MEMBERS OF a Limerick athletics club have condemned an attack on one of its talented young runners, which left him unconscious in hospital.
Ethiopian-born Lebeta Debela was in hospital for a number of days after two men attacked him while he was running in Limerick. The 22-year-old has been living in Ireland since April 2009 and has won a number of races this summer, including the half-marathon held as part of the inaugural Great Limerick Run in May.
Debela is a member of Limerick’s Athletics Club and is considered a rising star there.
The attack took place last Thursday afternoon when he was running on the Knockalisheen Road on the outskirts of the city.
He lives at the Knockalisheen centre on the Clare-Limerick border, which accommodates 233 asylum seekers. He was taken to the Mid-Western Regional Hospital suffering from head injuries after two men attacked him. He has since been discharged and friends are hoping he will be back running soon. His coach, Willie Logan, said the athlete was left shaken by the attack.
“In a couple of weeks we hope he will be back to himself again. He is such a quiet young boy, everybody is mad about him. All his training companions are always very keen to run with him and I’d say everybody is upset at what happened,” said Mr Logan.
Debela has won several races in the past few months alone and he took the gold medal in the half-marathon in May. He had another win later that month, in the Salty Faces 10km in Co Clare.
He won this year’s Jacinta O’Brien Plassey 10km in April at the University of Limerick and finished fourth at the Enniscorthy Strawberry Festival half-marathon in June.
A Garda spokesman said the matter had not been reported to gardaí but officers planned to make contact with the athlete in a bid to identify of the culprits.