"I was thinking about winning this gold since 2019, but Hassan was always there. I was also watching Hellen Obiri...This time, I was really watching them, and I knew I had to be very fast in the last 300 metres."

"I ran a 3000m race representing my Woreda [district] and finished second at the All-Tigray Games...It was this performance that convinced me that I may have a future in athletics."

"Some people believe that it is nowadays very difficult for junior winners to make it at senior level...But I believe that there is nothing that stops a junior athlete from making it at senior level. Actually, coming up from success at junior levels is easier because there is little pressure and expectation when competing with senior athletes."

"I really did not do anything special to prepare for Guiyang...I never stress about competition and thought I should just follow the leading group and rely on my finishing speed at the end. I am really happy about my individual result, but even happier that we [Ethiopia] took the top three places."

"With God’s help, I can get the double...I am very confident now."

"I was pretty confident that I was going to win, But I realized in the last mile that I couldn’t hang on and I had to settle for second."

"I have a good chance. I'm in good shape and I'm feeling fine, but there are other strong athletes in the field and I will never stop fighting for it."

"I think I knew what discipline was as a child growing up at home. In Ethiopia there are things that you just have to accomplish. For example, I had always had to fetch water from the nearest river and wood from the forest, even though there were hyenas all around. That’s how you learn that sometimes you have to overcome things."