future talent can be a tricky business there is little doubt that the huge amount of recent attention thrust upon Yalemzerf Yehualaw is justified.

After strong back-to-back runs, Yehualaw rises as a potent half marathon force

Predicting future talent can be a tricky business but there is little doubt that the huge amount of recent attention thrust upon Yalemzerf Yehualaw is justified.

Organisers of the Airtel Delhi Half Marathon have announced that Tsehay Gemechu and Andamlak Belihu will defend their titles at the World Athletics Gold Label road race on Sunday 29 November.
The Ethiopian duo will both be aiming for an unprecedented third successive victory in the Indian capital, but both will race strong fields containing world champions.
Last year, Gemechu improved her own course record from 2018 by 50 seconds when she ran a stunning personal best of 1:06:00.
Ideally, Gemechu would like to go even faster this year but, like so many runners around the world, her training and racing this year have been hugely impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.
&ldquo;Covid-19 is a disaster which has affected everyone's life all over the globe and, definitely, it has affected my training, not least in the early stages of the pandemic when we were all fearful of infection,&rdquo; said Gemechu, who will turn 22 next month.
&ldquo;Later, my coach and I decided to take care of ourselves, taking into account all the advice from the World Health Organization, and I started my own individual training programme with my main goal of coming back to Delhi.&rdquo;
Gemechu will have a host of outstanding rivals in this year's race, arguably the strongest women's field ever seen in the history of the Delhi Half Marathon with seven women having run under 67 minutes.
Among them are two of her compatriots, Yalemzerf Yehualaw and Netsanet Gudeta, as well as world marathon champion Ruth Chepngetich.
The in-form Yehualaw finished second at the 2019 Deli Half Marathon, just one second behind Gemechu, and showed she's a rising star of distance running by finishing third at the World Half Marathon Championships in Gdynia last month in a personal best of 1:05:19.
Gudeta, the 2018 world half marathon champion, was eighth in Gdynia after falling over mid-race, but helped Ethiopia to team gold.
Chepngetich won the world marathon title in Doha last year, having clocked PBs of 1:05:30 for the half marathon and 2:17:08 for the marathon earlier in the season. More recently, she finished third at the London Marathon in 2:22:05.
Belihu will be aiming to finally go into new territory on the streets of Delhi, perhaps even finishing inside 59 minutes, and confirm his place as the most successful runner in Delhi Half Marathon history after having also placed second in his race debut in 2017.
&ldquo;I have been training well in Addis Ababa for the last couple of months and I am very thankful to have the opportunity to race in Delhi, a city I always enjoy returning to and racing in,&rdquo; said Belihu, who will turn 22 just over a week before race day.
&ldquo;This has been a difficult year, for everyone around the world, not just professional athletes, due to the Covid-19 pandemic and I have been training alone much more than I am normally used to,&rdquo; he added. &ldquo;But my fifth place at the World Half Marathon Championships in Poland last month has assured me that I am in good shape and I am confident I can put up a good defence of my title.&rdquo;
Belihu's compatriot Guye Adola still holds the Delhi course record with 59:06 that the latter clocked in 2014 but Belihu has gone very close in the past two years with 59:18 in 2018 and a personal best of 59:10 in 2019.
An unprecedented 13 men in this year&rsquo;s elite field have sub-60-minute PBs, and five of them have actually run faster than Belihu in their careers, including Adola who returns to Delhi for the first time since his record run six years ago.
The fastest man in the field is Bahrain's 2018 world half marathon silver medallist Abraham Cheroben, who holds the Asian record for the distance with 58:40.
Two other men to watch will be the Ethiopian pair of Amdework Walelegn, who was second in Delhi last year and took the bronze medal at World Half Marathon Championships last month, and two-time world 5000m champion Muktar Edris, who will be making his half marathon debut.
The 2020 Delhi Half Marathon will be unlike any previous edition with an estimated 60 elite international and Indian runners in action on the Delhi roads, with the traditional start and finish still in the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. The event will follow the highest level of safety and hygiene standards with bio-secure zones to ensure a Covid-19-free race.
Organisers for World Athletics
<h3>Elite fields</h3>
Men Abraham Cheroben (BRN) 58:40 Guye Adola (ETH) 59:06 Amdework Walelegn (ETH) 59:08 Leonard Barsoton (KEN) 59:09 Andamlak Belihu (ETH) 59:10 Solomon Berihu (ETH) 59:17 Josphat Boit (KEN) 59:19 Edwin Kiptoo (KEN) 59:26 Stephen Mokoka (RSA) 59:36 Abrar Osman (ERI) 59:47 Aron Kifle (ERI) 59:51 Dawit Wolde (ETH) 59:58 Muktar Edris (ETH) debut
Women Yalemzerf Yehualaw (ETH) 1:05:19 Ruth Chepngetich (KEN) 1:05:30 Netsanet Gudeta (ETH) 1:05:45 Tsehay Gemechu (ETH) 1:06:00 Evaline Chirchir (KEN) 1:06:01 Brillian Kipkoech (KEN) 1:06:56 Irene Cheptai (KEN) 1:07:39 Mimi Belete (BRN) 1:08:16 Failuna Matanga (TAN) 1:09:36 Nazret Weldu (ERI) 1:10:51 Tsigie Gebreselama (ETH) debut Hawi Feysa (ETH) debut Eva Cherono (KEN) debut

