Name: Zersenay Tadese

Country: Eritrea

Stats: Tadese set the half-marathon world record, finishing first in last year's World Half Marathon Championships in Bulgaria with a time of 1:00:19. He represented his country in the 2004, 2008 and 2012 Olympics. He finished 6th in the London Games' 10,000-meter race with a time of 27:33.51. He set his personal marathon best in London with a finish of 2:10:41.

Details: The long-distance runner has set quite a few "firsts" during his career. He was the first Eritrean to win an Olympic medial and the country's first to win a world championship event.