having the flu. A run at the 2012 London Marathon saw him perform better than he did in 2010, but he lost touch with the leading pack after the halfway point and came fourteenth with a time of 2:10:41 hours. He was chosen as Eritrea's flag bearer at the 2012 London Olympics and ran in the 10,000 metres final. He set the pace early on in the race but was defeated in the sprint finish, finishing in sixth place some three seconds behind the winner Mo Farah. After the Olympics he ran at the 2012 World Half Marathon Championships. He dominated the race from just beyond the 5 km point, and won it convincingly in a time of 1:00:19 hours, 32 seconds ahead of the runner-up, Deressa Chimsa. Only two weeks later he entered the Great Birmingham Run, but he appeared tired and finished third in a race where the top three all dipped under Haile Gebrselassie's course record. 2013–19 seasons Zersenay managed only seventh at the World's Best 10K in February but returned to the top of the podium in his speciality at the Prague Half Marathon, edging out his training partner Amanuel Mesel with a time of 60:10. He clocked another win over the distance at the Gifu Seiryu Half Marathon, beating the defending champion Martin Mathathi and setting a course record of 60:31 minutes. In October, he attempted to run the Chicago Marathon, but dropped out shortly after the halfway point. He did not compete again until February 2014, when he won at the small Cáceres cross country in Spain. At the 2016 Olympics in Rio he competed in the final of the 10,000 m finishing 8th in a time of 27.23. He won 18 out of 29 half Marathons he raced. In 2019, he competed in the men's marathon at the 2019 World Athletics Championships held in Doha, Qatar. He finished in 6th place. Personal life A quietly spoken athlete, he frequently states that his victories are a tribute to his country. Eritrea is one of Africa's newest and least populous countries, and Zersenay's achievements on the world athletics stage have made him one of the country's most identifiable sportsmen. He is a popular public figure in his home country; 2500 guests attended his wedding to Merhawit Solomon, which was broadcast live on Eritrean television. His brother, Kidane Tadese, is also a professional distance runner who