Maryam Yusuf Jamal was born in the Arsi Zone in the Oromia Region of Ethiopia, an area famous for distance runners, including Haile Gebreselassie, Kenenisa Bekele and Tirunesh Dibaba. She was born into the Christian family from the Oromo ethnic group, and fled with her husband, Tariq Yaqoob, due partially to political and economic problems.

In 2004 she and her husband sought political asylum in Lausanne, Switzerland. She applied for multiple citizenship papers before Bahrain granted them to her that same year. First, she applied for citizenship in America, Canada and France.  Bahrain, eager to gain a sporting image, granted this in exchange that she change her name to an Arabic one and that she compete in the Asian Games in Doha, Qatar in 2006. She was allowed to keep her religion though.

Based in Lausanne, Jamal often trains at altitude in St. Moritz. She is trained by her husband Tariq Yaqoob.

Honours:
2 x  World Champion
Silver medalist World Indoor Championships
Bronze medalist World Indoor Championships
2 x Asian Champion
2 x Asian record holder