Meb Keflezighi

Meb Keflezighi is one of those athletes whose story I find genuinely moving. Born in Asmara, Eritrea, he immigrated to the United States, ran out of San Diego and UCLA, and seized Olympic marathon silver in 2004. What strikes me most is his refusal to fade. He kept returning from injury, kept competing at the top into his late thirties, all on a frame far smaller than his rivals. He embodies the immigrant arc America likes to tell about itself, and he earned every line of it on the road. To me he's a model of grit, gratitude, and quiet leadership.

Name (English)

Meb Keflezighi

Name (Japanese)

メブ・ケフレジギ

Reading

めぶ・けふれじぎ

Born

May 5, 1975 (age 51)

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Taurus / Rabbit

Origin

Asmara, Eritrea

Height

170 cm

Occupation

marathon runner / long-distance runner / athletics competitor

High school

San Diego High School

University

University of California, Los Angeles

Awards & achievements

• 2007 Great Immigrants Award

Motto

Private

• Official sitehttps://marathonmeb.com/
• Instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/runmeb/
• Xhttps://x.com/runmeb
• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%A1%E3%83%96%E3%83%BB%E3%82%B1%E3%83%95%E3%83%AC%E3%82%B8%E3%82%AE

Tags

• marathon runner
• long-distance runner
• athletics competitor

Last updated

2026-06-02

Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.