Aregawi, formerly a world star and World Championship gold medalist on 1,500 meters outdoors and indoors, ran a time of 15.23,91 when she won the women's 5,000 meters during the Finnkampen at Stockholm's stadium.
The time is not enough to meet the International Athletics Federation's direct qualification limit of 14.50 for the World Championship in Tokyo in September.
Aregawi, who has been involved in several controversies over the years, received great support from the stadium audience during and after the race and threw kisses to the packed stands after the finish.
It felt very good. It feels great to run again, to run the Finnkampen, at home in Sweden. Great fun, she says and praises the reception from the audience.
They are kind, they shout to me. Thank you very much for everything.
After being away from international athletics for several years, Aregawi made a comeback last year. She lives in Ethiopia, has remarried and is the mother of four children.
My life is good, she says.
The 35-year-old will continue to focus on elite running.
I would like to run a half marathon and a marathon, 10 kilometers. I would run my best.
Are you aiming for the Olympic Games (in Los Angeles 2028)?
Yes, I will run a marathon.
December 10, 2012: The International Athletics Federation gives the green light for Abeba Aregawi to start competing for Sweden instead of her home country Ethiopia. A few months earlier, she - who came to Sweden in 2009 - finished fifth in the Olympic final on 1,500 meters, a placement that eventually became second and silver after doping disqualifications for several of her competitors. The main reason for choosing Sweden was her then marriage to Henok Weldegebriel.
August 15, 2013: Aregawi takes her first global championship gold when the 23-year-old wins the women's World Championship final on 1,500 meters at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow.
March 4, 2014: Three days before the indoor World Championship in Sopot, Expressen reveals that Aregawi and Weldgebriel have divorced, already in May 2013. Aregawi denies in Radiosporten in June 2025 that it was a sham marriage.
March 8, 2014: Four days after Expressen's revelation, Aregawi takes her second consecutive World Championship gold on 1,500 meters.
February 29, 2016: The news that Abeba Aregawi has been tested positive for meldonium breaks. The 25-year-old is one in a series of sports stars who are caught with elevated levels of the substance recently banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency Wada.
March 1, 2016: Aregawi's athletics club Hammarby breaks with her.
July 14, 2016: Aregawi is acquitted since the levels of meldonium were within the limit values. The doping commission withdraws its complaint and she is free to compete for Sweden again - but is later not selected for the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
March 9, 2025: After living outside the public eye in Ethiopia for several years, and among other things giving birth to four children, Aregawi runs 1.06.36 in the Lisbon half marathon. The time is a Swedish record, but is later deleted because Aregawi did not report for doping control at least six months before the competition.
August 22, 2025: Aregawi makes a comeback on the big athletics arenas, in the Brussels Diamond League gala. In world competition, she finishes 16th with a time of 15.15,88 on 5,000 meters, 25 seconds from the direct qualification limit for the World Championship.
August 24, 2025: Aregawi wins the Finnkampen's 5,000-meter race with a time of 15.23,91 but misses the World Championship in Tokyo.
