Ebba Tulu Chala
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | Swedish |
| Born | 22 June 1996 |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Track and Field |
Event | marathon |
| Club | Keep Up RC |
Ebba Tulu Chala (born 22 June 1996)[1] is a Swedish athlete who competes in the marathon. He was born in Ethiopia and emigrated as a child.
Early life
Chala is an Oromo from near Bekoji, where the altitude is between 2,500 and 3,000 metres.[2] and although he was not a runner, he walked between one and two hours each way to school. He found his way to refugee accommodation in Salem, near Stockholm, where he stayed for a year.[2] Two months after his arrival, at Sågbäcksgymnasiet, his school in Huddinge Municipality, he tried running and discovered he was very fast.[3]
Running career
Three weeks after his discovery, Chala was entered by his teacher in a 10,000 m race at Nacka, and came third with a time of 32.22.[3] Since 2015, he has won one bronze and four silver medals at the Swedish Athletics Championships,[1] his first for the marathon being silver in 2019.[4]
At the Seville Marathon in February 2020, he reached the international qualifying standard for the Summer Olympics as well as the World Athletics Championships with a personal best time of 2:11:18;[4][5] however, the Swedish Olympic standard is lower, at 2 hours, 11 minutes.[6] Sidelined by injuries after that, he returned to run the Stockholm Marathon in 2021 and in early 2022 trained in Ethiopia together with the Iranian-Swedish marathoner Mohammad Reza.[4] He was not selected for the 2021 Olympics.[7]
Initially threatened with deportation,[3] Chala became a naturalised Swedish citizen on 15 May 2022.[1]
He was selected for the Swedish team to compete over 1500 metres at the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Japan, in September 2025.[8]
References
- ^ a b c "Ebba Tulu Chala". Friidrottsstatistik.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 8 August 2022.
- ^ a b Åkeson, Claes (26 November 2016). "Från flykting till elit: RW möter Ebba Tulu Chala". Runner's World (in Swedish).
- ^ a b c Dickson, Staffan (29 October 2013) [24 September 2015]. "Löparlöftet kan utvisas". Aftonbladet (in Swedish). Retrieved 8 August 2022.
- ^ a b c Nesi, Lorenzo (21 February 2022). "Ebba under VM-kvalgränsen i Sevilla". Marathon.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 8 August 2022.
- ^ Grip, Mikael (23 February 2020). "Svenskt maratonrekord av Mustafa Mohamed!". Spring: Löpning för alla (in Swedish). Retrieved 8 August 2022.
- ^ Nesi, Lorenzo (23 February 2020). "Hanna, Ebba och Micke så nära OS-gränsen". Marathon.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 8 August 2022.
- ^ Nesi, Lorenzo [@CoachLN] (2 July 2021). "The list of 17 qualified marathon runners who by various reasons will not participate at the #Olympics2021" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ "Duplantis among 17 Swedish athletes preparing for 2025 World Championships". Flashscore. 25 June 2025. Retrieved 3 September 2025.