Meskerem started running middle-distance races in 2001 and while in
Oregon in 2003 she ran an
800 metres best of 2:01.11 minutes and a
1500 metres best of 4:03.96 minutes. She was mainly based in the United States until 2007. A win at the
All-Ethiopian Games in
Addis Ababa and a runner-up finish at the
Ethiopian Athletics Championships brought her a place at the
2007 All-Africa Games, where she placed fourth with a run of 4:09.83 minutes. The following year brought her first major senior medal – she was the
silver medallist behind
Gelete Burka in the 1500 m at the
2008 African Championships in Athletics. On the
Brazilian athletics circuit she had three straight wins including a personal best of 2:02.12 minutes in the 800 m in
Rio de Janeiro. Her best run in the 1500 m that season was 4:05.67 minutes, which came at a meeting in
Jerez de la Frontera. A runner-up finish at the national championships earned her a place at the
2009 World Championships in Athletics. She passed the first round, but did not start in the semi-final. Her best 1500 m that year (4:05.99) was at the
Prefontaine Classic in
Eugene, Oregon, Her major competition of 2010 was the
African Championships, where she was fifth over 1500 m. In spite of success in longer races, Meskerem focused on the 1500 m in 2011 and achieved her best results yet. She ran a career best of 4:03.63 minutes for second at the
Colorful Daegu Championships Meeting, then improved this further to 4:02.12 minutes as runner-up at the
Golden Gala IAAF Diamond League meeting. She ran 4:06.32 for another second place at the
Brazzaville meeting and placed seventh with a run of 4:04.48 minutes at the top level
Herculis meet. She ranked second to
Kalkidan Gezahegne among Ethiopian runners that year. She was again chosen to represent Ethiopia on the global stage, but was eliminated in the heats of the
2011 World Championships in Athletics. Meskerem's second Olympic appearance followed at the
2012 London Games, but again she did not progress beyond the
heats of the 1500 m. After the Olympics she placed second at the
DécaNation competition. Meskerem made a significant, and successful, step up in distance at the beginning of 2013 as she entered the
Houston Marathon and finished in third place with a time of 2:25:17 hours. Three months later she was runner-up to
Flomena Cheyech at the
Vienna Marathon. ==References==