Saron Berhe

Saron Berhe Tareke (born 27 August 2007) is an Ethiopian middle-distance runner. She is the world under-18 record-holder in the short track 1500 metres and mile run with a mile time of 4:24.23.

Career
Saron started her career competing in the 800 metres, finishing 6th behind Werkuha Getachew at the 2021 Pepsi Meet in Addis Ababa. In 2022, she contested both the Ethiopian U18 Championships and the senior Ethiopian Athletics Championships in that event; she won the silver medal at the U18 championships in a 2:04.6 best, and finished 8th at the senior championships.

Running as a professional under Juan Pedro Pineda, Saron made her international debut placing 8th at the 2023 Metz Indoor Meeting. At the Meeting Desafio Nerja in Spain, she finished runner-up in a personal best of 2:02.26. Despite the 800 m time being a world under-18 lead, Saron would see her greatest successs in the 1500 m, which she made her international debut for at the Meeting Pro Athlé Tour Stanislas de Nancy in France. She placed 2nd at the 2023 Meeting Madrid in a time of 4:02.30 behind Brenda Chebet, but Chebet was later disqualified for violating anti-doping rules, promoting Saron to first place. Saron placed 6th at the 2023 Xiamen Diamond League in 4:00.86, and 11th at the 2023 Memorial Van Damme in 4:00.46 to end her season. The latter result made her the fastest-ever woman to place 11th in any 1500 metres race.

Saron opened her 2024 season at the 2024 Copernicus Cup, running the short track mile run which was set up as a world record attempt for Freweyni Hailu. Saron joined Hailu, Hirut Meshesha, and Netsanet Desta behind the pacemakers, and despite falling back she finished 3rd in 4:24.23. The time was a new under-18 world best, beating Mary Cain's old record of 4:28.25 by four seconds. Her 1500 m en-route split was 4:06.62, which also beat Gudaf Tsegay's previous under-18 world best of 4:08.47.

Personal life
Saron runs under Spanish athletics manager Juan Pedro Pineda, alongside Olympic medallist Gudaf Tsegay. Her twin sister Tegab Berhe is also a runner, having finished 6th at the 2023 African U18 Championships in the 800 m.