Inspired by her father and Ethiopian distance-running great Meseret Defar, 17-year-old Elsabet Amare is preparing to represent her country at the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games. The runner hopes her journey will encourage other young athletes from her hometown of Injibara.

Before a race, Ethiopian runner Elsabet Amare tries to stay positive. As she prepares to represent a nation known for its great runners, she hopes the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games will offer another opportunity to win medals.

The 17-year-old has already shown what she can do on a big stage. At an under-18 competition in Nigeria in 2025, she waited until the final moments of the 800 metres to make her move.

World Athletics described her finish as “a tactical masterclass”. Elsabet sat behind Kenya’s Vicody Chemutai until the final 200 metres, then accelerated to win in 2:02.96.

“I know I have a strong finishing ability, and that is what I utilised,” she said. Elsabet had won silver in the 1,500 metres at the same competition before lining up for the 800 metres.

“I was determined to win Gold in the 800 meter,” she explained.

Missing out on gold in the first race motivated her to seize the next opportunity, just as she has done before while pursuing her passion for running.

Elsabet grew up in Injibara, a town in the Awi zone of Ethiopia’s Amhara region, about 440 kilometres from Addis Ababa. She credits her father with sparking her interest in the sport.

“I started running because of my father. He loved athletics. He used to follow the sport through reading magazines and watching TV,” she said.

Her father encouraged her to enter the sport, she said, but never forced her to run. Inspired by him, she began competing at school and represented her school in tournaments.

A high school history teacher, her father never taught her in class, but he told her about Ethiopia’s great athletes.

“He used to watch the likes of Haile Gebrselassie, Kenenisa Bekele, Tirunesh Dibaba and Meseret Defar,” she said.

“I learned about the athletes at school and read about them in our text book.”

One athlete in particular captured her attention.

“Meseret was the one athlete I used to look up to growing up,” Elsabet said.

She admired Defar’s resilience and desire to win and wanted to be like her. Elsabet also speaks of the support young athletes received from their community in Injibara.

“Growing up, the community supported all of the young athletes who aspired to make it in the big stages. We had a project where I used to train, and projects like ours used to be supported,” she said.

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Her teachers helped her follow her dream too. Sport was her favourite subject, and she pursued athletics even though balancing training and schoolwork was difficult.

“My teachers used to support me once they knew I had started running. They used to allow me to go to tournaments and helped me to catch up with my schoolwork when I came back,” she explained.

Ethiopia’s athletics team has been training for the past six months, she said. “With God’s grace we expect to be successful in Dakar.”

As she looks ahead to the Games, Elsabet says the support around her has helped her feel confident.

“My coaches always support and motivate me. I am well prepared but not stressed. I will give it my best.”

She hopes support for young runners in her home region will continue.

“In the region I grew up, there is support, but that needs to continue. There are so many talented runners there.”

Just as Meseret Defar inspired her, Elsabet wants her own journey to inspire the athletes who come after her.

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