In what is being touted by their publicist as “the wedding of the millennium”, Seleshi Sehin and Tirunesh Dibaba announced on Thursday their wedding plans which is to take place on October 25, next week.
Seleshi, often dubbed as the silver man for continually coming in second place in major competitions, said that he and Tirunesh, the double Olympian gold medallist at the 5,000m and the 10,000m in Beijing, have been together for five years now.
This wedding is perhaps a first of what one might call a celebrity marriage, and one that has opend itslef for publicity. Along with details of their wedding plans, Tirunesh also announced the opening of her website, www.tiruneshdibaba.com, through which she has made available her biography as well as details about the marriage. The website also has a page called “My Journal through which fans can get details about the weeding from Tirunesh herself.
Tirunesh is in the running for the best athlete of the year title, which she lost out to Mesert Defar last year, which will be announced in Monaco in November. The website is also to serve as a medium through which fans can vote for Tirunesh for the title.
The luncheon for the wedding is to take place at the Hilton Hotel after which the couple will travel from Meskel Square to the Sheraton on a horse drawn carriage accompanied by a marching band for a photo ceremony and a dinner later on.
“I told Seleshi that I will only marry him on one condition - if he makes my only brother whom I love so much his best man,” said Tirunesh. The other groomsman is Seleshi’s brother. The bridesmaids are two of Tirunesh’s sisters, Eijgayehu and Genzebe Dibaba.
Asked about their plans for a honeymoon, “We have spent a lot of time on the preparation of the weeding. Since out job is running, we might get back to training. But we will see,” said Seleshi.
The Kenyan David kebichobe, often a rival to Seleshi on the tracks, will be coming to the wedding with his wife. “Although they are often rivals, they are both good friends and constantly keep in touch,” said the couple’s publicities.
Tirunesh, who often says she much rather run than speak, as well as her husband-to-be were limited in their response as their publicists did most of the talking.
The wedding of the millennium, as it is being called, will have a lot of press including foreign media like Euro Sport covering the event.