Organisers of the Airtel Delhi Half Marathon have announced that Tsehay Gemechu and Andamlak Belihu will defend their titles at the World Athletics Gold Label road race on Sunday 29 November.

Defending champions Gemechu and Belihu set to face tough opposition at Delhi Half

In an arena where endurance is king, speed also proved a precious commodity. In the end, Peres Jepchirchir needed both to reign supreme in the women&rsquo;s race at the World Athletics Half Marathon Championships Gdynia 2020 on Saturday (17), powering to gold in 1:05:16, a world record* in a women-only race.
She led home Germany's Melat Yisak Kejeta, who smashed the European women-only record to take silver in 1:05:18, with Ethiopia&rsquo;s Yalemzerf Yehualaw a close third in 1:05:19.
In a race blighted by falls, where three of the leading contenders saw their chances scuppered through unfortunate incidents, the race boiled down to a clash between those able to stay on their feet through the four laps around the streets of Gdynia. 
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 On what was a cold, breezy morning alongside the Baltic Sea, the pace was scorching from the outset. Kenya&rsquo;s Joyciline Jepkosgei was one of the chief aggressors, leading a pack of 13 through the first 5km in 15:20. Midway through the second lap the first casualties began to show from that group and it was whittled to eight, with Turkey&rsquo;s Yasemin Can another keen to push things along.
Ethiopia&rsquo;s Netsanet Gudeta&rsquo;s race almost came to an abrupt stop as the leaders took a 90-degree turn on to the seafront, the defending champion taking a fall and losing several seconds to the leaders. It was a gap she would never close, the Ethiopian slipping farther behind during the third lap.
Can led a group of seven through 10km in 30:47, but on the third lap Jepchirchir made her first strong move, the women-only half marathon world record holder injecting a surge and putting many of those behind in visible distress.
At this point a trio of Ethiopians &ndash; Ababel Yeshaneh, Zeineba Yimer and Yehualaw &ndash; were coasting quietly in their slipstream along with Germany&rsquo;s Kejeta, and as they turned away from the beach to head out on their final lap Yehualaw made her first move towards the front. 
&nbsp;
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Ababel Yeshaneh in action at the World Athletics Half Marathon Championships Gdynia 2020</div>
&nbsp;
 However, Jepkosgei soon seized the advantage again as they ran uphill, with a pack of seven reaching 15km in 46:24. The entire spectre of the race changed with 54 minutes on the clock. Yeshaneh surged to the front but soon began to drift towards the kerb due to the camber of the road, her legs tangling with Jepkosgei and both athletes hitting the deck.
Both were left some 30 metres in arrears by the time they were up and running, with Yehualaw, Can and Kejeta suddenly left alone out front, Yimer and Can also falling off pace as the leaders powered downhill towards the coast for the final time. &nbsp;
Yehualaw and Jepchirchir ran side by side, with Kejeta hanging tough in their slipstream, and as they turned for home with less than a kilometre to run the three ran side by side towards the finish.
Jepchirchir bided her time and took advantage as Yehualaw hesitated entering the finishing straight, the Kenyan 27-year-old digging in and surging clear to a memorable victory. Kejeta took more than three minutes off her personal best in second and the 28-year-old, who previously represented Ethiopia, was ecstatic with her runner-up spot.
&nbsp;
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Peres Jepchirchir in action at the World Athletics Half Marathon Championships Gdynia 2020</div>
&nbsp;
"It's unbelievable," said Jepchirchir. "My goal was to win this race. I did not expect that I would beat the world record, but I realised that it could happen when we passed 20km. It was a little bit windy, but the course was good for me.
"I feel sorry for the athletes who fell, they are strong athletes. When they fell, I almost fell down too, but I jumped.
"My season is not yet complete," added Jepchirchir. "I still have Valencia Marathon in December so I&rsquo;ll prepare for that. I think this win gave me a lot. I'd like to run 2:17 or 2:18 for the marathon.
"This pandemic was difficult and it affected a lot of people. I used this time to train, I didn&rsquo;t stop my training because I was trying to reach my shape.
"I am so happy with this. It&rsquo;s a gift to all the Kenyans, to my family. I am going to rest now for one week to recover then I&rsquo;ll continue training for Valencia."
Back in third, Yehualaw led Ethiopia to gold in the team event to back up the title they won at the last edition two years ago, with Yimer&rsquo;s 1:05:39 in fourth and Yeshaneh&rsquo;s 1:05:41 in fifth giving them the quickest cumulative time with 3:16:39, smashing the championship record. Kenya took team silver with 3:18:10 while Germany took bronze with 3:28:42.
In a race of unprecedented depth, the first six women finished inside 66 minutes and the top nine finished inside 67 minutes.
Although Jepkosgei lost her momentum after taking a tumble, she still managed to finish sixth in 1:05:58, the third-fastest time of her career after her two world records from 2017. In seventh, Can broke the Turkish record with 1:06:20 to finish 28 seconds ahead of Gudeta.
Kenya's Brillian Kipkoech (1:06:56) and Rosemary Wanjiru (1:07:10) rounded out the top 10, while a bit further back there were national records for Switzerland's Fabienne Schlumpf (13th, 1:08:38) and Uganda's Juliet Chekwel (14th, 1:08:44).
Cathal Dennehy for World Athletics
*Pending the usual ratification procedure

