After her bitter exit at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, Melat Kejeta is returning to her place of marathon breakthrough. She is planning an attack on her best time at the 2024 Berlin Marathon on Sunday (8.30 a.m./RTL and RTL+). In an interview with sport.de/ntv, the 31-year-old talks about her tough and extraordinary career path, the Berlin plan, her greatest wish and why sometimes she just has to scream in the forest.
ntv.de: Ms. Kejeta, you have already had an eventful year: In the summer you were at the Olympics – you left relatively early with stomach problems: How bad was that situation?
Melat Kejeta: I had stomach problems the day before and the doctors gave me painkillers. Unfortunately, that didn’t quite work. I had this nausea when running downhill. I had to get out early and couldn’t continue. That was a real shame.
What happened next – did the preparation continue according to plan?
After Paris I went back to Germany, then a week or two later to the training camp in St. Moritz and now I’m in the middle of preparing for Berlin. I have a bit of problems with my knee. Still, things are going quite well.
Now the big highlight of Berlin is coming up: what have you planned?
I had a total of four months to prepare for Paris and was in Ethiopia and St. Moritz. I wanted to take advantage of that because we invested so much. I really wanted to run in Berlin. I ran my first marathon there in 2019 and I wanted to do it again. I would like to run the best time at home.
Her marathon star rose back then in Berlin. In 2019 you ran furiously – the fastest debut for a German woman. What memories do you have of it?
Yes, that was incredible. And it was also my birthday. This also made my Olympic dream come true. A great day.
How important was that experience for you back then?
That was very important because I was able to fulfill my big dream by qualifying for the Olympics. And for the first time after my naturalization, I started as a German.
How do you assess the competition this year?
They are very strong, I thought as soon as I saw the starting list. There are top runners there.
At the beginning of the year you set an exclamation mark in Dubai and reduced your best time to 2:21:47 hours. Are you in the shape of your life?
I don’t know that. I would like to run 2:18:00, that’s my big goal. My best form is yet to come. I have to keep working hard and stay healthy. Now I want to improve my best time and attack 2:18:00 in the next few years.
After your first Olympic Games in Japan in 2021, you took a break of almost two years because you had a daughter. How did you experience this time?
It was a gift from God. I have always wanted to have a child. I am very grateful to God. As a mother, it’s not easy to exercise. But I have helpers. I have my mother in Ethiopia. And here I have help from my trainer who looks after the little one.
After the maternity break you reported back in 2023. How difficult was it for you to get back into the professional rhythm?
Coming back wasn’t that difficult. I googled how other athletes came back, how they did it and based myself on that and then trained the same way.
What’s it like now: Training with a small child – is your child in the training camp?
My child is always there. Without her I can’t stay anywhere for that long. When I am in Africa, my daughter stays with my mother. In Kenya I also have a housemaid who helps.
You have already experienced a lot: you grew up in Ethiopia. In 2013 you fled to Germany because of the political situation – how difficult was this step back then?
It hasn’t been easy. But you get used to it. At the beginning, especially in the first year, it wasn’t easy to get used to everything and the new culture. I also had my own stress from all the political things.
Was running an outlet for you, something calming in this difficult situation? Did it help you?
Yes, it has always helped me a lot. Whenever I’m stressed, I go outside, preferably somewhere in the forest. Most of the time I go to the forest. I can scream there sometimes – that’s why I like to go there. As a stress reliever.
Kejeta at the Berlin Half Marathon 2017, two years before her breakthrough.
(Photo: imago/Camera 4)
What did you learn from that situation back then?
I always wanted to fulfill my dream. The stress didn’t get me down. When I lose, it makes me stronger to get back out there. My trainer in Kassel, Winfried Aufenanger, helped me a lot at the beginning with the paperwork and naturalization. He was my best coach. He helped me a lot in Kassel, I am forever grateful to him. I couldn’t have done it without him. Then I wouldn’t be here.
You worked as a hairdresser in Ethiopia and initially as a cleaner in Germany. Local sponsors then supported your running career. At the beginning, in this difficult new situation, would you have thought that your professional career in Germany would work?
I already thought that I could go far. I was already a top runner in Ethiopia. Then things went down a bit because everything was new in Germany. I just believed in God and he showed me the way and I did it.
Do you still have contact with the family in Ethiopia? Will they keep their fingers crossed when you start in Berlin?
Most people don’t know much about running competitions. My mother follows everything, but all she knows is that I have a competition. But I don’t always tell her where she can look at it. She then often looks at the highlights on the laptop afterwards.
What else do you dream of, what is your big goal?
I would like to compete in the Olympic Games again because unfortunately it didn’t work out in Paris. Unfortunately that was disappointing. My dream is to win a medal at the Olympics. That would be my greatest wish.
Emmanuel Schneider spoke to Melat Kejeta
