Sultan Haydar (; born Chaltu Girma Meshesha, 23 May 1987 in Golerogi, Ethiopia) is an Ethiopian-born Turkish long-distance runner. The tall athlete at was a member of Enkaspor, where she was coached by Nikola Borić.
Haydar is currently serving a 30-month competition ban set to expire in July 2026 in relation to an anti-doping rule violation.
Career Haydar started off her career representing Ethiopia as a middle-distance runner and was the bronze medalist in the 800 metres at the 2005 African Junior Athletics Championships. She transferred her eligibility to Turkey in 2008.
Haydar's first competition for Turkey was the 2008 European Cross Country Championships. She started the women's under-23 race quickly but yielded her early lead and dropped out at the halfway point. She was the 1500 metres gold medalist at the 2009 European Athletics U23 Championships, then won the under-23 race at the 2009 European Cross Country Championships later that year. At the beginning of 2011 she made her debut over the half marathon and recorded a time of 1:10:02 hours for seventh place at the high calibre RAK Half Marathon. She ran in the 1500m at the 2010 European Athletics Championships but failed to finish her heat. She turned to the 3000 metres at the 2011 European Athletics Indoor Championships, where she set a personal best of 9:03.50 minutes to win her heat, but was slower in the final, coming in ninth place. Outdoors, she competed for Turkey on home soil for the First League of the 2011 European Team Championships and won the 3000 m in a long-distance event sweep with Alemitu Bekele Degfa and Binnaz Uslu. Haydar also won the bronze in the 1500m.
She was the leader for much of the 2011 Istanbul Marathon but slowed after 35 km and eventually finished seventh. The 2012 Paris Marathon saw her establish herself as a top-level marathon runner. In spite of being well-beaten by winner Tirfi Tsegaye Beyene, Haydar improved her best by over ten minutes to set a Turkish national record mark of 2:25:07 hours in second place.
Sultan Haydar qualified for participation in the marathon event at the 2012 Summer Olympics but managed only 72nd place with a slow time of 2:38:26 hours. She ended the year with a third-place finish at the Istanbul Marathon. In her first marathon of 2013, she came third at the Rome City Marathon with a time of 2:27:10 hours. On 17 November 2013 Sultan Haydar repeated her third-place success at the Istanbul Marathon finishing with 2.29.40 after her countrywoman Elvan Abeylegesse.
Anti-doping rule violation Following a provisional suspension in June 2024, in March 2025 Haydar was served with a 30-month competition ban set to expire in July 2026 for an anti-doping rule violation after failing to submit to a test in January 2024. In addition, all her results were disqualified from 31 January 2024 onwards.
Achievements Representing 2009European U23 ChampionshipsKaunas, Lithuania1st1500 m4:14.12European Cross Country ChampionshipsDublin, Ireland1stUnder-23 (6.039 km)21:142010European ChampionshipsBarcelona, Spain —1500 mDNF2011European Indoor ChampionshipsParis, France8th3000 m9:08.842012Istanbul MarathonIstanbul, Turkey3rdMarathon2:29:412013Mediterranean Games Mersin, Turkey4thHalf Marathon1:18:01Rome MarathonRome, Italy3rdMarathon2:27:10Istanbul MarathonIstanbul, Turkey3rdMarathon2.29.402015World ChampionshipsBeijing, China43rdMarathon2:47:11
Personal bests SurfaceEventTimeDateVenueNotesIndoor track3000m9:03.50Mar 5, 2011Paris, FRAOutdoor track1500m4:10.9hJune 29, 2010Izmir, TUR3000m9:04.55June 23, 2011Bursa, TUR5000m16:03.56May 29, 2011Antalya, TURRoadHalf Marathon1:09:12Oct 8, 2023Ankara, TURMarathon2:21:27Dec 3, 2023Valencia, ESPNR
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