In an arena where endurance is king, speed also proved a precious commodity. In the end, Peres Jepchirchir needed both to reign supreme in the women’s race at the World Athletics Half Marathon Championships Gdynia 2020 on Saturday (17), powering to gold in 1:05:16, a world record in a women-only race.

Jepchirchir breaks women-only world record at World Athletics Half Marathon Championships Gdynia 2020

Yalemzerf Yehualaw and Hailemaryam Kiros were victorious over 15km on Wednesday (23) in a race that started in&nbsp;Beke and ended in Sandafa.
The event will be used by Ethiopian Athletics as a form guide when selecting its team for the World Athletics Half Marathon Championships Gdynia 2020.
African Games Half Marathon champion Yehualaw, like many athletes in this race, hadn&rsquo;t competed for several months because of the pandemic. Before today, her most recent races were back in February and March when she clocked a road 5km PB of 15:27 and ran 1:06:35 to finish fifth at the Ras al Khaimah Half Marathon.
The 21-year-old clearly hasn&rsquo;t lost any form since then, however, and she held off world half marathon champion Netsanet Gudeta to win in 50:15. Gudeta was a close second in 50:18.
Zeineba Yimer, who hadn&rsquo;t raced since clocking 2:19:46 on her marathon debut in Valencia in December last year, finished third in 50:30, nine seconds ahead of Ababel Yeshaneh, who earlier this year set a world half marathon record of 1:04:31.
Hailemaryam Kiros, the African U18 steeplechase silver medallist back in 2013, was a surprise winner of the men&rsquo;s race. He crossed the line in 42:59 to finish four seconds ahead of runner-up Andamlak Belihu, the two-time Delhi Half Marathon winner and World Championships 10,000m fifth-place finisher.
Amedework Walelegn, the 2017 world U20 cross-country silver medallist, finished just a stride behind Belihu and was given the same time for third place. Tokyo Marathon champion Birhanu Legese and 2017 Berlin Marathon runner-up Guye Adola were next to finish, clocking 43:20 and 43:36 respectively.
<h3> Leading results</h3>
Men 1 Hailemaryam Kiros 42:59 2 Andamlak Belihu 43:03 3 Amedework Walelegn 43:03 4 Birhanu Legese 43:20 5 Guye Adola 43:36 6 Leul Gebresilase 44:12
Women 1 Yalemzerf Yehualaw 50:15 2 Netsanet Gudeta 50:18 3 Zeineba Yimer 50:30 4 Ababel Yeshaneh 50:39 5 Sisay Meseret Gola 51:00 6 Medhin Beyene 51:15

Yalemzerf Yehualaw and Hailemaryam Kiros were victorious over 15km on Wednesday (23) in a race that started in Beke and ended in Sandafa.

After strong back-to-back runs, Yehualaw rises as a potent half marathon force

Defending champions Gemechu and Belihu set to face tough opposition at Delhi Half

Jepchirchir breaks women-only world record at World Athletics Half Marathon Championships Gdynia 2020

Yehualaw and Kiros win Ethiopia’s trial race for Gdynia