Aselefech Mergia is an Ethiopian marathoner whose personal best of 2:19:31 once stood as the national record. Born on 23 January 1985, she began racing professionally on the roads in 2006, opening with a seventh-place finish at the Delhi Half Marathon, and developed into one of the leading marathoners of her generation.
Her breakthrough came at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin, where she took bronze in the marathon in 2:25:32. The following spring she won the 2010 London Marathon in 2:22:38, a result confirmed after the two athletes who finished ahead of her were disqualified.
Dubai became her signature race. She won there in 2011 in 2:22:45, defended her title in 2012 with a course record of 2:19:31, and returned in 2015 to become the first woman to win the race three times. The 2015 victory came 18 months after the birth of her first child.
Her 2:19:31 places her among the fastest Ethiopian women in history over the distance, in a national record book that is the deepest in women's marathoning.